A powerful message from a principal dancer: The world needs truth, compassion, and tolerance. Ellie Rao, a dancer with Shen Yun Performing Arts, believes this is what her father courageously stood up for 20 years ago.
Now she’s sharing her story and her efforts to raise awareness about the persecution of faith in China through her dance. Having witnessed her father being taken away by Chinese authorities multiple times before he was persecuted to death when she was just 4 years old, Rao’s journey is deeply personal.
Born in China and raised in America, she dedicates herself to classical Chinese dance and traditional Chinese culture while living in the West. An award-winning dancer with Shen Yun, she started taking dance lessons in high school. “When I’m performing on stage, I usually just stay calm and focused. There’s a mission behind what we do. Basically, we want to tell the audience that truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance are good,”
Rao shared with NTD host Yuxin. Rao’s family practices a spiritual discipline called Falun Gong, which teaches those same principles. It gained popularity in China, leading many to report better health and peace of mind. However, fearing its growth, the Chinese regime outlawed the practice in 1999, prompting Rao’s parents to appeal against the ban in Beijing, unknowingly stepping into a brutal nationwide suppression campaign.
Her father endured multiple detentions in forced labor camps and mental hospitals, ultimately being tortured to death in August 2004 at just 34 years old, leaving Rao and her mother to flee to Thailand as refugees.
The U.S. government granted them asylum when Rao was 9. In the freedom of the West, Rao echoes her father’s legacy. “My dad, all he wanted to do was basically to tell the Chinese government that Falun Gong was good. All I want to do is continue his wish of telling people that truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance are good.”
Every year, Shen Yun dedicates a contemporary piece to highlight ongoing events in China, including the brutal treatment of Falun Dafa practitioners. Rao emphasizes the importance of making audiences aware of these realities: “This is real and it’s still happening in China right now; we want to stop it.”
Through her experiences with Shen Yun, Rao deepens her understanding of her culture and morality. “I have been dancing for 11 years, and the more I learn about classical Chinese dance, the more I realize that it’s very profound. It’s intertwined with one’s morality; to excel in classical Chinese dance, you must cultivate your inner self.”
Rao attributes much of her support to her mother, who encouraged her perseverance amid challenges. “I’m very proud of my mom because when I first started dancing, I always called back home saying, ‘Mom, it’s too hard,’ and my mom always said, ‘You have to continue to do it, persevere.’” Now, with Shen Yun, Rao travels the world, performing and striving to revive traditional Chinese culture from before communism.
