Illustration by JENNY YURSHANSKY/Daily Bruin
By Brette Fishman
Daily Bruin Contributor
Inspired by lotus flowers, the dance movements of the Chinese
Cultural Dance Club are meant to entertain and educate.
On its first anniversary, the Chinese Cultural Dance Club has
many accomplishments to celebrate, including the success of its
ensemble production entitled “Lotus Steps,” a dance
show that it plans to turn into a quarterly tradition.
Nancy Lu, Cheery Yen, and Kelley Lee established the Chinese
Cultural Dance Club in February 2000 to share Chinese culture
through dance.
“I always loved to dance and the club seemed like a great
way to express myself and to connect culturally and
emotionally,” said third-year communication studies student
and CCDC External Affairs officer Katie Ngan.
The club aims to expose UCLA to Chinese culture by holding seven
dance classes each quarter during weeks two through nine. These
classes are open to anyone interested in learning traditional
Chinese dance and its influences.
The dance classes are taught by choreographer and UCLA alumni
Josephine Chen. Chen works with the students to explain the
cultural history behind the movements of each dance as well as the
movements themselves.
The classes taught by Chen result in performances geared towards
educating the community in Chinese culture.
“We hope that people not only enjoy watching our
performances, but get a bit of culture from them,” said
External Affairs Director Nancy Lu, a fourth-year international
economics student.
“We find it fun and enjoyable to learn about the history
and how people acted in society,” added Lu. “There is
so much we can learn because China has over 2000 years of
history.”
The club has grown over the last year from three members to over
25. Since its inception, the club has performed at a growing number
of functions both on and off campus, fulfilling its original goal
of serving UCLA and the surrounding community. Some of these events
include Raytheon’s Multicultural Luncheon, World Fest, and
Dykstra Hall’s Multicultural Night.
The club uses resources available around campus to make its
shows a reality: Bradley Hall, the John Wooden Center and the
Northwest Campus Auditorium have made their facilities available to
the club for practices and performances.
The Office of International Student Scholars sponsors the club,
but the club also receives financial sponsorship from various
Westwood restaurants, including Noodle Planet, Mongols and
Tomodachi.
The club seeks to represent UCLA to surrounding communities in
performances and competitions and also to open the club to all
interested UCLA students, faculty and staff. It trains members at
all skill levels and works through introductory, intermediate and
advanced dancing techniques.
Recent performances include the fall quarter 2000 performance at
Northwest Campus Auditorium of “Lotus Steps.” The
performance demonstrated the dancers’ typical warm-up
exercises and techniques as well as rehearsed performance pieces.
The club hopes to repeat the event in the future, and plans are
underway for “Lotus Steps Spring 2001.”
Dances performed at “Lotus Steps” included “A
Walk in the Park,” which Nancy Lu described as an
interpretation of women’s status in China during the Qing
dynasty.
“The dancers move using controlled and refined movements,
which tells you about women’s social status in China,”
said Lu. “The dance tells you about history and how women
were portrayed in society.”
The historical aspect of the dance training appeals to students
who desire to connect to with Chinese culture.
“Whenever we do certain dances there are stories behind
the movements and I feel like I am connecting to a historical
past,” Ngan said.
In addition to the cultural connection, Lu also described the
physical and psychological benefits to club participation. Chen
often leads the classes through a series of stretches that resemble
relaxing yoga exercises.
“When I dance, my cares seem to melt away,” Ngan
said about the effectiveness of the exercises.
Currently, the club is preparing a piece entitled “Dark
Clouds in the Sky,” for Spring Sing auditions. The piece is a
comical Taiwanese folk song that describes life on the farm. The
club also has a performance at the Asia Pacific Museum in Pasadena
on Feb. 10.
Like the lotus flowers that inspired its “Lotus
Steps” performances, the Chinese Cultural Dance Club
continues to inspire its members to reach for new artistic heights.
Since its creation one year ago, the club has blossomed.
DANCE: The Chinese Cultural Dance Club holds
introductory classes from 6-6:45 p.m. on Wednesdays; level one is
held from 7-8 p.m. and level two is held from 6-7 p.m. on Thursdays
followed by one-hour rehearsals. For more information on the
Chinese Cultural Dance Club go to its Web site at www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/ccdc.