Indelible Memories

Before I came to Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, I wasn't interested in dancing professionally. Moreover, I wasn't super talented or athletic. Even so, I decided to give it a try; after all, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I still remember my audition—it was the Wednesday before Memorial Day and I was considering participating in the Memorial Day parade with my school band. When I got home, however, my mom told me that Fei Tian Academy had called and offered me an audition. The whole event passed in a blur, but I do remember trying to copy some moves, doing a simple coordination test and some splits. Before I knew it, I was accepted into Fei Tian and officially began my dance training.

For me, the most challenging part of dance was learning technical moves, and I often ended up practicing brainlessly without making improvement. Since I was born in the year of the Ox, I was pretty stubborn and believed that endless repetition would eventually bring improvement. After many years of progressing at a snail’s pace, however, I started giving up. The thing is, my classmates and teachers never gave up on me. Even when I was most frustrated and angry, even when I lashed out at those who cared for me, they never gave up on me.

Once in Vancouver, I asked a classmate if she'd be willing to help me with my front aerial after the show. She agreed, even though it would be very late by then. I'd been stuck on that particular technique for years and couldn’t figure it out no matter how much I practiced—some people master it easily, but not me. I felt frustrated and bitter and wanted to give up, but bolstered by encouragement from the people around me, I decided to give it another shot. I had set a deadline for myself, and there was only a week left. Every night, after finishing the show and returning to the hotel, I would do a quick warm up, and my classmate would proceed to give me a mini gymnastics class in the hotel hallway. A couple times, we got back after 11:00 PM, and she would help me until 12:30.

Another girl in my troupe, who could do front aerials as easily as breathing, was also extremely supportive and endlessly patient. If I had been in her shoes, I think I would've felt impatient or even slightly contemptuous, but I never saw a hint of anything like that in her demeanor. Once, I broke down in the middle of practicing and retreated to the side to cry. She immediately came over and pulled me out of my pit of despair, encouraging me until I felt ready to face the challenge again.

One dancer regularly used his entire pre-show warm up time to spot my front aerials. I felt very guilty, but every time I asked if he wanted to go warm up, he would assure me he didn’t mind helping. One day while spotting me, he told me that I was ready to try by myself, that I could do it. And just like that, I completed my first front aerial. The members in my troupe were all aware I’d been struggling with the technique for years, so the moment I successfully made it over, everyone onstage started celebrating.

Without everyone’s encouragement and the time and effort they sacrificed for me, I don’t think success would’ve been possible. All I can say is thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you to everyone who refused to give up on me when I was ready to quit.

There are so many things I've learned through my experiences at Fei Tian and Shen Yun. I’ll admit I used to be stuck up—I’m a pretty fast learner when it comes to academics and tended to look down on others if they weren’t able to understand as quickly. Or, like a typical middle schooler, I'd try to show off my intelligence. But after facing down the dreaded front aerial and receiving help from so many people who could've just been dismissive of my plight, I was truly touched. I realized if I had been in their position, I probably wouldn't have had it in me to help so patiently. I promised myself that if I ever saw anyone in a similar circumstance, I wouldn't treat them the way I would have before.

Over the years, I’ve experienced my fair share of difficulties and gotten into quite a few disagreements (I was born in the year of the Fire Ox, after all), but looking back, I wouldn't trade them for anything else in the world.