What’s the Correct Attitude We Should Have About Dance Training – Some Thoughts on the Recent Media Articles That Attacked Shen Yun

(Minghui.org) Recently, the New York Times published three articles in a row, attacking Shen Yun Performing Arts, Fei Tian College, and Falun Dafa. I would like to share some personal understanding on the issue.

Mindset

With regard to the reports by the New York Times, Master made it very clear in his article “The Ordeals Our Spiritual Discipline Faces” published on June 5, 2024. While reading the article again myself, I realized that Master had already given all sentient beings the greatest opportunity in advance with regard to this incident, including some Dafa practitioners who are not very diligent in cultivation, or those who are already being interfered with.

It is extremely crucial in our cultivation that we should first of all have a strong wish to cultivate ourselves well, and hold 100% firm belief in Master and Dafa.

Master said,

“Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)

“The master takes you through the entrance, and it is up to you, yourself to practice cultivation.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun).

When we save people by clarifying the facts to them or persuading them to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations, we are only doing things on the surface. The truth is, it is Master who is resolving all the complex factors behind those people’s salvation, while eliminating and enduring enormous karma for those people. Still, Master gives all the credit to us and uses those opportunities for us to fulfill our own worlds.

When we first started to cultivate Dafa, Master has already eliminated our immense karma beyond description, and also arranged opportunities at various stages on our cultivation path to eliminate the remaining karma, in order to purify and improve ourselves. When we encounter tests and tribulations in our cultivation, we should be clear that those are caused by our own karma. We could only be eternally grateful for Master’s saving grace, be diligent in cultivation and save as many sentient beings as possible, so that we can assist Master in Fa-rectification and fulfill our prehistoric vow.

Through reading a large number of sharing articles by fellow practitioners, I realized that for those who are truly diligent in cultivation, most of them would feel that they have not done well enough in cultivation and are far from the Fa standards. None of them would brag about how capable they are; they are grateful to Master and cherishing the eternal opportunity to be a Dafa disciples. To me, this is the correct mindset.

Those who feel that they have already worked very hard and are very tired, and think that others are not good enough and owe them something, are in a very dangerous situation. They should look within and quickly catch up in their cultivation. If they feel wronged and dissatisfied, that’s exactly the attachments that need to be removed, as it’s not in line with the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. If they do not look within, but vent their dissatisfaction wantonly instead, they failed to recognize that those bad elements aren’t themselves and are easily interfered with by them. If they continue to behave this way, their xinxing is degenerating and they are further away from the new universe rectified by Master.

We are the luckiest beings to have the opportunity to practice the Fa of the universe. No matter how diligent we are, we can’t be diligent enough. There is nothing more serious than this. However much we do to save sentient beings is not enough.

Dance Training

Confused by the propaganda out there, I heard some questions about Shen Yun’s dance training recently. As a professional dancer myself, I would like to share what it really takes in dance training.

I am an international student from China. I have been learning dance since I was a child and began training professionally in junior high school. I enrolled in an arts high school and formally started professional dancing. Later, I was admitted to a college, majoring in Chinese dance.

During the high school dance training, a day started with a morning class at 6:30 a.m., with an hour’s break for breakfast, before we continued training till 12:00 noon. Each class lasted about two hours, with a ten-minute break, and then a lunch break for one and a half to two hours. After that, everyone came to the classroom earlier for warm up to get ready for more training. In the afternoon, we had to train till 6:30 p.m., take a short break, and then continue with the evening dance class at 7:40 p.m. which would last till 10:40 p.m., sometimes even later.

In total, we had at least eleven to twelve hours of training every day. In addition, professional teachers would do our weight checks every week or randomly to keep records of our weight, because to keep a standard body shape was the most basic quality requirement for a professional dancer, and what we were doing was still at the lowest level of requirements.

