English text by June Fakkert
Chinese text by Crescent Dai
When Victor Li’s parents suggested that he follow his gregarious older brother’s footsteps and audition for an elite dance school in upstate New York, he agreed to give it a try, and by a fortunate stroke of serendipity, he passed the audition.
Upon entering the prestigious dance school, challenges began to materialize. “It was very tiring and painful,” Victor recalled of his early training. Nevertheless, despite the pain and hardships, something inside of him propelled him to keep going.
Li is now a principal dancer at Shen Yun Performing Arts, the world’s top classical Chinese dance company. Li is outgoing and confident, driven by a keen sense of purpose to share his passion for Chinese culture with audiences around the world.
Although his career has taken him to perform on stages across continents, being a classical Chinese dancer is equally—if not more—about the inward journey.
Born into a family full of artists, Victor Li believes that it’s his destiny to dance. After years of rigorous and intensive training in classical Chinese dance, he has become a principal dancer in Shen Yun Performing Arts, the premier classical Chinese dance and music company. (Courtesy of Daniel Ulrich)
From Imitation to Inner Feeling
The movements of classical Chinese dance were developed throughout different Chinese dynasties, and they reflect the unique culture of different eras. The fullest expression of the dance is achieved when meaning motivates the gestures, and they arise from a dancer’s inner feeling.
Li said that it has taken him years to develop “inner feelings” for dance. When he started, he said, he would just copy what he saw older dancers doing. It took years of practice, but slowly and surely, he began developing a sense for the meaning behind the movements.
Victor Li performs in A Passage in Time, a dance based on a romantic fairy tale about a young man’s sojourn through a Taoist abode. (Courtesy of Shen Yun Performing Arts)
It is also the case that a dancer’s personality informs the movements, and not everyone can play all roles. In the 2012 NTD International Classical Chinese Dance Competition, he chose the role of a king from China’s late Spring and Autumn Period, and he didn’t place in the competition. Afterward, in history class, Li learned that the king had a vengeful side that didn’t suit his personality.
For later competitions, he chose scholarly characters or themes, even though he thought it would be fun to dance the role of a general. It was only last year that he felt ready to take on a more martial figure. He chose a scholar who “laid down the pen to take up the sword” because he felt a duty and love for his country.
Duty has also been a theme in Li’s life for the past several years. In 2016, he became a principal dancer and simultaneously took on the role of supporting newer dancers. He takes this responsibility seriously, and always goes the extra mile.
He recalled how as a young dancer, he watched and learned from older ones—not only to observe their dance moves but also to see how they acted offstage. So, he does his best to set a good example, joining his troupe for extra practice in the mornings and staying with them late into the evenings to be sure that everyone has mastered the day’s lesson.
This kind of commitment and determination is a key part of the mindset of a successful artist. In traditional Chinese culture, it was held that an artist’s state of mind to a great extent determined the quality of their art. Sincere optimism is also an important part of this mindset. Being an artist is a path riddled with difficulty and challenges; in order to succeed, Li has come to view setbacks and mistakes as opportunities to strengthen himself. He has also found that it is important to let go of negativity, because no matter how well-justified it feels, it is counterproductive to his art. “[They’re] for me to improve,” he said of situations that upset him.
Being able to mentally overcome difficult situations has allowed him to appreciate the struggle and sacrifice of people in the past, and has helped him understand the inner feelings of classical Chinese dance.
In the 2018 NTD International Classical Chinese Dance Competition, Victor Li won Silver in the adult male division for his captivating performance in Laying Down the Pen to Join the Army. (Courtesy of Edward Dye)
Family Circle
Had he been able to grow up near his extended family, a younger Li might have been inspired to become an artist as a young child. In China, where he was born, his mother and several of his aunts and uncles were professional performers.
However, because of their spiritual beliefs, his parents were forced to flee China when Li was a baby. After years as refugees, they were allowed to come to Canada in 2001.
Growing up in Canada, Li had little connection to his culture and roots. He said that he didn’t at all “feel Chinese.” However, distance did not change his destiny to dance, and Shen Yun’s mission to revive China’s 5,000 years of divinely inspired culture is important and personal to Victor’s family.
For millennia, Chinese people felt that their culture was given to them by gods, and reverence for the spiritual was a belief carried through all of China’s dynasties. By contrast, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to power, it tried to make atheism the foundation for society, carrying out numerous campaigns aimed at suppressing spiritual beliefs.
In 1999, it banned the practice of Falun Gong, the spiritual practice of Li’s parents. The core of the practice are the principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance, and adherents are encouraged to work on themselves so that their conduct in daily life aligns with these principles.
Li and his family practice Falun Gong, and his mother and younger sister have also performed with Shen Yun. His mother said she was glad for him to dance with the company because she felt that it would be a healthy environment for him to learn and grow, and that it would allow him to do great good for society. “Shen Yun portrays traditional, pure, and beautiful Chinese culture, which was all lost or deviated under the CCP’s ruling in China.” Li said.
Becoming a dancer with Shen Yun has given Li a connection to his true heritage, and a respect for people of the past: “From history, you can learn from what has happened to the people before, what’s good and what’s bad, what’s right, what’s wrong. … There are so many stories you can look back at and solve your problem or situation better,” he said.
In classical Chinese dance, there is a principle that in order to go a certain way, you must first go the opposite direction. Not only is this aesthetically pleasing, but it also has an inner meaning that arises from the understanding in Chinese philosophy that the energies of yin and yang (dark and light) must be kept in balance.
Li and his family had to go West to find the true essence of the East. In order to succeed, they first went through great hardship—but like his ancestors, Li believes that the hands of destiny were guiding them all throughout.
Born into a family full of artists, Victor Li believes that it’s his destiny to dance. After years of rigorous and intensive training in classical Chinese dance, he has become a principal dancer in Shen Yun Performing Arts, the premier classical Chinese dance and music company. (Courtesy of Daniel Ulrich)
“I believe in predestination and consider myself blessed to have been born into a family of artists and become one myself,” Li said. “Trying to fulfill my destiny is what motivates me to work harder, and what pushes me to get up when I am down.”
