Davis Projects for Peace Winner Announced
March 30, 2009
Posted: March 30, 2009
Dian Liu ’12, an accomplished dancer and choreographer in her native China, has been awarded a $10,000 Davis Peace Project grant in support of her “Dancing to Understanding” project. Liu’s proposal aims to promote peace and understanding between Tibetans and Han Chinese--the predominant ethnic group in China--by teaching the Chinese about traditional Tibetan dance.
Liu’s project will bring eight young Chinese choreographers to an intensive four-week Tibetan dance program this summer at the University of Tibet in Lhasa. The choreographers will then develop contemporary dance pieces to be performed at major dance festivals in China. The choreographers will also spread their knowledge of Tibetan dance through their own teaching and professional work, helping to bring Tibetan dance into the mainstream of Chinese contemporary dance. Liu is optimistic that the project will continue to thrive and spread once the initial summer program is completed.
“I have been thinking about this project for a very long time, even before I came to Mount Holyoke,” Liu said. “I can't wait to go back to China to do this project. I know there have been lots of protests and tensions. This project will enable many Han Chinese people to gain a better understanding of Tibet. And by preserving and promoting Tibetan dance, the Han Chinese will be sending a positive message to the Tibetan people that we respect and appreciate their culture.”
A cofounder and choreographer of the Guangzhou Free Will Stage Dance Company, Liu has participated in major dance festivals and taught dance in high schools and universities in southern China. She has the support and cooperation of Beijing CCD Workstation, one of the biggest and most influential nonprofit dance organizations in China.
Liu’s belief in the power of dance to educate and influence people was reinforced in the fall semester first-year seminar Politics and Dance, taught by associate dance professor Charles Flachs. Flachs described Liu as a “bright, articulate student with a wide range of interests and a fantastic ability to communicate with others.”
Liu is grateful for the help and support of her project advisor, Kim Parent, interim coordinator and advisor for fellowships, scholarships, and prelaw and graduate school. She also credits a CDC workshop titled "How to Work the Arts: Proposal Writing for Artists," presented by Marylloyd Claytor ’74, dance major and multidisciplinary artist.
According to Parent, Liu came to the Career Development Center even before the Davis Projects for Peace application process was announced. “This project is obviously something very dear to her heart,” Parent said. “She worked extremely hard on it. A proposal like this needs a lot of planning and thought and she had it all.”
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