The Art of Ethnic Chinese Dance ~ Luo Yi

Luo Yi in ceremonial costume. Shan: You have done some interesting work with Guilin Chinese cultural dance. How did you get started as a dancer? Luo Yi: My father had a musical background and played the erhu, the two stringed bamboo Chinese instrument played with a bow.  His company sponsored a big Chinese Spring Festival every year and I got to observe and at the age of six began to participate in rehearsals, including dance and musical performances.  Early on I was taught the stretching exercises and dance moves.  At 10, I learned to play the accordion.  I was chosen to attend a special school with a traveling college group that focused my studies on dance for six months. Then I spent the next three years performing in schools for assemblies and festivals in Guangxi and Hunnan Provinces not far from my hometown of Guilin.   Later, I received a scholarship to major in Music and Dance at the University for the Arts of Guangxi in Nanning, China. After graduation, I began teaching in schools and colleges for 20 years while also receiving my Masters degree in classical piano, voice, and dance instruction.  Rehearsing in her studio.

Traditional Tai Chi Fan Dance. Luo Yi and her sister Luo Li performing with other children. Playing the two-string erhu at a tea house on the        Li River.   Photos compliments of Luo Yi.

Yi traditional costume.

Shan: Can you share some of the details of how you preserve the historic significance of this kind of dance? Luo Yi: Guilin is in an area of China where many minority cultures live and have maintained their folk dances and costumes.  Almost 97% of the Chinese are of the Han majority.  I studied their traditional dances but mostly the local cultures of my own Yao ancestry and those of the Miao, the Zhuang, the Dong and Yi peoples.  Then later studied the Uygur, Dai, Tibetan and Chinese Korean.  I spent hours and hours designing and making costumes for myself and dance troupes that I have choreographed.  The history of China was of special interest to me and I was especially influenced by ancient classical dances of the Han Dynasty [200 B.C.] and Tang Dynasties [663 A.D.]   With students in minority dance performance.

5th Century Dance performance. Luo Yi is preparing a special program for Chinese New Year.  Year of the Dragon begins January 23rd. It is believed to be one of the most auspicious years in the Chinese calendar.

Shan: What was your most memorable experience? Luo Yi: My most memorable moment was in 2003, when I sent some pictures of myself in dance costumes to my new artist friend Thom in America.  He then wanted to come to China to meet me and my family, see me dance, and observe me teaching my students. He came to China twice before my daughter and I came to visit him in America. We have now been married six years. After only three days in America, I got a call to help choreograph dances for the local Chinese New Year and Spring Festival at the University of Oklahoma, where I make my home with my husband Thom Renbarger.

More about ancient Chinese costumes.

A fascinating link to ancient Chinese Ethnic Groups with photos of people and their costumes by Chen Haiwen in his "Family Portrait" series of the minority peoples of China: http://www.chinatoday.com/people/china_ethnic_achang.htm

China’s 56 Minority Ethnic groups include the following. 

Achang Family     Bai Family     Blang Family     Bonan Family     Bouyei Family     Dai Family     Daur Family     De'ang Family     Derung Family     Dong Family     Dongxiang Family     Ewenki Family     Gelao Family     Han Family     Hani Family     Hezhen Family     Hui Family     Jing Family     Jingpo Family

Jino Family     Kazak Family     Kirgiz Family     Korean Family     Lahu Family     Lhoba Family     Li Family     Lisu Family     Manchu Family     Maonan Family     Miao Family     Monba Family     Mongol Family     Mulam Family     Naxi Family     Nu Family     Oroqen Family     Ozbek Family     Pumi Family

Qiang Family     Russian Family     Salar Family     She Family     Sui Family     Taiwan Family     Tajik Family     Tatar Family     Tibetan Family     Tu Family     Tujia Family     Uygur Family     Va Family     Xibe Family     Yao Family     Yi Family     Yugur Family     Zhuang Family

Shän Boggs is a writer and editor living in California. Her interests include science, technology, the environment, health, education, multimedia, art, and gourmet cooking. She is the author of a cookbook series for people with food sensitivities.

Horses Would Most Like to Whisper to ~ Jim Masterson

Jim travels the world as a physical therapist and bodyworker to some of the world’s top performance horses, from hunter-jumpers to trotters, racehorses to Olympic endurance competitors – as well as horses that are regarded as beloved family members.

Horse whisperer. Horse therapist. A horse’s best friend. All descriptions that come to mind with Jim Masterson in his very special work with horses.   Photos compliments of Jim Masterson.

 

To watch the way horses interact with Jim – is pure magic. For the casual observer, the first thing you would notice is how a thousand pound animal goes from a survival response and being on guard to becoming puddy in his hands in a matter of minutes.

With each expert move Jim applies to a tender or tight muscle, the horse responds with less and less resistance. Eventually, he is able to gain complete cooperation from his charge that allows him to bend and twist a horse into a position that might remind you of a pretzel – for the purpose of stretching important muscles in the poll, neck/shoulder/withers junction, and sacro/lumbar junction. Some horses have even been known to lie down after a good massage and go to sleep. Just like a human.

For horse owners accustomed to a cantankerous, obstinate, or independent personality – the transformation from errant teenager to docile, sweet, cooperative, and adoring being is a sight to see.  Jim has pinpointed different levels of relaxation that include eye blinking, yawning, lip licking, shifting of feet, snorting, showing teeth, neck stretching, and shaking of the head.

Some horses go out of their way to give Jim an affectionate lick or nudge. This cross specie communication is an absolute delight to see.

Jim Masterson may very well be the person horses would most like to whisper to – and say, “thank you.”

SHAN: How does physical therapy for the horse help performance horses reach their goals? JIM: Horses are similar to people in that they are not perfectly symmetrical. For example, they have a stronger, more predominant side, and a shorter or a longer leg, the same as most people.  Under the stress of work, this asymmetry can develop into imbalanced muscle tension patterns that can pull the horse’s body out of alignment or eventually lead to lameness.

Bodywork can help release imbalanced tension patterns that cause the horse discomfort or pain, and impede performance.

SHAN: What changes have you witnessed in this type of horse care since you came on board? JIM: Interest in massage, bodywork, and “alternative therapies” for horses is booming. I think that certain therapies, such as cranial-sacral and acupuncture, are just as effective, if not more, on horses than on humans.

I think with horses there is less clutter between what’s going on with their body, and their brain or nervous system. They are in the moment. While you’re working on a horse, he’s not lying there thinking, “this isn’t working,” or “what’s this gonna cost me,” or “if I come home to spaghetti one more time, I’m gonna….” Humans can spend thousands of dollars learning to be “in the moment,” and it can last a few minutes, or seconds at a time. For horses it’s natural. Even more veterinarians are learning and using acupuncture and chiropractic.

 

Masterson seminar in Palo Alto, California. Jim loves teaching what he knows and has launched a physical therapy certificate program for horse-owners, which is accredited through the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork Organization for continuing education units. He travels the globe holding trainings in Ireland, England, Germany, Australia, Canada, and the United States.

See Jim in action by going to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm5cBrJc9Io&feature=related    For more information about Jim Masterson’s method and his DVD and recently completed book, “BEYOND HORSE MASSAGE: THE MASTERSON METHOD” or his worldwide training schedule, please visit http://www.mastersonmethod.com and seminars@mastersonmethod.com  or call 641-472-1312

Shän Boggs is a writer and editor living in California. Her interests include science, technology, the environment, health, education, multimedia, art, and gourmet cooking.