Chen-Yu Tsuei

I first noticed Chen-Yu on a hot Sunday morning at the tail end of summer, as I was trying to squeeze myself into the narrow strip of shade cast by a pillar outside of the Pennsylvania State Museum. I was there for the opening of an exhibit that a friend of mine had put together, and with several performance groups remaining in the program lineup, I knew I needed to give my body some relief from the heat if I was going to be able to enjoy any part of the rest of the event.

I made my way through staggered rows of folding chairs when I noticed children wearing brightly-colored and elaborately-decorated matching outfits coming up front to perform. Near them was a tiny person, with impossibly long hair. Brown, braided, and lively at the bottom where it swished around the backs of her knees, it was an indication of the energy I would come to know in my meetings with Chen-Yu.

Chen-Yu introduced her students to the audience and gave us a very brief tutorial on the history of Chinese dance. Because Chinese culture and the arts have been preserved for more than five thousand years without interruption, this is not easy to do in a few sentences. It made me eager to schedule an appointment and talk to her more in depth about this beautiful artform that has its roots in classical dance, but because of the importance that it has to the Chinese cultural community, it is also considered to be an important traditional art. Chen-Yu pointed out that 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. 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.

Making connections: Have you thought about what the difference is between classical art forms and art forms that are considered “folk” or “traditional?” For example, you may have a little sister or friend that takes classical ballet lessons. The ballet is a classical artform that has highly stylized moves that one learns from a person who has gone to a school or conservatory to study. However, traditional dances are often those dances that a person can learn in their community as social dances (like square dances) or on the streets (like krumping and crunking). What do you think is important about passing on traditional dances? Do you know any dances that you would call traditional? What about classical styles?

I soon got to meet Chen-Yu at the Chinese Cultural & Arts Institute (CCAI), a school of Chinese traditional arts that she and her husband co-founded here in the Harrisburg region. It is a non-profit organization, and its mission is to both introduce Chinese culture and arts, as well as to further continue this five thousand year old great heritage in the US society, and to help facilitate and nurture an understanding between the East and West culture.

Because many of the students at the Institute are young girls adopted by families here in the United States, the importance of teaching cultural traditions and heritage through the arts to the girls and their parents is of great importance.

As we began the interview, Chen-Yu Tsuei first told me a little bit about her background. She was born in Taiwan and began learning to dance when she was only five years old. Her mother noticed Chen-Yu's natural ability, and as Chen-Yu advanced through each level of dance she studied, Chen-Yu continued choosing to learn the Chinese classical dance.

In 1989, she received a scholarship from the Juilliard School in New York City to further her dance training there. Chen-Yu’s parents had impressed upon her the importance of higher education, and after graduating from Julliard, Chen-Yu enrolled in a dance program at the Boston Conservatory as well. Following her time in Boston, Chen-Yu considered returning to Taiwan “for good,” since her parents’ health was declining. Ultimately, though, Chen-Yu decided to remain in the U.S. to pursue an MA in Arts Management at Drexel University. She found that this was an important component that would also enrich her arts focus.

Connecting to our lives: How do the expectations of your family affect your career choices? Is there an occupation that many people in your family have done? Are you expected to do this too? Write down what you want to be when you grow up and think about how your family and culture may have influenced this dream.

About three months before Chen-Yu submitted her thesis, she was contacted by Mr. David Shih, who was the president of Central Pennsylvania Chinese Association. Although not formally trained, Mr. Shih had a deep appreciation for Chinese arts, and was interested in expanding Chinese holiday celebrations in central Pennsylvania to include some aspect of the performing arts. Mr. Shih got in touch with what is now the Taipei Economic Cultural Center, an embassy of sorts, where Chen-Yu happened to be an intern. He was looking for a volunteer to prepare a handful of untrained and unlikely dancers [mostly mothers] to perform at the next Chinese New Year celebration in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The person who answered his phone call didn’t think she could offer him much help. After all, what accomplished dancer in her right mind would be willing to drive four hours to a place she’d never been, teach a dance to a tiny, inexperienced group, and drive another four hours to get back home – all for no pay?

“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.”

While she didn’t immediately move to Harrisburg following this job, instead working with the Omega Dance company in New York City, by 2000 she was back in Harrisburg where she knew that she could make a difference within the Chinese community. She told me, “The reason I'm doing this is not because I'm Chinese… but because of the large population of adopted girls and their mothers... (I) had the skills/knowledge they were looking for.” This passion to connect others with the rich heritage she inherited is clear throughout her work.

When she was first in Harrisburg, the early rehearsals took place wherever space could be found, including in classrooms full of desks and chairs that had to be pushed against the walls before dancing could begin, a medical center, dusty and carpeted surfaces without mirrors, and the Hershey racquetball and yoga studio which had a low ceiling but good floors. Eventually they found a building and began renovations in the summer of 2005. At present, the building offers three separate classrooms for instruction in Chinese language and visual arts, as well as a large studio for dance classes, martial arts, and other physical activities.