NTD’s ninth International Classical Chinese Dance Competition saw over a hundred contestants from all over the world—all taking the stage in New York. After four days of competition, 12 of them took home the gold.
Before Sunday evening’s award ceremony, gold medalists from previous years showcased some of the best techniques in classical Chinese dance. Strings of difficult jumps and tumbles from male dancers won rounds of applause, while the female dancers’ graceful movements presented the elegance and gentleness of ancient Chinese women.
This year, 12 contestants from the junior and adult divisions were honored with the top award.
The competition aims to promote authentic Chinese culture—traditions that have nearly been lost, destroyed by the Chinese Communist Party over the past several decades.
“After winning, I just have a bigger responsibility to revive this culture,” said Marilyn Yang, a gold medalist in the adult female division.
Carol Huang, who won gold in the junior female division, said, “I’m really happy, I think it’s an encouragement for me to continue the path of dancing. Now I know my direction better. I hope in the future, I can bring to the audience more works that can inspire the goodness in them and that conveys beautiful messages.”
This year’s gold medalists also brought a special dance component to the stage. A long-lost dance technique known as “the body leads the hands and the hips lead the legs.” The method teaches dancers that the power behind their movements comes from the center of the body.
“There’s actually so much behind it, and the more you go into it, the more interesting it gets. And it just adds so much to dance. It’s like a different world from regular dance,” said junior female division gold medalist Lilian Parker.
On stage, the dancers portrayed some of the best-known figures in Chinese history—from talented scholars to loyal generals to great beauties in ancient China—presenting a concise version of the country’s 5,000 years of civilization.
The competition aims to foster cultural exchange and promote purely authentic traditional dance—bringing its purity and goodness to light.
Many contestants came to the competition with the same aspiration.
Stanley Lin, a gold medalist in the adult male division, said, “I hope to bring the most traditional Chinese classical dance to the world, so that people around the world will know that classical dance is really good.”
Yang added, “What comes with winning gold is the responsibility to bring the highest art form I can to more people around the world.”
The contestants say they’ll continue pursuing new highs in their training—to reach new levels in their artistic journeys.
