Forever Grateful

My name is Piotr Huang, I’m a principal dancer with Shen Yun Performing Arts originally from Poland. This blog is about how lucky I am to be in a minority.

The cell was damp and dark, with only one flickering lamp on the blood-smeared walls. I was pinned down by two wardens, their nails painfully digging into my arms and legs. Their hot, tobacco breath filled my nostrils and I instinctively held my own breath. A surgeon standing nearby was looking through a wide arrange of rusty tools placed on the table next to him.

After a moment of thought, he picked up a small knife and slowly approached me. My muscles tensed but I couldn’t move. The iron grip of the wardens held me tightly in place, removing any thought of escape from my already numb mind. I could only watch as the blade inched closer and closer to my face. He had only one job and he was good at it—removing corneas for illegal organ harvesting. I could see the surgeon smile behind his mask, eyes gleaming with excitement.

“Stop!”—shouted the choreographer, “that’s close enough!” The dancer lowered the wooden prop knife, and the two dancers holding me down helped me up to my feet. “We’ll end it here for tonight. Please remember what we went through today,” said the choreographer. “Thank you everyone!” We all bowed to the choreographer as he exited the dance studio.

It was an evening session of rehearsals specifically dedicated to the mini dance dramas in our new program. I wiped the sweat off my face and took a swig from my water bottle. I was exhausted. One minute I was the Monkey King battling an evil demon, a moment later I was a faithful servant of a wealthy family in the Tang Dynasty, and now a Falun Gong practitioner in modern China refusing to give up his faith.

The beginning of tour was just around the corner. All that was left was to iron out remaining wrinkles and imperfections.

“It will be a fun tour,” I thought to myself. We were scheduled to perform at Lincoln Center in New York, and all over England, France, and Italy, among other places. For the next 5 months, we’ll be constantly on the road, facing a jam-packed schedule. I was excited. It was good to able to perform in Europe again, where I was born.

“Good for you,” said my sore knees in a chorus. They were still angry at me for letting them meet the floor a little too fast during my struggle with the wardens seconds earlier. “You’ll get used to it,” I said, and stood up to prevent them from talking back.

I walked out of the studio with my colleagues laughing and chatting about trivial things, completely forgetting that just moments ago, they were trying to rip my corneas out.

Some people might think that a dance performer’s life is tough, tedious, and unrewarding. I disagree. Yes, we do have to sacrifice a lot of time to hone our craft. Yes, dancing is very physically demanding. And yes, life in performing arts is not for everyone. Personally, I love it.

I get to portray all sorts of characters on stage—from heroes to villains, from soldiers to scholars, from deities to demons, and even a monkey. I’ve lived their lives and experienced their adventures. I’ve gained some of their wisdom and learned from some of their mistakes. Thanks to that, I’ve not only gained a better understanding of the world but also become a more complete person. But there’s more.

As Shen Yun performers, we travel all around the world every year. We get to visit different places and experience different cultures. We get to taste different cuisines and speak, somewhat horribly, different languages. It’s an opportunity many people can only dream of.

I’ve heard many stories of how people hate their jobs and live a miserable life, even though the pay might be good. I’ve also heard stories of how people live fulfilling and happy lives just because they can do what they love for a living. The former is the majority, the latter, minority.

I am lucky to be in the minority.  Shen Yun has given me the opportunity to be one of those people, to have my passion as profession, to live a fulfilling life. And for that, I am forever grateful.