My connection with the Oakland Ballet began with an unexpected invitation from a friend to a fundraising performance by the ballet company. The theme was around Mexico's Day of the Dead and featured the famous female painter Frida Kahlo. That evening, I was utterly captivated by the performance and immediately fell in love with their dance and the dancers. I promptly scheduled to see more of their performances and actively participate in the fundraising. During the pandemic, I received a call from the company, surprisingly inviting me to become the only Asian member of their board; two years later, I was honored to be elected as the board president. At the onset of the pandemic, the hate incidents against Asians occurred across the United States. One of our Chinese-American male dancers, afraid to go out alone, was accompanied by our British artistic director for weekly grocery shopping. This situation led us to reflect: as a ballet company, what could we do to help and support the Asian community? In response, in 2022, we launched the "Dancing Moons Festival," the first and currently the only ballet platform in the US dedicated to celebrating Asian American choreographers, composers, costume designers, etc. The event attracted talented and accomplished participants from across the country, including New York and Washington D.C. The "Dancing Moons Festival" also proudly received the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards.

This year’s third "Dancing Moons Festival" features the “Angel Island Project”, a collaboration with renowned Chinese American composer Huang Ruo, adapting his oratory into a ballet. For this, we made a special visit to Angel Island, a historical immigration station now transformed into an immigration history museum. The poems etched on the walls of the station poignantly express the immigrants' longing for a better life and the hardships they endured. This aspiration for a better life and the pursuit of greater opportunities for ourselves and our descendants is a sentiment shared by all immigrants. It is a journey of overcoming and becoming. The triumph and challenges are universally relatable. During the planning of the ballet, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and learn the stories of people from various ethnicities, including jewish families who escaped from Nazi Germany and eventually settled down here after a long journey; European immigrants who were forced to change their family name as they came through Ellis Island; families who have been here for over a hundred years. I increasingly realized that regardless of when or where we came from, we all share the same spirit of immigration and hopes for a better life, experiencing the joys and sorrows of this journey together. We are different characters from the same story book. In this immigrant family, we are all equal members, like siblings in a family, where we can love, respect, care for, and appreciate each other. I sincerely hope that we Asian Americans share more of our stories, engage in broader cooperation, and deepen the connections with ALL community members.

我与奥克兰芭蕾舞团的缘分始于一次偶然的朋友邀请。朋友约我同去舞团的一场筹款演出，主题是墨西哥的亡灵节和女画家弗里达·卡罗。那晚，舞团的演出太动人了，我当即就爱上了他们的舞蹈。随即，我加入舞团的邮件列表，开始积极关注舞团的演出和募款活动。

疫情期间，我接到舞团的电话，意外地被邀请成为舞团董事会中唯一的亚裔成员；两年后，更荣幸地被推选为董事会主席。 疫情初期，美国多地发生了针对亚裔的仇恨事件。舞团中一名华裔男演员因不敢独自外出，由英国籍的艺术总监每周主动陪同他购物上街购物。这件事，引发了我们的思考：作为一个芭蕾舞团，我们能为帮助和支持亚裔社区做些什么。所以，2022年，我们创办了”舞月节“。这是全美首个也是目前唯一一个专门为亚裔打造的芭蕾舞平台、旨在充分展现亚裔的才华。该活动吸引了来自全美各地，包括纽约、华盛顿的亚裔艺术家们热情参与，涵盖编舞、道具设计、布景等各个方面。”舞月节“也荣获了伊莎多拉·邓肯舞蹈大奖。

今年的第三届”舞月节“，舞团与华裔著名作曲家黄若合作，将其音乐剧《天使岛》改编为芭蕾舞剧。为此，我们特地前往天使岛——这个曾经的移民站，如今变成移民历史博物馆的地方——参观。移民站墙上的诗句，深刻表达了当时移民对未来生活的渴望与所经历的磨难。这种对美好生活的向往，给自己和后代创造更多机会的追求，是每个移民的共同情感；这种辛酸和不易，也是每个移民感同身受的共同体验。筹划舞剧的过程中，我有机会接触并了解不同族裔人士的故事：包括八十多岁的英国出生的老太太，二战时期移民来的犹太后裔，白人肤色的墨西哥裔移民，以及来自欧洲的多族裔混血移民等。我越来越清晰地感受到，无论何时、来自何方，我们都怀着同样的移民精神和对美好生活的期许，共同经历着这个旅程的酸甜苦辣。在这个移民大家庭中，我们都是平等的一份子，就像同一个家庭里的兄弟姐妹，大家可以相互爱护、彼此欣赏。我衷心希望，亚裔更多分享自己的故事，并与不同族裔进行更广泛的合作与交流。