For years, New York labor regulators stood by while a prominent dance company headquartered in the state relied on children and teenagers to stage shows worldwide, earning tens of millions of dollars per season but offering little or no pay to the underage performers.

多年来，一家总部设在纽约州的著名舞蹈团依靠儿童和青少年在世界各地演出，每个演出季收入数千万美元，却只给未成年演员很少或根本没有报酬。纽约劳工监管部门一直对此袖手旁观。

That changed in recent months when the State Department of Labor opened an inquiry into the group, Shen Yun Performing Arts.

这种情况在最近几个月发生了变化，纽约州劳工部正对这家名为神韵艺术团的舞团展开调查。

The agency, which is tasked with enforcing laws on child labor, overtime and the minimum wage, declined to specify what it was examining. But the inquiry was opened following questions from The New York Times, which in August documented numerous instances of what legal experts and former performers describe as questionable labor practices by the group.

这个负责执行有关童工、加班和最低工资法律的机构拒绝透露正在调查的内容。但调查是在《纽约时报》提出相关质疑后开始的，本报在8月记录了法律专家和前表演者描述的该团体可疑劳动行为的多起事例。

Shen Yun, which is operated by the Falun Gong religious movement from a guarded, 400-acre campus in Orange County northwest of New York City, requires its performers to keep grueling tour schedules and train under abusive conditions, former performers have said.

神韵艺术团由法轮功宗教团体运营，位于纽约市西北部奥兰治县一个占地160公顷、戒备森严的园区内，前表演者说，该团要求表演者保持艰苦密集的巡演日程，并且在恶劣的条件下训练。

Many of its young dancers and musicians were the children of ardent Falun Gong practitioners and had traveled from overseas to enroll in school at Shen Yun’s headquarters, Dragon Springs. They received full scholarships, plus room and board, and were told performing was part of their studies. Many received no pay in their first year on tour.

许多年轻舞者和乐师都是虔诚的法轮功修习者的子女，从海外来到神韵艺术团总部龙泉寺上学。他们获得全额奖学金，外加食宿，并被告知演出也是学习的一部分。许多人在第一年的巡演中拿不到任何报酬。

“It seems like it’s perfectly reasonable,” said Eugene Liu, a violinist who said he performed in 200 Shen Yun shows over two years starting at age 15 but never received more than $300 a month. “But if you then consider the fact that these are all people with no ability to negotiate any kind of labor, wage situation, then I don’t know how this stands up.”

“这看似完全合理，”小提琴手尤金·刘（音）说，他从15岁起在两年内参加了200场神韵艺术团的演出，但每月收入从未超过300美元。“但如果你考虑到，这些人没有能力就任何劳动和工资状况进行谈判，那么我不知道这样的做法是否能站得住脚。”

神韵的年轻舞者和乐手在位于纽约州奥兰治郡的园区接受训练，校园内戒备森严。许多人就生活在园区内。

Indeed, Shen Yun appears to have spent years violating a state law designed to protect underage performers, The New York Times has found. The law requires performance groups to obtain state certification before using performers who are younger than 18, and it requires those performers to have work permits.

事实上，《纽约时报》发现，神韵艺术团似乎多年来一直在违反一项旨在保护未成年表演者的州法律。该法律要求表演团体在使用未满18岁的表演者之前获得州认证，并要求这些表演者拥有工作许可证。

The law also governs working hours, rest time and education, including provisions for employers to provide time during the workday for academic instruction. And it specifies that 15 percent of a performer’s earnings go into a trust account, though it doesn’t address whether or how much the performers should be paid.

该法律还规定了工作时间、休息时间和教育，包括雇主在工作日留出学业指导的时间。该法还规定，表演者收入的15%应存入信托账户，但没有规定表演者是否应该得到报酬，或者应该得到多少报酬。

Former Shen Yun performers said their schooling during months on tour largely consisted of writing in journals between shows or filling out homework packets. They were not aware of having work permits or trust accounts.

前神韵艺术团表演者表示，他们在巡演期间的学习主要是在演出间隙写日记，或者做家庭作业。他们不知道工作许可证或信托账户的事。

The law does offer an exemption for performers “in a church, academy or school, including a dancing or dramatic school.” But Michael Maizner, an entertainment lawyer who specializes in labor issues, said that exemption would apply to something like a school pageant or choir, not a professional tour group such as Shen Yun.

