A performance group that celebrates pre-communist China wants the Federal Court to review the National Arts Centre’s [NAC's] decision to end its 17-year run.
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A performance group that celebrates pre-communist China wants the Federal Court to review the National Arts Centre’s decision to end its 17-year run.
In a document filed with the Federal Court, the Shen Yun dance group has raised concerns about possible foreign interference in the NAC’s decision, highlighting a meeting between the institution’s leadership and Chinese officials before the decision not to rent space to the group for its 2026 performance.
The annual performance is connected to Falun Gong, a spiritual practice based in New York facing persecution from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It bills itself as a “revival of the beauty and goodness of China before communism.”
Its staging has long drawn the ire of the PRC. Through its consulates, Beijing has called the Shen Yun shows “anti-China propaganda.”
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The Ottawa dispute is not the first time Shen Yun’s performances have come under pressure in Canada. Citing unnamed sources, Global News reported in May that representatives from China’s consulate in Vancouver told city staff that they wanted them stopped.
The event went ahead in April at the city-owned Queen Elizabeth Theatre, despite bomb threats.
Shen Yun performed in Toronto on March 28, but subsequent shows were cancelled after more threats of violence.
The threat, sent by email, indicated explosives had been planted inside the Four Seasons Centre for Performing Arts, as well as on Parliament Hill — just steps from the NAC. The same email account followed up the next day, warning that gunmen planned to enter the theatre disguised as audience members and open fire.
Toronto police told Global News the threats “were determined to be unfounded,” but the venue’s owner cancelled the remaining performances “out of an abundance of caution.”
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The court filing also details several interactions between NAC officials and representatives from China’s consulate in Ottawa in the years leading up to the decision, including an October 2024 private dinner at the ambassador’s residence.
The filing suggested the NAC’s board found nothing “unusual” about interactions between NAC leadership and foreign embassy representatives, and that such engagement falls within the NAC’s mandate.
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