Two Dancers, One Stage: Andrew and Alison on Life With Shen Yun

That was when, during one of the curtain calls, I saw one of the audience members, she was like applauding for us, but because she was holding her child, she couldn't actually clap. And then her eyes made eye contact with me, and then she just kept saying, thank you, thank you, thank you, like as the curtain was closing. And no one else saw her because, you know, she was way in the corner, and I just so happened to be in the corner, so I was closest to her. And then that's what made me think, I was like, wow, like we're doing something so much more than just performing for, you know, entertainment. They met as dancers sharing the same stage. Years later, they're still telling stories together, just from different sides of the curtain. They were joined by Andrew and Allison, two classical Chinese dancers, whose journeys have taken them from performing with Shen Yun, to building lives and careers in one of the most demanding art forms in the world. In this episode, we explore what it takes to thrive in that world, and what life looks like now, with Andrew still performing as a principal dancer with Shen Yun, after 18 years, and Allison, serving as dance department chair of Fathian College Northern Campus, shaping the next generation. This is Bay Area Innovators, and I'm your host, Steve Vispas. Andrew and Allison, welcome to Bay Area Innovators. Thank you for having us. Hi. Great to have you here. So, you know, usually on this show, this is gonna be a special show, because we usually have one-on-one interviews. This is one of the few times, if not the first time, where we'd have two people on the show at the same time. And that's because you're a couple, you're both from Shen Yun, and you're here for the Unbroken premiere. So we really wanted to get the audience to get to know what the performers, or former performers of Shen Yun are like, and give us some more insight on the performances and on the show itself. So you both have ties to California, and I wanna start with you, Allison. You grew up in San Jose. So tell us a bit about going to school, and what was it like? Well, for me, I grew up in the Evergreen Valley, so right down here in San Jose and the South Bay. I would say I just led a very typical ABC life. You know? Normal student. Yeah, as an American born Chinese. I was born in Milpitas, and then I was going to elementary school and middle school here. Just, you know, typical day-to-day academic classes, and then extracurricular classes on the side, with like music, dance, and art. And then at some point, you became interested in classical Chinese dance, right? Tell us about the transition. Well, I was just dabbling in a lot of different classes on the side. I really liked dancing, but I was also learning things like piano, abacus, you know, like all these different things. And dance was the only one that I was always drawn to. And I remember there was one time where I kept asking my mother. I said, can I please sign up for more weekend dance classes? And she's like, do you know how expensive that is? And I said, no, I don't, but just send me to go take more classes. And she was like, oh, this is like a huge investment of time, you know, for us. And, but that was also around the same time when Shen Yun was starting to perform. And then I saw the Shen Yun performances on stage, and I was thinking, oh, how can I be a part of that? You know, like, I really just want to step into the world of professional dancing. And then simultaneously, that's also when Feitian Academy, which is a private school in New York, started forming. And my mom said, oh, I heard that there's a school that specializes in classical Chinese dance. Is that something you would be interested in? And I said, of course, like, please let me know. I really want to go there and try it out. Because my ideal was literally dancing from morning to night. Like, that was actually what I was looking for, more so than just performance. Like, I wanted that sort of conservatory-style training, and I didn't know where to find it, especially classes that were pertaining to Chinese dance. So, yeah, afterwards, we found out that the school was opening up for auditions, and I just auditioned, and luckily, I got in. Now, Andrew, you have a bit of a different background. You grew up in Hong Kong. Right, no, I was born in Hong Kong, and I came to the States when I was like six or seven. Okay, okay. Yeah, and I grew up in Berkeley. I went to elementary, middle school, and high school. And then eventually, I went to college. But I had nothing to do with dance. Where did you go to college? I went to, for a little bit, for a freshman, maybe half a year, was at UC Davis. Okay. Yeah, but I had no dance background at all. So, Andrew, how did you go to Shen Yun, and what was the transition like? So, I had, unlike Allison, I didn't really have any idea what dance was. And then, even before going to college, I didn't have any concept of what Chinese classical dance or any dance art form, really. But going into UC Davis, I wanted to become a biomedical engineer. But I think, at that time, I was just, when I started, okay, so I kind of start back when I was little. So, when I was little, I moved to America. Basically, my parents left me with my aunt and uncle to live for a little bit, not too long. But when I was little, I really missed my parents. And then, I was like, oh, if I could grow up, when I grow up, I wanna do something with medicine to maybe create some kind of medicine to help people live longer so they can be with their parents longer, to be with their families longer, so they wouldn't feel the same way I do. And then, so, I think, in the back of my mind, I've always had that. I guess that was my main goal, going to college and being a biomedical engineer eventually. But then, I think I realized, I thought if I could make a medicine like that and help people live longer, does that really change society as a whole or does that change how people are? I felt like that wasn't really what I wanted to accomplish in life. What brought me to Shen Yun was I really resonated with their message. I didn't think of it too much at first, but then, I was like, the message Shen Yun has is a lot of values that I felt was lacking in society nowadays or could be better or have more of. I think, in a sense, to promote those values that I felt was more important to people than just living longer or less of a surface-level solution. Yes, yes. Yeah, at least for me, I felt like how you live as a person is more important than the lifespan of the person. And being on stage for what, 16, 16? 