My trips to China were learning experiences on every level. One of the most valuable things I learned was that my assumptions could easily lead me astray. For example, in 2003 on my first visit during Chinese New Year, I thought the best place to seek out the famous Fengyang Flower Drum Dance (Fengyanghuagu 凤阳花鼓, a Han folk dance) would be in rural areas of Fengyang county in Chuzhou 滁州, Anhui province, where the dance originated. I envisioned a vibrant folk dance scene with everyone performing the dance. Imagine my dismay when I arrived in Fengyang to discover that only professionals did Fengyanghuagu, and some of the general population didn’t know anything about it! Even more disappointing, as it was Chinese New Year the local song and dance troupe was away representing their community at celebrations in a major city. I should have followed Professor Wang’s advice and stayed in Beijing. It was easier to find vibrant examples of Han folk dances in the large cities, where troupes from rural villages would gather to perform and perfect the spectator-oriented dances. As an outsider, I had not realized that people who were actually passionate about their folk dances would have already been selected to represent their villages in major cities. While I did see some local dances in the streets of the rural villages in Ansai 安塞county in Yan’an 延安, Shaanxi Province—where I went after visiting Chuzhou—these performances were rough, informal events with limited technique and costuming.
![[59, 60] Informal street performances of Han folk dance in Ansai 安塞Township, Ansai 安塞county, Yan'an 延安. You can see the steep mountainside in the background of the picture. I traveled up the mountain the next day in order to see a marvelous performance of the Ansai Waist Drum Dance. Shaanxi Province 2003.](http://chinesedance.site.wesleyan.edu/files/2016/05/60-Informal-Han-folk-dance-in-street.jpeg)
Wang Yuxi王玉玺 and Yang Hua 杨华
In 2005 Professor Wang rescued me from my mistaken assumptions about Han folk dance when she introduced me to two of her former students, China’s Dragon Dance Masters Wang Yuxi王玉玺 and Yang Hua 杨华, who were the official producers of many local and national folk dance festivals, including the annual Chinese New Year Festivals in Beijing and the Guinness World Record Great Wall Dragon of 2000.
The following year I had the great pleasure of hosting Masters Wang and Yang at Wittenberg for a two-week residency, training my students in the dragon dance.
