I met Professor Wang Kefen on my initial visit to mainland China in 1999. As the foremost dance history scholar in the nation, she was someone I knew I must interview. But I never envisioned the breadth of the worlds she would open for me, nor how much guidance she would give me as I sought to find my roots in Chinese dance. In 2000 she took me to see the graduation concert at the Dance Academy of the Central University for Nationalities中央民 族大学舞蹈学院, the first dance concert I attended in China, and a remarkable introduction to the wealth of Minority dances that were explored in the academies. Later, she traveled to Ohio to give lectures on Chinese Dance History at Wittenberg and other universities. She stayed at my home and I felt as though a treasured elder family member was sharing her life and wisdom with us, both through her presence and through the stories she told.