18 years now. 18 years. You were obviously able to give a lot to the audience through those performances. Right, as I age, as I grow older, there's pain in different places, but at the end of the day, I always remind myself on why I went in the first place. I just tell myself, oh, if I can stay another year, do this for another year to help other people, then I felt like it's worth it. Now, I gotta ask you this. Professional athletes, sometimes they start very young, similar to you, maybe even younger, and in so many ways, their childhood is changed because they're competing all the time, they're out there. Do you feel that you have to go through that and do you miss anything? Or do you feel that what you accomplished is in a way better than having a regular childhood? Well, I think it's not so much better or worse. I think it's more about the path that you choose. So for me, because I had that option. I could have stayed in California and within my friend group, we were all thinking, after middle school, there's high school and then college, right? And then you land a great job, you know? And, you know, I- A nine to five job, you do the same thing every day. And I think, you know, it's like, my parents are like typical Asian parents, too. You know, it's like, get good grades in school. You know, that way you can have a great education. And for me, I was also a high-achieving student. You know, I always tried to get straight A's in everything, like a very typical ABC student. And I think, so if I wanted that, I could have also done that, too. But for me, I think the allure of being on stage was far greater than that for me, personally. So just being able to spend my teenage years in the dance studios and absorbing as much knowledge and skills as I could, I think that was actually living out my dream for me, you know, and then going into college, being able to experience that, and then simultaneously dancing on stage and performing and touring while I was finishing up my studies. I think that was like just the opportunity of a lifetime that I just couldn't skip over. So for me, I personally feel like I didn't miss out on anything. So Andrew, you've been, you're a principal dancer now. You're still in Cheyenne University still dancing. You are not, you were a principal dancer. You're now teaching, and you're actually the chair of the dance department at Fayettian College. So we'll talk about it in a second, but Andrew, in these 18 years, can you share some of the experiences, something that, I'm sure that things happen every day or every season, but some things that stood out that made you feel that you accomplished your goal, which was to give society more or to help society through the performance? Like what I said before, like all these years, like throughout the 18 years, like Shen Yun's mission's always been the same, you know, to spread that message to the whole world, like being compassionate, being kind, you know, things like that. That message has always been the same. So I think throughout the 18 years, like nothing, none of that has changed. Throughout all this time, I feel like I've done what I could for this purpose. And I think that's the biggest takeaway for myself. But on a personal level, I feel like for what I gained from it, it's a lot more than that too. I've learned like the value of perseverance. I think the biggest that was, that is one of my biggest takeaway. And as a person, I realized like through dance, how important perseverance is. And because for me, I think before going into dance, I've always been like kind of on and off with things, like I learned something and then it's like, it doesn't get to like as good as it could have been if I persevered. Like, I think it's like that for a lot of people. Like my nephew's kind of like that. But I feel like one of the biggest aspect in life is perseverance. And I see that like a lot of people who accomplish great things throughout history, like even in today's world, like that's one of the biggest virtue to have. And I'm glad that being in Shen Yun has helped me develop that. A lot of people don't realize the value that Shen Yun is giving to society. Because on the surface level, it just seems like another show, another performance. But I think what really drew me to Shen Yun, initially, of course, was part of the entertainment side. Because unlike Andrew's story, like for me, I just wanted to be on stage. And actually, part of me, I wanted to be on stage to also create a name for myself. Ironically, the first time I saw the Shen Yun shows and I saw in the program books that there are principal dancers, I was like, oh, I kind of want to be one of those people. Like I actually thought that. That's way before you even went. Yeah, this was before I went to the company. And then so, but for me, because I just like dancing as an art form. So I thought of it more along the lines of entertainment, you know, like more like I'm here to perform because I'm happy and I want you to be happy. But then I think after touring with the company the first time, when I had some small roles the first time as a younger student, and then that was when during one of the curtain calls, I saw one of the audience members, she was like applauding for us. But because she was holding her child, she couldn't actually clap. And then she, her eyes made eye contact with me. And then she just kept saying, thank you, thank you. Like as the curtain was closing and no one else saw her because, you know, she was way in the corner and I was, I just so happened to be in the corner. So I was closest to her. And then that's what made me think, I was like, wow, like we're doing