Biography
I was a bilingual Uyghur Chinese child, growing up in three different cities in China, immersed in Uyghur, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Han culture. I graduated with my B.A. degree in Dance Education at the Minzu University of China, focusing on Asian Cultural dance study, specifically shining light upon underrepresented communities through teaching cultural dance with embodied history. I moved to New York City at the age of 18 to explore myriad movement practices. I worked with choreographers whose artistic productions were imbued with the reflection on inherent social structures of society.
My dedication to becoming a 21st-century educator, being flexible and adaptable to create a student-centered constructivist learning environment that encourages self-discovery, has led me to pursue higher education. As a result, I completed an M.A. degree in Teaching Dance in the Professions at the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Through collaboration, I wrote, directed, and self-produced multiple months-long experimental film and theater productions, researching and discussing human conditions through storytelling, leading me eventually to incorporate filming and writing into dance classrooms. |
Moreover, my interest in movement and academic research has led me to further my journey in dance, which manifested in part as my M.F.A. study at the University of California, Irvine. My graduate research focused on building a theoretical framework for my personal movement practice which I call Ecological Performance Practice: a series of conceptual and practical approaches to Connectivity, following three contemporary intellectuals: Kimere, L. LaMothe, David Abram, and Andrea Olsen. Through designed Performative Ritual Practice(s), participants interact and interchange energy with nature through movement by activating their Empathy, Imagination, and Animal Body.
My artistic and educational experiences have grounded me in the dance classroom and rehearsal room to contextualize often neglected historical information through embodied practice. I designed syllabus and taught beginner level students on American modern and postmodern dance, by bridging its Eastern philosophical influences with a contemporary eco-somatic approach in a remote learning environment. currently, 'm working on a research oriented project to explore mental health problem in contemporary world. |