Zhang Jigang 张继钢

Through Professor Wang’s efforts, I was able to interview the renowned choreographer Zhang Jigang on my very first visit to China in 1999, and I visited him and his wife again in 2003. We kept in touch over the years. When his military dance troupe was performing in Ohio in 2001, Zhang and his dancers visited at my home and gave a lecture demonstration at Wittenberg University. While on tour the troupe did not use their official title—People’s Liberation Army Song and Dance Ensemble—but rather toured under the name “August Rising.” Despite the name change, Chinese people in Ohio knew it was Zhang Jigang’s troupe and tickets sold out rapidly.