BEAUTY IN MOTION, WE ALWAYS HAVE THE SOMETIMES IF YOU SEE THE MONGOLIA DANCE, KOREA DANCE, IT’S BIG STANDARD DANCE. BUT THERE ARE CHINESE DANCE BECAUSE WE ALSO SHARE THE NATIONALITY WITH THEM. OWNER AND INSTRUCTOR YEN LAI WU IS A WORLD ACCLAIMED PROFESSIONAL DANCER HERSELF, STARS GETTING PROFESSIONAL TRAINING AT THE AGE OF 12, SHE WAS HANDPICKED TO ATTEND THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS DANCE ACADEMY IN CHINA. SHE CO-FOUNDED THE STUDIO IN 2004 WITH A FELLOW PROFESSIONAL DANCER. SHE SAID SHE GOT THE IDEA OF OPENING A SCHOOL HERE IN PITTSBURGH AFTER SEEING ONE IN TEXAS. I JUST TALKED TO MY SCHOOLMATE, YING LEE AND JAMIE, WHO IS THE PITTSBURGH BALLET PRINCIPAL DANCER AT THAT TIME. SO THEN THEY SAID, OKAY, WHY ARE YOU NOT COME HERE, PITTSBURGH? BECAUSE HERE NEVER HAVE A CHINESE DANCE SCHOOL. SHE. NOW, ALMOST 20 YEARS LATER, THE SCHOOL TEACHES A WIDE ARRAY OF CHINESE DANCE. THE STUDENTS RANGING IN AGE FROM THREE TO ADULTS, EVER EVERY STUDENT WHO ENROLLS AT YAN LAI LEARNS BALLET, HAVE DONE THE BIG ONE, AND THE SCHOOL ALREADY HAS EMBRACED MODERN DANCE TEACHING K-POP. YOU CAN GO ANYWHERE TO GET BALLET, JAZZ, BUT YOU CAN’T GO ANYWHERE FOR CHINESE DANCE BUT HERE. AND IT’S REALLY JUST ABOUT BEAUTY IN THE PRESERVATION OF CULTURE AND TRADITION FROM CHINA, LUCY CHEN STARTED AT THE SCHOOL IN 2005 WHEN SHE WAS SIX YEARS OLD. IT WAS A GREAT WAY FOR ME TO PERSONALLY CONNECT WITH MY CULTURE. MY DAD IS CHINESE AND HE’S ACTUALLY SECOND GENERATION, GREW UP IN THE STATES, SO IT WAS A GREAT WAY FOR ME TO ALSO CONNECT WITH MY GRANDPARENTS AND THE CULTURE THAT THEY CAME FROM. NOW, AFTER GRADUATING FROM YEN LAI AND MOVING AWAY FOR COLLEGE, SHE IS BACK NOW AS ONE OF THE INSTRUCTORS TEACHING THE NEXT GENERATION. IT’S SO GOOD TO SEE THEM AND SHOW THEIR PROGRESS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AND HOW MUCH SKILLS THEY’VE DEVELOPED AND HOW MUCH THEY’VE LEARNED ABOUT OTHER CULTURES IN THEIR OWN CULTURE AS WELL. AS MUCH LIKE LUCY, MANY OF THE OTHER DANCERS AT YEN LAI USE THE LESSONS THEY LEARNED AT THE STUDIO AS A WAY TO EXPRESS DANCE AND TO EMBRACE THEIR CULTURE, ESPECIALLY FOR THE YOUNGER ONES. I THINK FOR MY DAUGHTER, AS AMERICAN BORN CHINESE KID, THEY OFTEN HAVE THIS QUESTION LIKE THEY’RE IDENTITY. I FEEL LIKE WHEN I DANCE, WHEN I SHOW HER LIKE, SEE, THIS IS A CHANCE THAT FOR YOU TO LEARN CHINESE CULTURE. FROM THE YOUNGEST STUDENTS TO THE ADULTS, CHINESE BORN, AMERICAN BORN OR NOT ASIAN AT ALL. IT’S A WAY OF EXPRESSING PASSION AND APPRECIATION FOR CULTURE UNLIKE ANY OTHER. JUST SO BEAUTIFULLY STUNNING. MUCH OF THE VIDEO YOU JUST SAW WAS FROM THEIR RECITAL BACK IN FEBRUARY AT THE AUGUST WILSON CENTER. IT WAS THEIR FIRST TIME BACK ON STAGE AFTER THREE YEARS BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE YEN LAI DANCE
Yanlai Dance Academy shares Chinese culture through music and motion
Yanlai Dance Academy teaches Chinese dance, as well as ballet and K-Pop
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Updated: 7:28 PM EDT May 5, 2023
On the outside, it appears to be like any other shopping plaza along Babcock Boulevard in Ross Township.But once you’re inside Yanlai Dance Academy, you are transported an ocean away, coming face-to-face with beauty in motion. You are immersed in the history, tradition, and grace of Chinese dance.“Sometimes when you see Mongolian dance, Korean dance, Uzbekistan dance, but they are Chinese dance," said owner Yanlai Wu. “Because we also share a nationality with them.”Wu, a world-acclaimed professional dancer herself, started professional training at the age of 12. She was hand-picked to attend the Beijing Dance Academy, the most prestigious dance school in China. Wu co-founded the dance studio in 2003 with fellow professional dancer Ying Li. Wu says she came up with the idea of opening a school in Pittsburgh after seeing one like it in Houston, Texas."I talked to my schoolmates who were the Pittsburgh Ballet principal dancers at that time,” says Wu. “Then they said, ‘OK why not come here, to Pittsburgh, because we’ve never had a Chinese dance school,'"Now almost 20 years later, Yanlai Dance Academy teaches a wide array of Chinese dance, created by different ethnicities and regions across the world’s most populous country. Additionally, all students learn ballet, Wu says, as an important foundation to train their bodies and improve their grace, flexibility, and strength. Embracing modern trends, the school also offers classes inspired by K-Pop music, groups, and