In 1983, a student at the Beijing Dance Academy named Jiamin Huang waited in line all night to see an American performing group called the Young Ambassadors.
Jiamin was so impressed by the performers, she was certain they came from a professional dance and arts school.
“It was a heart-touching show and I remember feeling a certain light and spirit as they performed,” she recalled. “All we knew at the time was that they came from a school called Brigham Young University.”
This spring, 28 years after that introduction to BYU’s performing arts programs, Jiamin was back in China again, this time representing Brigham Young University in a stirring performance by another BYU performing arts group.
The BYU dance professor was on hand as the Beijing Dance Academy and the BYU Chamber Orchestra joined for the premiere of her 22-minute choreographed piece “When We Encounter.” While the two institutions have collaborated in multiple ways, it was the first ever joint public performance between them and the most significant collaboration ever undertaken between BYU and a Chinese arts institution.
“If we can keep this relationship going it will bring benefits for both sides,” Jiamin said. “When you have a firsthand experience to observe – in this case, our performing students – you can see their true value. I want more people to see our beliefs, what we really value and how we educate our young people.”
An hour prior to the performance, officials from both schools signed a letter of cooperation with a promise to work together in the future for more collaborative efforts.
“The relationships we have developed through our touring efforts are now connecting to other academic efforts, like study abroad, internships, and faculty development opportunities,” said Dean Stephen Jones of BYU’s College of Fine Arts & Communications. “Touring is now something in a suite of academic undertakings. It really strengthens BYU’s position in the world and the capacity of our students to learn in new and meaningful ways.”
BYU performing groups have been traveling to China since 1979, performing there 26 out of the past 32 years. But it wasn’t until the mid-90s that BYU and the Beijing Dance Academy began developing their relationship, thanks in large part to Huang’s work, Jones said.
During that time, BYU has sent hundreds of dance and music students to study and participate in cultural exchange experiences in Beijing. Over the same period, BYU has also welcomed students, faculty and administrators from the BDA for workshops and scholarly exchanges.
Jiamin has been heavily involved in the cultural exchange since coming to BYU in 1996 with her husband. She says her experience in 1983 watching the Young Ambassadors perform served as motivation when she and her husband decided to move to Provo for graduate school.
“I remember thinking, ‘One day, I should go to this university,’” Jiamin recalled. “Ten years later, my husband got a scholarship specifically to study at BYU. It was a confirmation that I needed to be at BYU.”
After finishing her BYU Master of Arts degree, with a modern dance performance and choreography emphasis, Jiamin was later appointed as a part-time instructor of dance at BYU and eventually hired as an associate professor.
Jiamin also converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after moving to Utah. Her first interaction with Western religion occurred when a friend in Utah invited her to church.
When she heard the BYU Chamber Orchestra was going to perform in China, at Dean Jones’ suggestion, she contacted her colleagues at the Beijing Dance Academy and organized the collaborative piece.
Kory Katseanes and the BYU Chamber Orchestra performed both Chinese and American music for the four-piece performance, titled “When We Encounter: Dance and Music from East to West.”
The performance aired several times on May 29 and May 30 on China’s CCTV.