该法律确实规定，“在教堂、学院或学校，包括舞蹈或戏剧学校”的表演者可以免于申请工作许可。但专门处理劳工问题的娱乐业律师迈克尔·梅茨纳表示，这种豁免适用于学校表演或唱诗班等，而不适用于神韵这样的专业巡演团体。

Shen Yun has used underage performers for nearly 20 years but had not been certified before applying in late September, representatives of the Labor Department said. The application was approved, and Shen Yun must now give the department a 30-day notice if it plans to use children in a performance in New York State, officials said.

劳工部代表称，神韵艺术团近20年来一直在使用未成年表演者，但在今年9月底进行申请之前并未获得认证。官员们说，该申请获得了批准，而且，如果神韵艺术团计划在纽约州使用儿童表演，必须提前30天通知劳工部。

Shen Yun’s leaders have strenuously defended their labor practices. They denied breaking any laws and said that the youngest performers are not employees but students who receive a learning opportunity and often get a stipend.

神韵的领导人极力为他们的劳工待遇辩护。他们否认违反任何法律，并表示最年轻的表演者不是员工，而是学生，他们获得了学习机会，并经常获得津贴。

“The vast majority of students will tell you this is their dream come true, and the parents rave about the positive changes in their children,” Shen Yun’s representatives, Ying Chen and Levi Browde, said in a statement.

“绝大多数学生都会告诉你，这令他们梦想成真，家长们也对孩子的积极变化赞不绝口，”神韵艺术团的代表陈缨和莱维·布罗德在声明中说。

They said that the students “are not employees under the factors authorities use to define those terms under federal law.”

他们说，这些学生“不属于当局根据联邦法律定义的雇员范畴”。

“Therefore," they said, “the allegations that they are not treated properly as employees are denied.”

“因此，”他们说，“我们不承认他们作为雇员没有得到适当对待的指控”。

It is not unusual for performing arts groups to pay students and novice performers nominal amounts. But few, if any, such groups rely on them to the extent that Shen Yun does, The Times found.

表演艺术团体只向学员和新手支付象征性报酬的情况并不罕见。但时报发现，几乎没有哪个表演团体像神韵这样，依赖学员和新手。

Combining elements of acrobatics and ballet, the group had eight troupes that collectively performed more than 800 shows on five continents during its most recent season.

神韵艺术团的表演结合了杂技和芭蕾的元素，在最近一个演出季中，该艺术团的八支舞蹈队在五大洲总共进行了800多场演出。

Former dancers and musicians said individual troupes could perform more than 100 shows per season and that no troupe employed enough professionals to stage a show without student performers — an assertion Shen Yun’s representatives disputed.

该团体的前舞者和乐手表示，一支舞蹈队在一个演出季可能要演100多场，而且所有舞蹈队都没有雇足够的专业演员，可以在没有学生演员的情况下演出——神韵的代表对此说法表示异议。

Evan Glickman, a percussionist, spent two years with Shen Yun starting at age 24 and was paid about $35,000 a year, he recalled. In his troupe, about two-thirds of the musicians were students, he said.

打击乐手埃文·格里克曼回忆，他从24岁开始加入神韵艺术团，工作了两年，年薪约为35000美元。他说，在他所在的团里，大约三分之二的乐手是学生。

曾经在神韵管弦乐团演奏的打击乐手埃文·格里克曼说，神韵的管弦乐团在很大程度上依赖于学生表演者。

“The students did everything,” said Mr. Glickman, who quit the show in 2016, exhausted by its rigorous touring schedule. “That place would not run if they had to pay real musicians, like every other organization in the country does.”

“学生们什么都做，”格里克曼说，由于严苛的巡演日程让他精疲力竭，他于2016年不再参加演出。“如果他们必须像这个国家的其他组织那样，花钱聘请真正的乐手，这个地方就办不下去了。”

Former performers told The Times they worked from early morning until close to midnight while on tour. The young performers carried and set up heavy equipment, rehearsed, performed up to two shows a day and spent hundreds of hours on cross-country bus rides, according to former performers and written schedules.

前表演者告诉时报，他们在巡演期间从清晨工作到接近午夜。据前表演者的说法和书面的日程安排显示，年轻表演者要搬运和安装重型设备，排练，每天演出可多达两场，还要花费数百小时乘坐长途巴士。

Others said male performers were sometimes told to stay on the tour buses in overnight shifts in case Chinese government agents tried to sabotage the vehicles. (Falun Gong, a religion that is banned in China, has been persecuted by the Chinese government for almost three decades.)