something so much more than just performing for, you know, entertainment. You know, we're not trying to entertain our audience members. We're really trying to give them something that they can take away and bring into their daily lives. You know, like all of the stories in Shen Yun shows are about compassion or how to help others, you know, or just how to, you know, see the beautiful side of life. And I think that's when it clicked to me, like, oh, you know, being a part of Shen Yun actually allows me to, you know, also spread that message. And so that's also why I decided to stay, you know, all those years because I felt like, you know, this company is doing something that's really different. Yeah. For me, it's like, I'm the complete opposite of her. Like, I didn't want to be in front of a lot of people. Usually like, even back in school, like I'm not like, one to like, oh, go in front of a crowd and talk and be excited about it. You have like opposite personalities. Yeah, we have pretty opposite personality. I guess that's why our relationship- How did we get together? Okay. I guess that's how we work out, I guess. But like, for me, it's like, every time I go on stage, if I get nervous and things, I just remind myself, you know, I'm not here for myself. I'm here to bring this message to everybody, to make a change in the world. So like, at the end of the day, I'm not here for whatever reputation I might get or things like that. It's just about what I can do for other people. And for me, that really helps in calming my nerves and like, just like doing, being the best of myself on stage. And also like, I always remind myself, like, no matter where I get in life, always remember why you came. Like, it doesn't matter like how, like if I become a principal dancer or whatever, just remember why you came and don't be arrogant. Yes. So, how did you meet? Did you just see her dance as a principal dancer and say, do I wanna ask her out? Oh, it was more like, I remember like, watching her competition once. During competition, I was like, oh, like, yeah, the entity dance competition. I remember like, she, she had, depicted someone that was, that had a very lively personality. And then I was like, oh, this person, this person's like pretty funny, you know, like pretty lively, but bubbly. And I was like, oh, I was like, in the back of my mind, I guess I was interested back then, but like, I felt like it wasn't time to be in a relationship. It wasn't, things like that. I felt like I should, focus more on my craft, focus on, what I wanted to do, what I needed to do. That was like on the back of my mind for a really long time. And then I guess- You just put me on the back burner. Right, that's what you did. It's like, okay, she's kind of interesting. She's kind of interesting. We'll find out more later. When, when the time is right. Yeah. And then so, maybe after like, after she stopped dancing, like I got in contact with her and then I, told her that I was interested. Yes. And then, you know, and I guess that's how everything started. And then he just was like, head over heels and just- No, but- If that's what you believe. But that's how opposite it was. Cause I literally didn't even notice who he was. The whole time, we were at the same school, we were touring in the same company. I was just like, oh, there's, I don't really know who this guy is. That's funny. Cause he's so quiet. He was really quiet. So I'm just like, okay. Was it a competition where you won gold at the NTD International? Yeah. Which one? You're putting me on the spot there. It was one of the competitions. But no, I do want to ask you about that one because the NTD International competition, dance competition, is in so many ways, like a world championships. I know the quality is amazing and you won gold at that. So, tell us a bit about that. How, how did that, how did you feel? What was it feeling like? When you won gold? That was also pretty surprising for me too, because, prior to winning gold, I did win silver in two other competitions, like before that one. And then, but for us, I think it was always like, oh, we're just trying to use the competition as a vehicle to push our craft even higher. You know, like that's how the teachers always encouraged us to join. They said, it's not really so much about whether you get first, second or third. It's more about if you can use this opportunity to, you know, be competitive with each other, but it's a friendly competition so that you can just try to work even harder on your craft, you know? So I think it's kind of funny because I was competing alongside of my classmates, but many of them were my best friends, you know? And then we would always be like, okay, let's get together. You do your technique routine and then I'll do my technique routine. And then some dancers who were more hardworking would be like, okay, I'll do it three times. I'll do it four times. And then I was actually pretty lazy. I never pushed back. I never pushed past two or three times, but yeah, it's just seeing that everyone really wanted to do better and then everyone would just improve as a whole. Yeah. Also like with the competition stuff, like even nowadays, like even though we're competitors, like we always give advice to each other like on how to improve our craft. Like we want that person to do well. Like it's maybe like, it's even better if they do better than you or us, you know, like it's not about like what we can achieve by ourselves, but what we can achieve as a whole for Shen Yun, like as a dancer and, you know, just, we just all want to improve on our craft. Yeah. And then it's also interesting because like other people come from out of town, you know, to compete in this competition, well out of town, but also some people flying in from other countries too. So you kind of get to see, oh, this is what people are doing, you know, that this is where their skill level is at. How can I learn from other dancers as well? So I think putting it in that framework, it was like a very healthy competition. I didn't feel like, oh, I have to be watching my back. You know, someone's going to try to outdo me or whatever. And