Chinese Dance
Artists:
Chen-Yu
Tsuei (Master Artist)
Victoria Chou (Apprentice)
Mary
Glosenger (Apprentice)
Description of the Art Form
Chinese culture and the arts have been preserved for more
than five thousand years without interruption. Chinese dance
can be traced back to 4000 B.C. as ritual worship. By 2008
B.C. during the Shang dynasty, Chinese dance was enriched
with music. In the following Chou dynasty, dance and music
became part of the education activities. In the Tang dynasty
(618-907 A.D.), the Golden Age, Chinese dance and many other
arts had developed to the virtuoso level and the tradition
has continued to the present. Chinese dance provides a wonderful
opportunity to appreciate the very old and rich Chinese cultural
heritage.
Chinese dances are derived from different dynasties,
tribes, and forms and have passed down from generation to
generation. Today they are divided into two different types,
classical (imperial) style and folk style, and also into male
and female movements.
Chen-Yu Tsuei (Master Artist)
Current Place of Residence: Hummelstown,
PA
Artist Statement
I have been involved in Chinese dance for more
than 30 years. There is nothing like seeing my own work and
my students on stage and seeing the audiences, both Chinese
and people of other cultural backgrounds, being mesmerized
by the splendor of traditional Chinese dances. It also furthers
my ultimate goal for a better cross-cultural understanding
and appreciation for our community.
As an artist, I have experienced that the cultural
arts are getting blended and fused together at an unprecedented
rate as never before in the history of mankind due to the
nature of modern communication and human mobility. I hope
that through this apprenticeship we would be able to offer
and preserve the Chinese Cultural dance in its most pure form.
My long-term hope of this apprenticeship is
for the Chinese community to become an integral part of the
main stream American society but with an appreciation of its
own cultural heritage. These types of art forms can help both
the newly adopted country and the new immigrants to understand
each other. The Chinese community can worship its heritage
and has a little taste of home tradition while the American
society is drawn to the beauty of the five thousand year old
culture. This will hopefully facilitate both the assimilation
of new immigrants and a fostering of understanding among all.
Accomplishments/milestones
1997 M.S., Arts Administration, Drexel University.
1993 B.F.A., Dance, The Juilliard School.
2002-present Light of Life Performing Arts, Ballet and Modern
Dance Master Teacher.
1999-present President, Chinese Culture & Arts Institute.
1997-present Artistic Director/Founder, Danse Nova, Kaohsiung,
Taiwan.
1996-present Omega Dance Company, Soloist.
1996-present Central Pennsylvania Chinese Association, Teacher
of Cultural Dance.
2001-2003 MHS School, Dance Teacher.
2001 Central Pennsylvania Chinese Association, Certificate
of Appreciation.
1999 Cathedral of St. John The Divine, Ballet and Cultural
Dance Teacher. Paris Opera Ballet School, Practical Teaching
Theory of Ballet.
1994-1995 The Berks Ballet Theater (Pennsylvania), Ballet
Mistress/Artistic Assistant.
1994 DePass Dance Company (Athens, Georgia), Guest Artist,
Performer, Ballet Instructor, Choreographer, Program Assistance.
1993-1994 The Boston Conservatory, Candidate for M.F.A., Major
in Dance, Scholarship and Assistantship.
1993 The Visual Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Guest Artistic Consultant.
1993 The First Asian Contemporary Dance Festival, New York.
1993 The Washington Ballet, Full Scholarship.
1989-1993 The Juilliard School, Scholarship and the Glick
Fellowship.
1992 Cross Culture Performance Program, Juilliard School/Lincoln
Center.
1990 Winner of Chinese-American Performing Arts Competition.
1987-1989 National Institute of the Arts, Taiwan.
Chen-Yu Tsuei has studied traditional Chinese
dance since she was five years old. She participated and won
many awards in the Chinese dance competitions through her
junior and senior high school years, and received more advanced
professional training including Chinese dance at the National
Institute of the Arts, a prestigious art college in Taiwan.
In 1989, she received a scholarship from the Juilliard School
in New York City to further her dance training there.
She is an active member of the Central Pennsylvania
Chinese Association (CPCA), a nonprofit civil association
of Chinese families and American families that have adopted
children from China, serving as its principal artist and on
its executive committee, and teaching numerous traditional
Chinese dances, Tai Chi Chuan, cooking lessons, and other
classes. She also designs, plans, choreographs, and performs
at CPCA’s annual Chinese New Year celebrations. These performances
at the annual celebrations are two hours long and involve
several dozen amateur performers from toddlers to retirees.
She is also the president and co-founder of the Chinese Culture
and Arts Institute, a nonprofit organization whose mission
is to promote cross-cultural understanding and appreciation
through arts.
