About us
About us
The Boise Traditional Chinese Dance Group was started in 2004 as a cultural enrichment after-school program for the Boise Modern Chinese School. Over the years, the program has grown from one dance class to four dance classes and a performance group including both adult and children dancers, while still under the Boise Modern Chinese School. The two missions of the group are
Hua Yan is the founder and head instructor of the Boise Traditional Chinese Dance Group. She received the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship from the Idaho Commission on the Arts in 2005, 2007 and 2009. Besides teaching dancing, Hua has also taught the Chinese language in the Chinese school for 10 years. She was named a “Rotary distinguished Educator” in recognition of exceptional teaching and inspirational guidance of the students of Boise, Idaho by the Rotary Club of Boise in 2013.
In addition to her dance work, Hua works full-time as a molecular scientist in plant science for J. R. Simplot Company. She received her BS, MS and PhD degrees in plant biology at Wuhan University, China, where she won multiple national awards for her research. Hua did post-doctoral research in the Ohio State University, where she became a permanent U.S. resident through the outstanding scientist category.
Instructors and Staff
Instructors and Staff
Xueqing Xiong earned an Royal Academic of Dance certification: level intermediate. Has more than 16 years of ballet dancing experience and 4 years of traditional Chinese dance dancing experience.
Runze Jiang (Ruby) was born in Qingdao, China. She has been trained in jazz, ballet, and traditional Chinese dance since the age of three. When she moved to Idaho, she trained in tap, hip hop, and modern dance while continuing in jazz and ballet. At the age of 12, she joined Impact Dance Center’s elite show team as a competitive dancer until the age of 18.
In 2008 Ruby joined the youngest dance class at the Boise Modern Chinese School taught by Julia. As her passion for traditional Chinese dance grew, she eventually joined the performance team in 2014. As the dance classes grew in number at the Chinese school, Ruby started to teach the intermediate class in 2017 as well as teaching the children’s performance team in 2018
She is currently a Biology major at Boise State University looking to pursue a second degree in Nursing. Ruby thoroughly enjoys teaching kids as many of the girls on her team were her students since the age of 6. She hopes to spread the joy of traditional Chinese dance to many with the talents of her students and her team.
Alumni
Alumni
Cynthia was born and raised in Boise, Idaho. She started dancing when she was 5 years old. Throughout the years, she trained in many styles of dance including ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, and hip hop. She began learning traditional Chinese dance in 2004 under the instruction of Hua Yan. In 2009, as the traditional Chinese dance program grew, Cynthia began teaching the Intermediate Chinese dance class. During high school, she also volunteered her time teaching an after-school Chinese dance class to kindergarten-2nd graders at Gateway Elementary School. Cynthia combined her passion for traditional Chinese dance and her technical training in western styles to choreograph numerous solos that were a unique fusion of the unique styles, which she performed for the community and at dance competitions. Cynthia is now studying computer science and engineering and minoring in dance at Santa Clara University, where she is continuing to share Chinese culture through dance by performing at many campus events and teaching dances to other students.
Jinjun Su (Joanne) was born in China, Anhui province. She started dancing when she was in kindergarten. She has been trained in a few different styles of dance in China, such as Latin, Jazz and Chinese youth dance. Jinjun won some dance competitions in China. She began taking Chinese traditional dance classes in 2011 with the Boise Traditional Chinese Dance group. Since 2012, she has been volunteering to teach kids dance in the Boise Modern Chinese School and within our dance group. Right now she is an accounting major at Boise State University. She has enjoyed performing at the variety events in Boise. She loves kids and has patience to become their friends.
Megan Wong was born and raised in Boise, Idaho and is currently a medical student at University of Washington. She started taking dance lessons at age 5 at Studio C in Eagle Idaho and has been selected as a member of the competitive team since then. Megan joined Boise Chinese Traditional Chinese Dance Group as soon as she was eligible to take lessons and was chosen to be an apprentice of master Hua Yan in 2009, receiving grants from the Idaho Commission of the Arts. Megan loves dance. She takes lesson, practices, performs, competes and teaches dance year round. She has won many dance scholarships and has been teaching Chinese traditional dance since 6th grade.
Bee has been volunteering her time to the Boise Traditional Chinese Dance group since 2004, when her daughter, Cynthia, began dancing with the group. Although she does not participate in the dancing, Bee has been a crucial part in the success of the dance group. Through the years, she has taken the measurements of all dancers and made, tailored, or ordered many of the costumes for the dance groups. In addition to managing the hundreds of costumes, she also helps organize class registration and helps make sure all performances go smoothly.