you know, we weren't worried that like, oh, because I scored higher than you, you know, I'm not going to be friends with you, blah, blah. So I think I'm glad that I had that experience, you know, building up my craft too. Well, sometimes you see that in tennis, like if in tennis, someone defaults, the other one, the other person says, oh, I wish he'd stayed in the game because then I would have had a good chance at it. But most of the time you don't see that, you know, people are happy if they can get to the next round by someone getting injured or something, unfortunately. Let's talk about innovation. So our show is Bay Area Innovators. And tell me a bit, how do you feel Shen Yun is an innovation in performing, in dance and in music? clearly it's maintaining the traditional Chinese classical dance. That's not being changed because that's, you know, that's the whole point of maintaining it the way it was. But do you have any other thoughts, how it's innovating art in any way? The interesting part about Shen Yun, you know, like some people see innovation, you know, as technological advancement, you know, but for me, innovation is more just about the creativity side of it. I think with Chinese culture, because there's so many different stories across Chinese history and Chinese culture, Shen Yun is not trying to deliver a history lesson, you know, one, two, three, exactly what happened, what year it happened chronologically, what happened? Like, I don't think that's the whole point of Shen Yun, you know, of course, a lot of the stories are based in Chinese history and Chinese traditions, you know, but because it's also an artistic company, right? It's a performing arts company. So, you know, they have every right to interpret Chinese history and portray it in an artistic way. You know, it's up to their directors, their choreographers, how they want to piece it together. Of course, most of it, they will still tie themselves down to how history like worked, you know, but they, I think what really drives their artistic mission is that they try to find the essence of Chinese culture. You know, it's more about what virtues you want to highlight for a specific character, for a specific hero, you know, what story you want the audience to take away after seeing that specific piece, you know. I think for like, especially for Shen Yun, I know with the choreographers, they always have that in mind, like what are the lessons that we want people to take away from the piece? Like, what are their, what are the values that will benefit people that watches our show? Yeah. Cause it's, for example, like say if you have like the general Yue Fei, right? Like he was known for his loyalty to the country, as well as filial piety. Filial piety, sorry. Yeah. So he was known for those two things, right? But you're not going to make a dance program that, you know, tells you everything about Yue Fei from beginning to end. Of course, you're going to find, you know, the core of that story, you know, and portray it. So I think what Shen Yun does a really good job of, is finding that core messaging, you know, like which values that we really want to highlight, and that can actually help us today. You know, when audience members come to see their performances, how can the stories that they see on stage help them out after they leave the theater? You know, like maybe one day you'll leave and you'll think, oh, I remember how courageous this general was, you know, in the face of adversity. Or maybe I can remember how humble another person was, you know, or like how someone else was able to, you know, sacrifice a lot of their own things. So I think that's really what Shen Yun is trying to get at. It's more of the essence of Chinese culture. You know, everything that's been passed down through all these traditions, they're trying to portray it and, you know, breathe life into it again on stage, you know, so that we can use it today. Right. Yeah. Off of that, it's like a lot of people like might not realize, and Chinese classical dance is very different from other art forms. Like it's inseparable from the culture of Chinese history, which throughout Chinese histories, there are a lot of lessons that are taught that can be very beneficial to society nowadays, or just like everybody. Like values that people can really resonate with. So I feel like there's a really big takeaway for people who watch Chinese classical dance. They're like, oh, it's not just something that's, wow, aesthetically pleasing or just tumbling or things like that. They really have a takeaway from watching the show. How would you say the two of you are different in when you perform? Is it the way you interpret the role or the way you express yourselves? Do you feel that you're different in performing or are there? Oh, definitely. Definitely. Yeah. I think the biggest aspect is the interpretation part of the characters. The roles. Right. Because usually, like I, in real life, I'm like more logical in terms of solutions to problems. And like, for instance, she might be more emotional. He's just calling me like borderline crazy. I'm just like very whimsical. So she will get a role that's more aligned with her. Is that right? Yeah. More like, because your personality really, really affects how you perform, you know, like, cause he might be able to, he might have to think through a lot of things, you know, but for me, I just kind of go with the feeling of it, you know, like what, how do I feel if I were to become this character? And that feeling will drive my dancing, you know? So I think it's, it's different approaches. Right. Based on your personality. So personality definitely plays a very big part in how you interpret characters and how you see, I guess, the world too. And how you bring forth those characters. Cause even if you see it in a certain way, but you can't perform, you know, that like, there's also a transition between that too, you know, like bringing life, breathing life into those characters that, that there's a whole process in that as well. Yeah. Do you feel that changes you in a way, like once you perform a specific character, it changes. And I