Victoria Chou (Apprentice Artist)
Place of Birth: Atlanta, Georgia
Current Place of Residence: Mechanicsburg, PA
Artist Statement
My Chinese ethnic origin comes from my parents who both are
from Taiwan. I can speak Chinese fluently and am a member
of the Central Pennsylvania Chinese Association. Because of
my Chinese ethnic background, I am always amazed and interested
in Chinese arts and culture. About five years ago, I was registered
for a Chinese dance class offered by Chen-Yu Tsuei at the
Harrisburg Area Community College. In the dance class, Ms.
Tsuei taught not only the Chinese dance but also the Chinese
culture associated with the dance. The choreography of the
dances mixed with martial art and elegant movement. Each dance
she taught was so unique and from different dynasties. Because
of my flexibility, I can do many Chinese dance skills. I have
really enjoyed the excitement from the dance class and gotten
to know more about Chinese culture through her teaching.
Accomplishments/milestones
Victoria Chou is a student at Good Hope Middle School in
the Cumberland Valley School District. She started studying
ballet and tap dance at the age of four, and has studied Chinese
dance since 2000. Under the direction of master artist Chen-Yu
Tsuei, she has performed several dances, such as Tibet Dance,
Jingle Sticks Dance, Fan Dance, Drum Dance, Ribbon Dance,
and Dance of Miao Tribe, for local communities, at schools,
the Governor’s Mansion, the Hershey Company, and the Whitaker
Center. She is a class assistant for Ms. Tsuei’s younger dance
classes, which gives her “a chance to see dance from a different
point of view” and gives her confidence and appreciation for
the opportunity to enhance her skill and experience Chinese
dance and culture more fully.
Victoria Chou also participates in a range of other activities.
She plays the violin and piano, and was the first chair violinist
in school orchestra, participated in the Harrisburg Junior
Youth Orchestra, and, as a member of the Junior Wednesday
Club, has solo violin performances at the Whitaker Center
every year. Her performance on the piano has earned her the
Gold Medal in the MTA Dorothy Sutton Performance Festival
in 2002, the Sonatina Award in the National Piano Guild Audition
in 2002, and the Early Bach Award in the National Piano Guild
Audition in 2003. She also plays soccer and was part of a
tournament champion team in 2004. She is an honor student
and has won a school spelling bee and participated in a regionally-ranked
Math Counts team and a nationally ranked Knowledge Master
Open team.
Mary Glosenger (Apprentice)
Place of Birth: Goungdong Province, China
Current Place of Residence: Boiling Springs, PA
Artist Statement
My relationship to the master artist Chen-Yu Tsuei is special.
She has been my teacher since I first started studying dance.
She teaches me more than just dance but also discipline and
self-confidence. I want to work with Chen-Yu because she has
very high standards and teaches me to perform at my best.
I hope to achieve a higher level of technique and artistry
in my dance through studying with Chen-Yu. If she is happy
with my performance I know I have been successful. I think
our frequent performances at elementary schools, festivals
and other public performances show people the beauty of Chinese
music and dance. For people that are Chinese, these performances
make them proud of their heritage and remind them of music
and dance they enjoyed in China. For Chinese children growing
up in the U.S., these performances gives them a chance to
see the music and dance of China. For non-Chinese people it
gives them an opportunity to learn about and appreciate Chinese
music and dance. Learning and performing traditional Chinese
dance is very important to me. Chinese dance and the stories
and traditions that go with it are a connection to my Chinese
heritage.
Accomplishments/milestones
Mary Glosenger was born in China but has lived most of her
life in the United States. She began taking Chinese traditional
dance lessons when she was in first grade, studying with Chen-Yu
Tsuei first through the Central Pennsylvania Chinese Association
classes and now through the Chinese Cultural and Arts Institute
classes. Through her classes, she has learned a variety of
dances, including Xin Jiang Folk Dance, Chinese Fan Dance,
Drum Dance, Tibetan Dance, Ribbon Dance, and Miao Tribe Dance.
During the past year she has performed at a Families with
Children from Asia event, the Central Pennsylvania Chinese
Association’s New Year celebration, the Festival of Many Lands,
numerous elementary schools, the American Music Fest, the
Governor’s Mansion, a spring celebration at the Whitaker Center,
and the Chinese Cultural and Arts Institute Spring Recital
at HACC.
Mary Glosenger is a student at Iron Forge Elementary School,
where she has received straight A’s and has won an award for
Hardest Working Student and a third place ribbon in the Science
Fair. She attends Shiremanstown United Methodist Church, where
she participates in Kids Klub and Vacation Bible School and
serves as an acolyte.
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