Dancing without hearing the instructions and compliments of a great teacher and friend takes a while to get used to, Martha Graham Dance Company principal dancer Sheu Fang-yi (許芳宜) said recently when reminiscing about Lo Man-fei (羅曼菲), who passed away late last month.
Well-known choreographer and dancer Lo, who died of lung cancer on March 24, was Sheu's teacher and instructor since her freshman year in college.
Sheu said the 15-year relationship "felt more like being friends" rather than a teacher and student.
"I miss her voice, instructions, compliments and that simple gaze. She was like a proud mother who would tell everyone that her daughter was the best dancer. I got confidence from her confidence in me," Sheu said.
Lo's confidence in Sheu was not blind faith. Sheu, who left Taiwan in 1995 to pursue her dancing career in the US, was rated by the US' Dance Magazine as among the 25 most talented dancers of last year.
Sheu also received the Order of the Brilliant Star from President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) last May and was one of the "Top Ten Rising Stars" selected by CNA this year.
"She was always a person who looked on the bright side of life. It seemed to me there was nothing she couldn't handle. As late as last December, when her condition was worsening, she still worked with me and the troupe every day -- and looked energetic," Sheu said.
Playing the lead role in Lo's last choreographic work brings mixed feelings for Sheu. She feels proud to perform Lo's work but has to control her emotions carefully because the dance makes her think of her late teacher.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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