culture."You can do anywhere to get ballet or jazz. But you can't go anywhere for Chinese dance except for here,” said dancer and instructor Charis Styslinger. “And it’s really just about beauty and the preservation of culture and tradition from China.”Lucy Chen became a student at Yanlai Dance Academy in 2005 when she was 6 years old."It was a great way for me to personally connect with my culture; my dad is Chinese and he’s actually second generation, grew up in the states," Chen said. “So, it was also a great way for me to connect with my grandparents and the culture they came from.”Now, after moving away to attend college, she is back as one of the instructors at Yanlai, teaching the next generation.“It’s so good to see them and show their progress throughout the year and how much skills they've developed and how much they've learned about other cultures and their own cultures as well,” said Chen.Much like Chen, many of the other dancers use the lessons they learn at the dance academy as a way to experience and embrace their culture, especially, for the younger students."I think for my daughter, as an American-born Chinese, they often have, question their identify,” said student Ming Ni. “I feel like when I dance, when I show her, like see, this is a chance for you to learn Chinese culture."For all ages, dance is a way of expressing passion and appreciation for culture unlike any other.Click here to learn more about the Yanlai Dance Academy.
ROSS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — On the outside, it appears to be like any other shopping plaza along Babcock Boulevard in Ross Township.
But once you’re inside Yanlai Dance Academy, you are transported an ocean away, coming face-to-face with beauty in motion. You are immersed in the history, tradition, and grace of Chinese dance.
“Sometimes when you see Mongolian dance, Korean dance, Uzbekistan dance, but they are Chinese dance," said owner Yanlai Wu. “Because we also share a nationality with them.”
Wu, a world-acclaimed professional dancer herself, started professional training at the age of 12. She was hand-picked to attend the Beijing Dance Academy, the most prestigious dance school in China. Wu co-founded the dance studio in 2003 with fellow professional dancer Ying Li. Wu says she came up with the idea of opening a school in Pittsburgh after seeing one like it in Houston, Texas.
"I talked to my schoolmates who were the Pittsburgh Ballet principal dancers at that time,” says Wu. “Then they said, ‘OK why not come here, to Pittsburgh, because we’ve never had a Chinese dance school,'"
Now almost 20 years later, Yanlai Dance Academy teaches a wide array of Chinese dance, created by different ethnicities and regions across the world’s most populous country. Additionally, all students learn ballet, Wu says, as an important foundation to train their bodies and improve their grace, flexibility, and strength. Embracing modern trends, the school also offers classes inspired by K-Pop music, groups, and culture.
"You can do anywhere to get ballet or jazz. But you can't go anywhere for Chinese dance except for here,” said dancer and instructor Charis Styslinger. “And it’s really just about beauty and the preservation of culture and tradition from China.”
Lucy Chen became a student at Yanlai Dance Academy in 2005 when she was 6 years old.
"It was a great way for me to personally connect with my culture; my dad is Chinese and he’s actually second generation, grew up in the states," Chen said. “So, it was also a great way for me to connect with my grandparents and the culture they came from.”
Now, after moving away to attend college, she is back as one of the instructors at Yanlai, teaching the next generation.
“It’s so good to see them and show their progress throughout the year and how much skills they've developed and how much they've learned about other cultures and their own cultures as well,” said Chen.
Much like Chen, many of the other dancers use the lessons they learn at the dance academy as a way to experience and embrace their culture, especially, for the younger students.
"I think for my daughter, as an American-born Chinese, they often have, question their identify,” said student Ming Ni. “I feel like when I dance, when I show her, like see, this is a chance for you to learn Chinese culture."
For all ages, dance is a way of expressing passion and appreciation for culture unlike any other.
Click here to learn more about the Yanlai Dance Academy.