还有人说，有时男表演者被要求在旅游大巴上过夜，以防中国政府特工破坏车辆。（法轮功在中国是被禁止的宗教，近三十年来一直受到中国政府迫害。）

神韵最近一个演出季在世界各地演出了800多场，其中包括纽约林肯中心的大卫·科赫剧院。

Shen Yun’s representatives said the accounts described in this article were “extreme” examples that were “well beyond day-to-day norms in terms of hours, duties, travel schedules, etc.” They added that it was “quite rare” and voluntary for performers to guard the bus.

神韵艺术团的代表称，该文章描述的情况是“极端”的例子，在工作时间、职责、行程安排等方面“远非常态”。他们还说，表演者守卫巴士的情况“相当罕见”，而且是自愿的。

In a YouTube video posted last year, a current Shen Yun dancer, Sam Pu, described the arduous touring schedule as a positive.

在YouTube上发布的一段去年录制的视频中，神韵现任舞蹈演员山姆·浦（音）将艰苦的巡演日程描述为一种积极的体验。

In the video, Mr. Pu narrated a full day of work, starting in his hotel room around 7:30 a.m., continuing through a performance and ending back at the hotel at 11:20 p.m.

在视频中，山姆·浦讲述了他一整天的工作，从早上7:30左右在酒店房间开始，到晚上11:20回到酒店结束，中间包括一场演出。

“I know my schedule looks really tiring,” Mr. Pu said, “but the thing is, I find it very meaningful that I am able to share the values of my culture with people all around the world.”

山姆·浦说：“我知道我的日程安排看起来很累，但重要的是，我觉得能与世界各地的人们分享我的文化的价值，是很有意义的。”

In a text message, Mr. Pu told The Times that he has never felt forced to do anything as a performer for Shen Yun and gets plenty of breaks to relax while on tour.

山姆·浦通过短信告诉时报，作为神韵的表演者，他从来没有被迫去做什么，在巡演期间也有很多放松的休息时间。

“It’s also worth mentioning that, unlike some other dance companies where artists have to cover their own travel and lodging or even take on side jobs just to make ends meet, Shen Yun covers everything for us,” Mr. Pu said.

山姆·浦说：“值得一提的是，在其他一些舞团，艺人必须自己支付旅行和住宿费用，甚至为了维持生计打零工，而神韵为我们支付一切费用。

Aside from the demanding schedules for student performers, Shen Yun stands apart from other large dance groups for the amount of money it has amassed while paying relatively small sums to its performers. In its most recent tax return, the company reported assets of more than $265 million.

除了学生表演者的日程安排非常紧张外，神韵与其他大型舞团的不同之处在于，它为演员支付的报酬相对较少，但它自己积累的资金却非常可观。在最近的纳税申报中，该公司报告的资产超过2.65亿美元。

The American Ballet Theater in New York City had only a fraction of that amount in recent years, tax records show. But its apprentices earn a starting pay of $986 per week under its contract with the American Guild of Musical Artists. The performers were also eligible for overtime, a benefit that former Shen Yun performers said they did not receive.

税务记录显示，纽约的美国芭蕾舞剧团近年来报告的资产与之相比只是个零头。但根据与美国音乐艺术家协会的合同，该剧团学徒的起薪为每周986美元。表演者还有资格获得加班费，而前神韵表演者表示他们没有获得这一福利。

纽约州劳工监管机构表示，他们之前没有对神韵展开调查，是因为他们没有收到关于该团体的投诉。

Although Shen Yun’s practices have been in place for years, the State Labor Department did not open an investigation — because the agency had never received a formal complaint, officials said. They declined to comment on why they opened the current inquiry.

官员们说，虽然神韵的做法已经存在多年，但州劳工部并未展开调查，因为该机构从未收到过正式投诉。他们拒绝评论为何展开此次调查。

Legal experts say there are exceptions to state and federal minimum wage laws related to students, apprentices and volunteers. Shen Yun has often paid its student performers less than minimum wage, former dancers and musicians said.

法律专家表示，州和联邦最低工资法对涉及学生、学徒和志愿者的情况有例外规定。前舞者和乐手表示，神韵支付给学生表演者的工资经常低于最低工资标准。

“My suspicion is that they are treating these children and young people, even if they’re not minors, as maybe volunteers, maybe apprentices, and they’re using that as justification for not paying them,” said Michael Minkoff, an employment lawyer in Manhattan. “That doesn’t mean it’s legal by any stretch of the imagination.”

“我怀疑他们把这些孩子和年轻人——即使他们不是未成年人——当作志愿者或学徒，以此作为不付工资的理由，”曼哈顿就业律师迈克尔·明科夫说，“但这并不等于就是合法的。”