The Art of Chinese Fan Dancing
By: Sarah Swistak
Updated: February 1, 2013
While the rest of the world is preparing for the Chinese New Year, one local group of students plan to celebrate the occasion in their own special way.
"At Young Scholars, we have Chinese New Year and International Mother Language Day on February 8th. It starts at 1:30 p.m. and it's open to the public. We invite the public to come and enjoy our celebration," said Chinese Teacher Jing Ling.
That celebration includes a special performance by one of the school's after school clubs, the Chinese Fan Dance Club.
"I have 8 girls here. They practice once a week. They do a fabulous job," said Ling.
Practice is important, because in this style of dancing, so is precision.
"Because it's kind of team work. So they have to make sure they're in the team and it looks beautiful."
Chinese teacher Jing Ling is the coach of the club, and she says she works hard to pass along the traditional moves of that culture, and that included teaching me a thing or two.
"For Chinese Fan Dance, we have a wave to use the fan to show the wave. So if I have two fans, and I will use those two fans to do the movement like this. For each individual they have to do like this. So, when they're together, it's like a wave that should be beautiful," said Ling.
Should be, being the key words, but Sarah was willing to give it a shot, but if you really want to see some good dancing, you should watch this club perform. And we were lucky enough to get a sneak peak of their big performance.
You can too! Just watch the above video!
If you'd like to see the Chinese Fan Dancers perform live, just head on down to the Chinese New Year and International Mother Language Day Celebration at the Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania Charter School on February 8th from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. The event is open to the public, but pre-registration is required.