want to give you an example. There's an actor and I forget his name now. He played the role of Jesus in a movie. And after he played that role, he changed as a person. He became more compassionate, you know, whatever, right? He changed in a good way. So do you feel that when you learn a role that changes you in any way? So I think for me personally, because one of the principal roles that I played that left the strongest impression on me was actually also about the persecution of Falun Dafa. And then I got to play the role of a little girl who got persecuted in China. And then she was separated from her mother. And then even after her mother got persecuted to death, the little girl still held on to her faith and still continued to practice Falun Dafa. So for those who don't know, Falun Dafa is a spiritual practice based in truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. And it was very popular in China back in the 90s. But because it got so popular, the Chinese communist regime started to crack down on it in 1999. And because of that persecution, many people lost their lives, families were torn apart. And a lot of Shen Yun artists actually faced that persecution back in China previously. And so when they escaped from China, they came to America and they tried to use their art to spread awareness about this persecution. So that's why you see a lot of these pieces in Shen Yun performances that talk about this persecution to help raise awareness for something that's still ongoing today. And for me, I also practiced Falun Dafa since I was a young child, but that was in America. So I had like no experience of being persecuted. And I had a lot of the freedoms that we get to enjoy here in America. I could practice freely. I didn't have to worry about my life being on the line. So that's kind of the backstory to all this. So when after going to Shen Yun, and I got this role for this dance piece, and I actually could not relate to it at first, to that young girl who was facing persecution and she was separated from her mother. Because you lived freely here and you couldn't associate. I always saw my parents. We would just practice freely and I had my normal life. But I didn't know what it was like to live under those circumstances. So that's when I started to look online to see what are some personal accounts of young children being persecuted. And I found this one story of this girl who said that she was separated from her father. And ironically, one day when she was at home, a bunch of policemen came to her house and knocked on the door and started to threaten her. They said, oh, will you give up your practice? Your dad already gave up the practice while he was in prison. Because that's something the Chinese Communist regime does. They try to have you renounce the practice and give up your faith. And then so they were basically telling her, your dad already gave up. Do you still want to practice? And in that moment, that little girl said, like in her heart, she said, oh, even if my father gave up or even if all the other practitioners in China gave up, I will still hold onto this practice because I believe that truthfulness, compassion and tolerance is good. So that was really striking to me because she was really young. I think she was maybe seven or eight years old. But that gave me enough premise to act out this young girl, this fictional story, but based on true events. I think just knowing that there are so many people overseas that are facing this today and they don't have a voice, but for someone like me who's outside and I have that ability to help them, then I will do my best to try to bring forth their stories on stage. So I think it was just in that process of trying to recreate her story on stage. That's how it gave me a new perspective into what we're doing. That's an amazing story. And would you say that most, when you perform, some of you, I guess the principal dancers, or you play specific roles, would you say most of you research that role or study it before you do it? Definitely, definitely. Because you can't go and imagine what they're going through. And we live in a modern society. If it's a general or an emperor or something, you kind of need to know their whole background and how they would react in certain situations. Because you really can't imagine how an emperor would react in a certain situation if you don't go through their whole history, their whole event. You need some context. It's a lot of history involved and research. Right. Do you have any roles that you can? No, I'm always the bad guy. He's always the bad guy. Always the bad guy. So going back to the question where you were principal dancer for a decade and then you moved into teaching, tell us about that process. What do you enjoy about teaching now? And even talking about the different characters, do you teach that to the students as well? So I think especially with teaching now, I enjoy it a lot more than when I first started. Because when I first started teaching, I didn't really know how to teach. Like I think a lot of teachers struggle with that. You kind of know theoretically how you should be delivering your classes and planning your curriculum. But once you step into the classroom, it's a whole different ballgame because you're actually facing your students, and then they all have different situations and you have to cater to their different abilities and everything. But I think when it really clicked for me, the moment that when it really clicked for me was when I realized that I can share with my students the same joy that I had for dancing as a student. Because I think I loved dancing so much growing up, and I still love dancing so much. But my students now, not all of them will have that ability or that maybe not even that wish to perform at such a professional caliber. They might not be able to be accepted into such a professional company, but they still love dancing, right? And so I just found it that now that's my goal, to enable them to still have that love for dancing and still be able to improve their skills and gain something from that. So I think after realizing that, I'm like, wow, this