The performance at Disneyland – ‘The Land of Hornbills, Land of Glory’.
KUCHING: Spirits are soaring at The Dance Academy Kuching (TDAK), where the teachers and its many students returned fresh from their trip to Los Angeles, California, for ‘Dance Excellence – An International Festival for Young Dancers’.
The general sentiment was that it was a privilege to be invited to the USA and to be able to rally up enough funds to go. The cherry on top was coming home with the award for ‘Excellence’ in both categories they competed in, and securing an official invitation to return to the USA next year.
After putting Sarawak on the map, founders of TDAK, January and Mary Chan, were sitting down with some of the academy’s dance teachers, scrolling through photos from their trip and reminiscing the coup of sorts.
Academy principals Mary (seated second right), January (standing centre) together with TDAK teachers and students reading the invitation to next year’s Dance Excellence in Los Angeles.
From workshops on every dance style there is to trips to watch a Broadway musical and to the Grand Canyon, the TDAK family from Kuching saw their horizons widened like never before.
Among the most notable stories was an observation from a dance teacher Sindy Chai, who pointed out a significant difference between TDAK dancers and the American participants.
“The American kids are there because they want to be there. Over here, it’s usually the parents’ idea for their children to learn dance, thus they started out with a shy demeanour,” she said.
Mary Chan (left) and TDAK artistic advisor Datuk Anne Then basking in the school’s win.
Sindy added that the Kuching participants were apt to hang back whenever there was an invitation in class to step forward, and the entire group was taken aback on the first day when their American counterparts were the complete opposite.
Happily, they learned fast and by day two had sized up their fellow delegates and started making their own waves.
“I hope we have the chance to bring students to more events like this to expose them to extroverted exuberance.
“The difference was so stark that Law Kim Hong realised how reserved her students were on her return.
“We have to think of ways to help them love dance. I also realised that we have to change our style of teaching,” she said.
The TDAK artistic team with their awards and certifications after the Gala Night.
The dance workshops there, and by proxy the entire event, shared one key element – joy.
“They had cards delivered to every room at night with quotes and encouragement to find joy in what we do. It is the most important thing,” said January, who saved each card as a reminder.
Mavis Lim found it amazing that Americans could notice individual dancers among the hundreds in the room and would approach the ones singled out with a compliment later.
She and fellow teacher Chai Xinjie were also selected to perform in the Gala Night finale together with The Young Americans, a non-profit organisation and performing group with many alumni who have successful careers in TV, film and theatre.
Mavis said that this opportunity was not to be missed, even if she and the other selected dancers had to do an extra session every night after everyone else retired for the day!
Their students are also riding the ‘high’ of their trip to America.
Jennifer Lau, a dancer in their prize-winning performance ‘The White Crane’, spoke about the many dances that she got to experience such as lyrical, stepping, hip-hop, jazz, and contemporary.
“I have only done ballet before so it was quite a challenge in the beginning. But eventually I found it so fun learning so many new things. I’m glad to have met many new friends from all over the world. That was the coolest thing ever. It made the world so much smaller. And to know that we can be friends with nothing in common but dance is so amazing.”
Two dancers from TDAK – Mavis Lim and Chai Xinjie – were selected to join The Young Americans in the finale dance at the Gala Night.
TDAK entered for two categories in the competition – ‘Mo Li Hua’ (Jasmine Flower) in the open category and ‘The White Crane Story’ in the senior dance category. They picked up the award for excellence for both, equivalent to second place.
They were one of two new dance schools invited to this year’s festival.
Dance Excellence was held from March 29 to April 4 in the entertainment capital of the world – Los Angeles, California, USA. The festival is billed as the ‘Global Dance Event of the Year’.
Directors from all 26 participating dance studios together with the organisers.
The festival offers the best in classes, workshops and performance held in iconic locations such as Disneyland, and it involves the finest dancers and dance studios from all over the world – 5 continents, 27 countries, 400 studios, 15,000 dancers.
Participation is by invitation only.
TDAK specialises in Classical and Folk Chinese, Classical Ballet, Modern Jazz, Tap Dancing, Contemporary Dance as well as local ethnical dances. The Academy collaborates with the Beijing Dance Academy for dance classes and examinations.