So, I had some basic dance training as a youngster, and went through some intensive training in high school for three years. Only those who stood out could be admitted to professional dance colleges, and their families must have sufficient financial resources to support them, too. Only those who have the most advantageous physical conditions and have been training hard since childhood may be admitted to China’s top dance institutions such as Beijing Dance Academy and Minzu University of China. These are more professional students, and they will sweat and pay money many times more than us. The next level up are China’s first-class dancers, who can directly enter China’s first-class theaters or dance troupes to become officially signed dancers, something very hard to achieve.

We all know the saying: “One minute on stage is equivalent to ten years of hard work off stage.” Behind the shining second of glory on stage is endless hard work and sweat. The intensity of training they go through is ten times or dozens of times more than what we had experienced. It’s said that many professional dancers often only eat an apple a day, or drink a cup of coffee, to maintain their shape and weight. Still, they have to keep up with a lot of vigorous training. Even at this level, they are only the first-class dancers in China.

Then, what about world-class dancers? One can imagine just how high the requirements are for them. In fact, oftentimes, I feel very envious of Shen Yun performers and Fei Tian College students, who can steadily improve under the guidance of professional teachers. What they are learning are the purest traditional dance skills, and they learn in such a good and healthy atmosphere, in which the dancers are improving together and helping each other. Most important of all is that they have the opportunity to become world-class dancers, perform in the top world theaters, and save sentient beings at the same time. How beautiful and magnificent this is!

In view of the recent incidents, I began to reflect upon myself too. After looking within myself, I found my own attachment to enviousness and even jealousy of Shen Yun performers. As I calmed down and thought about it carefully, I understood more deeply about the seriousness in Dafa cultivation; we are constantly tested in terms of whether our cultivation is solid, and we must cultivate ourselves at all times. We cannot pursue cultivation in any particular environment or form, and there is absolutely no shortcut in cultivation.

I’ve also realized that each one of us should truly cherish the path arranged by Master. No matter what project we are engaged in, it is a test to see whether we have a pure heart to save people, instead of using it to show off or trying to become famous through it.

Those who decide to take the career path as a dancer, no matter who they are, they should first of all be clear in their minds about the difficulty it entails. Without enough determination, one really shouldn’t take the path casually.

If one is lucky enough to be a dance student or a Shen Yun performer, isn’t this something worthy of cherishing and being grateful? In Shen Yun, they can present the authentic 5,000 years of Chinese divine culture on stage to tens of thousands or more people, while saving sentient beings – how beautiful is that?!

If, as a cultivator, one’s behavior or thoughts are not in line with the Fa and they did something wrong, or if a dancer fail to meet the standards, then they will have to be replaced by someone who is better, so as to keep up with Shen Yun’s standards and to achieve the goal of saving people. On the other hand, if one is indeed replaced because of their own problems, the first thing is to look inward quickly to see if there are any loopholes and what’s prevent them from doing well in the sacred mission.

They should feel grateful to the fellow practitioner who comes on board to ensure the smooth operation of Shen Yun. However, if one fails to amend one’s own mistake or keeps making the same mistakes, one may end up causing a huge problem. Master has given opportunities to everyone again and again, and we need to cherish such opportunities. Complaining about things doesn’t help solve problems at all.

I have also heard some practitioners commenting about Shen Yun’s ticket prices, thinking they were too high. I would like to share some understanding based on my experience as a dancer. For any dance show, it would involve costs for venue hire, promotion, stage setting, costumes and props, musical instruments, food, accommodation and transportation for the performers. The costs are generally pretty high. They all have a minimum standard to keep, which is already pretty high. Considering the extremely high professional standards and what Shen Yun, as a world-class dance company, is presenting, as well as the priceless experience audience members enjoy, the ticket prices are by no means high in any sense.

Master has offered us the most appropriate price out of compassion. Master has explained very clearly in his Fa teachings in this regard. I don’t think practitioners should have any concerns about the ticket price. I think this is also a test of whether we firmly believe in Master and Dafa and whether we cultivate ourselves solidly.

The above is only my personal understanding. Please kindly point out anything in my sharing that is not in accordance with the Fa.