By The Epoch Times | Created at 2025-04-05 02:27:25 | Updated at 2025-04-05 10:13:04
7 hours ago
Theatergoers told The Epoch Times the threats didn’t deter them from attending the performance.
A New York arts group that has consistently faced pressure from Beijing performed to a full house in a southern California city after the venue received violent threats.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, a classical Chinese dance company that tours globally, received a bomb threat hours before its last performance at Pomona College’s Bridges Auditorium in Claremont, California. According to Shen Yun, part of its mission is to present thousands of years of traditional Chinese civilization that existed prior to the Chinese Communist Party’s takeover.
The threat email marked one of around 100 targeting the company since last year, aiming to disrupt Shen Yun’s performances. Both the White House and the State Department have condemned such actions against the group.
Claremont Colleges Campus Safety received the email just before 9 a.m. on March 30 and immediately evacuated the building, mimicking a scene at the John F. Kennedy Center weeks prior. The safety officers reported the incident to the city police and called in canine units to search for explosives, Claremont Police Department told The Epoch Times. Ultimately, none were found.
Though the investigation delayed the performance by about 20 minutes, no theatergoers complained about the wait, staffers at the box office said.
In the packed theater, as the emcee thanked the audience for their patience, saying they’d remain steadfast amid the ongoing intimidation, the spectators broke into applause.
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Linda Ross, a first-time viewer of the show, said it was an “honor” to see the performance.
“It’s a shame that something like this has to happen,” she told The Epoch Times about the bomb threats while waiting to enter the auditorium. She had heard about many similar threats prior to coming to the performance, she added.
“This would never stop me to want to see this show.”
John Garcia, who stood next to her, said the disruption didn’t bother him at all.
Shen Yun is “a beautiful show,” he told The Epoch Times.
“They’re sharing a message,” he said, and “it shouldn’t be suppressed.”
Shen Yun, founded in upstate New York in 2006, said it believes the email threat was part of a campaign directed by the CCP, after experiencing many other forms of disruption efforts linked to the Chinese regime.
Chinese diplomats have pressured local officials to not attend the shows and sometimes called or written to theaters telling them to cancel the performances and threatening economic punishment if they don’t. Shen Yun has found several of its buses’ tires slashed while on tour, posing a safety risk to its performers.
Show goers line up at Pomona College’s Bridges Auditorium ahead of a Shen Yun performance in Claremont, Calif., on March 30, 2025. The Epoch Times
Around an hour before the Claremont show was due to start, security officers observed an Asian man with a camera hanging from his neck. The man, wearing black, stood across the road from the Shen Yun tour bus and took photos, the officers said. He ran off when security approached him.
The show organizers in Los Angeles said they are looking at legal options to address the threats.
Joseph Bodner, a retired detective sergeant from the nearby Redlands city, said he appreciated the performers’ artistry.
“It was just the absolute precision,” he told The Epoch Times after the performance. “I’ve never seen anything quite like that.”
The performances touch on Beijing’s persecution of Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline centered on the values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The Chinese regime has subjected Falun Gong practitioners to lengthy imprisonment, torture, slave labor, and even forced organ harvesting in an effort to eliminate the faith.
In the battle over values, Bodner said, bad actors tend to intimidate through fear. He’s optimistic that “good is always going to triumph over evil.”
Bill Petro, another attendee, said he was still incredulous at how close the intimidation tactics had gotten to being effective.
“I cannot believe that people are so cruel, but they were trying to do anything to stop this,” he told The Epoch Times, adding that the performance presents the reality in China.
His biggest takeaway from the show was freedom—the importance of “being free,” he said.
The Los Angeles bureau of The Epoch Times contributed to this report.