is really great. It's not just about me anymore. Like when I was performing, all I had to do was take care of myself. As long as I'm in prime condition, I can go down in the splits and I can kick my legs up here and I can do my flips and spins and I can perform with all my heart, then I'm good to go. But now it's about leading and inspiring other students to do the same. So it's a different role, but I still find lots of joy in it. And so much more responsibility. Yeah, it's a lot of responsibility. So we're gonna move to Unbroken now. So Unbroken, it's a movie that's gonna premiere, or not really premiere, it's gonna be screened in San Francisco tomorrow, actually. A red carpet, it's gonna be a big event. Tell us what stands out more for you in this movie. Why is it important for you? Because if you're not part of it, you're very much assimilated in it because it talks about Shen Yun and about the threats that happened to Shen Yun. So like with the recent events with New York Times, with the articles that came out about attacking us or the false accusations they had on us. Like the movie, I feel like really shows people like we're not so different than every other person except for the fact that we really have our own belief and faith in truthfulness, compassion, tolerance. Like I feel like in the movie, it really helps to show the audience like the backstory of Shen Yun and like how everyday Shen Yun people are like. So I feel like that's the main takeaway that that movie provides for a general audience too. And I think it's just mostly that a lot of people don't know what's going on. They see Shen Yun, they see all these memes about this company that creates like so much advertising every year. Some people see the performances, but a lot of people don't. And especially with the recent media accusations and everything, a lot of it, people only see one side of that story. They hear like, oh, okay, there's this whole Falun Gong cult thing. This show has a lot of like political propaganda, but in reality, we're just raising awareness about something that's happening in China today. And that doesn't even take up the whole show. Every Shen Yun performance is about two hours long, but the pieces that are actually talking about the persecution of Falun Dafa, it's probably only like five minutes or so, five to 10 minutes max. And if they're thinking that, oh, we shouldn't even be talking about this, they're trying to silence us in a free country, in a free world where technically we should have freedom of speech, we should have freedom to believe, then if we can't even talk about it, then who's going to know about this? We're not trying to convert everyone to learn Falun Dafa. We're just simply sharing with everyone the beauty of this practice, the beauty of Chinese culture. And in reality, the beauty of Chinese culture is the beauty of all humanities cultures, right? All of humanities cultures really do share the same values of being compassionate, honest, courageous, and just virtuous. And that's something that a lot of people skim over and they don't realize that that's really the core of what Shen Yun is about and why we bring it to light with this movie. It's because we're trying to protect this artistic movement, this artistic movement that allows us to freely express what we want to say, yeah. I think there's more in the movie, not just about the lives of the performers in Shen Yun, but also these attacks that happen, mainly who's behind them. And I thought that was very well done. We're going to talk to Steve Lance later as well. He's the executive producer. But the people behind, for example, some protests against Shen Yun, they've been tied to being a Chinese spy who's involved with the Chinese government. So that's very interesting and we're going to be looking at that as well. I was actually very surprised, you know, because even for someone who's danced with Shen Yun before and, you know, I'm also a Falun Dafa practitioner, so the persecution is no strange news or surprising news to me, you know. But I was actually very impressed with how the documentary dived really deep into this investigation. And it's super systematic how the Chinese Communist Party has set up everything. You know, I used to think, you know, when I was growing up, I thought, okay, it's just this Chinese official that's influencing this media company and trying to attack Falun Gong. Or maybe it's this other person who has a negative impression of Falun Dafa and doesn't know the truth about Falun Dafa and is trying to spread false lies about us. But I didn't realize that it's this huge machine, you know, like Steve Lance goes into that investigation with the movie on how everything is tied together. It's like this huge web that's intertwined and you'll realize that they are very persistent. You know, the Chinese Communist Party, they're super persistent, but also super strategic in how they map out everything so that there's no way for the truth to leak out. But also ironically, the truth does leak out, you know. So there are some places where they just really can't stop the truth from coming forth, you know, because they're just using lies to cover it up, you know. But what we want the world to see is the true side of our story. Now, even though you haven't lived here for many years, what does it mean to you for the screening to happen in San Francisco, in the Bay Area, as since you were part of this environment, this community years ago? For me, it's super exciting, actually, because, you know, San Francisco is where I first watched Shen Yun. You know, like, I remember many, many years ago, that was back in 2006. That was when Shen Yun first did its first global tour, and that was at the War Memorial Opera House. That was where my dream to become a Shen Yun dancer started, really. Like, I remember that moment when the curtain lifted up and it was just like the heavenly scene, like clouds, you know, and all the dancers just dancing amidst the clouds. Like, that was really when I first said to myself, like, I want to be on that stage with them, too. And then, you know, just coming back to my hometown and thinking, wow, I get to, even though I'm not dancing with the company anymore, but I still get to celebrate Shen Yun's achievements and Shen Yun's success right here, back in my hometown. Like, I think that's really special to me. I mean, for me, it's just like, after just coming from the Bay Area, I never thought I'd be on a red carpet back where I started out from, and it feels like a whole full circle for me. And then, it's just pretty ironic how everything just comes back all together. Yeah, and I'm glad that I'm able to bring this to everybody here, to the people who watched our show before, and then just give them more of, like, what's going on behind the scenes. Now, what's next for you? You're obviously, you're teaching, you're continuing to dance, and you've been dancing for 18 years, which is amazing. How do you see your future and the future of classical Chinese dance in the US? Like, for me, like, I really don't know when I'll stop. Like, because for me, like what I said earlier, it's just like, every year, I just kind of remind myself, you know, why I came in the first place, and I want to keep that mindset. I want to just keep going if I can, you know? Like, even if it's hard, even if it's painful or whatever. But, you know, like, for me, just that in and of itself is a motivation for me. So for the foreseeable future, I'm just, you know, just do my best in what I'm doing right now. And then regardless if I'm a principal dancer or not, it doesn't really matter, but yeah. So for me, for the foreseeable future, that's my plan. What about you? How do you see your future with your department, with your dance program? I think for me, you know, I'm just a dancer. I'm just a dance teacher, you know? I don't see myself as someone who's really spearheading anything. I just really want to share my love of Chinese dance with other younger generations, but also at the same time, be able to connect with other people, you know? Because here in America, we're really, it's like a huge melting pot, right? All these different cultures, all these different people that come together. But why do we come together? You know, we're really just trying to share, you know, what I have, what do you have, you know, and just bring it all together. So I think classical Chinese dance is just a way of doing that, you know? It's a way of helping people connect through art, through beauty. And I'm just really glad to see it happen because I wouldn't have imagined myself to be able to do this 20 years ago, you know, when I was just a young person who just wanted to move and wanted to dance, you know? But I never thought that this, you know, has brought me down this path of being able to share with so many people from all walks of life. I think, like, a lot of people might not know, but, like, with Chinese classical dance, it's not just an art form. There's a lot of culture behind it. Like, there are a lot of teachings throughout Chinese history, how to be a good person, how to be, how to live as a person. So I want to talk about this. So there's an addiction here for kids who use the phones, you know, nonstop. In schools, they use it. Not just here, everywhere. Everywhere, everywhere. Well, let's think of Silicon Valley as more of the tech capital of the world, so, you know, the latest iPhone. So, you know, and then they play games late at night. They can't get up to school. They can't focus. You know, it's a nonstop challenge to keep kids away from phones. What is it like where you teach? Maybe I'll answer your question from another angle because when we first joined Shen Yun, that was back in like the early 2000s, right? That was when the company first started. And then ironically, with our generation, you know, we were kind of like the last generation to kind of grow up just as this new technology was coming in, you know, with smartphones. So I remember I used to have my old flip phone, right? And then eventually people started getting smartphones and everything like that. So I actually was not as exposed to that smartphone generation, like coming in, you know, I did not grow up with that as a young teenager, you know? And it was also simultaneously that that was the same time I went to Feitian Academy of the Arts to train as a pre-professional dancer. And at Feitian, that's where they limit the use of smartphones and, you know, cell phones in general, internet usage, because they really wanted us to focus on learning and our studies and just really, you know, spend our time wisely with the craft. So I think a lot of people feel like, oh, you know, like Feitian's trying to restrict students, you know, from having access, you know, and they can't scroll on social media, they can't browse whatever web pages they want. But if you really look at why that rule was implemented, it's really so that, you know, students aren't looking at, you know, crazy inappropriate content, you know, they're not looking at like, you know, pornography and all this like crazy stuff that's, you know, really accessible online nowadays, you know, and that really actually helps you keep a very clear mind as you are just trying to, you know, absorb as much as you can. You know, like those crucial teenage years where your brain is like a sponge, you're still developing your brain, you're trying to absorb as much as you can. But then if you're constantly distracted by all of these things, you know, your attention span just shrinks like that, and you're constantly thinking, when is the next time I can go online? You know, when can I keep playing my games? Or when can I keep talking to my friends nonstop when you have a lot of assignments piling up? You know, you have a lot of time just wasted online. And I remember one of my previous teachers, she also told me, like, she's like, everyone's on their phones now, your world becomes so small, you know, you don't even know what's around you, you don't even have time to really connect with other people. And another teacher told us too, that because the school doesn't want you to spend so much time online, so that you can actually make more personal relationships, you know, like you can actually connect with your friends, talk with them face to face, instead of nowadays where people are just like sitting with their phones, you know, at the cafes, you know, they're not even talking to each other, they're like, let's go hang out, and all they do is just scroll, you know. So I think people have, you know, gotten so used to that. It's like normalized now, you know, but they don't realize that they've lost out on so much of that time. And, you know, even for me after graduating, you know, like now I have a smartphone too. And even I realized, you know, how addicting it is. It's so easy to get like, locked into that, and you can't pull yourself out. Right, and you like just end up spending so much time on it without even realizing it. And then especially so for like dance, like a lot of what you develop fundamentally, like flexibility, the fundamental of dance, like the movements, the basics and everything, they're all developed when you're very young, and it's especially easy to develop that at a young age. So like the time you spent on your craft really is taken away from how much time you're spending on your phone, you know. So like the school like will like restrict you. It's not even just our school, like it's all around the world to have schools that are starting to implement these restrictions because they know how harmful it is for kids to. To control themselves. Yeah, they can't really control themselves. Because they're not old enough. These things are designed in such a way to control kids' or adults' minds. Because they, you know, at that age, at like, you know, 13, 14, 15, they don't know what will happen in the future. Like it's up to the adult to, you know, tell them, hey, you know, like this is very important in your time in your life. You should be spending it on something like that will, you know, affect what you do in the future or like what kind of person you become. Especially for dance, like how much time you spend on your craft is like, how good of a dancer you are in the future. So definitely like, especially in our field, that's definitely a big issue. And that's why like it's so important to have that restriction. But you know what's also really interesting? I think that people don't realize, I mean, I think it's just interesting that we were lucky to be learning dance because dance is something that you can't absorb from just a screen. You know, some people think, oh, I can just copy some dance moves from a video. Like technology is great. Let me just watch the video and learn it. But you can't learn the heart and soul behind a dance. You know, like I even had another teacher who told me, she's like, don't tell this, don't let students just copy from a screen. You know, you need to teach the movements in person, you know, show them because dance is an experience. You know, you really have to be there in person, you know, either watching someone, observing someone to experience and see how they control their breath, how they use the rhythm, how they integrate their emotions and feelings and put their soul into that performance. So I think that's also what's really special about the performing arts. You know, why do people still go into theaters to watch these performances? It's because there's heart behind it. You know, and that's something that with all this technological improvements, you know, like that's something AI can never replicate. You know, they can have their crazy movements, they can have the robots doing all these amazing things for the most part, right? But you know, they really can't replicate that. And I think we're lucky to be in the arts field where, you know, that's something that will never change. So Andrew and Alison, we thank you so much for your time. I have one last question. What would you say is the biggest lesson that you learned from being with Shen Yun or Fei Tian for so many years? When I started, before I started Shen Yun, I wasn't someone who would persevere through my hardships. I would always, you know, when things get hard, I might not go through with it, or I would give up. But like throughout all like the 18 years I've been in Shen Yun, I really learned the value of persevering through hardships because I feel like it's a very important value in life, a very important virtue to have. I see the, like I see people like who accomplish great things, they've all gone through hardships. They all like haven't given up when it gets hard. So in order to develop it, I feel like it's not just knowing about it. You have to actually live through it. So my biggest takeaway from being in Shen Yun these 18 years really has been like how to just persevere and push through the hardship. Yeah, because dance is very demanding in itself already. You know, like just to even show up for your classes every day, like first thing in the morning, that takes a lot of discipline. You know, so, and that's like something that's very common in the dance world, you know? And I think Shen Yun also, you know, teaches its artists that, you know, you have to have that sort of discipline in yourself and you have to persevere with it. Right. Yeah. Like for her, like she teaches kids and the students like in school, like even if they don't become professional dancers, what they always can take away is that mentality to push through things. And then that, they can take that with them for the rest of their life. And no matter where they are in the future, they'll help them in doing what they want to do. Yeah. Well, we thank you so much for your time. And on that last note, you know, what you said, perseverance, don't give up. That state of mind, I hear it from everyone, from artists, from people in technology, from sports, in every area, in every department or in every discipline, it seems to be the key element that makes it for success. Great. Thank you so much. I appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks, Steve. Thank you for watching another episode of Bay Area Innovators. If you enjoyed this episode and you know someone who should be on our show, please send us an email at sfbayatepochtimes.com. We would love to hear from you. Thank you and see you next week.