This Saturday, the Asian American Dance Troupe celebrates the diversity of Asian culture with its annual collective show, Eastbound.

From Korean hip-hop to imperial dance and interpretations of children’s books, Eastbound will feature a diverse array of vibrant performances. AADT co-captain, Jieliang Hao ’11, discusses the development of AADT and how this year’s show reflects the mission of this organization.



The Harvard Crimson (THC): What makes this year’s Eastbound performance so special?



Jieliang Hao (JH): Every year we improve a lot based on past years. This year we managed to attract outside choreographers—someone from Expressions [Dance Company], as well as a South Asian choreographer.

Since this is the seniors’ last performance, they are going all out. We also have a lot of incoming freshman that are really talented. The spirit is great this year. In the program, we have a huge variety of tempos, different styles and different feels, and some of the performances are even humorous.

THC: Why should people go to Eastbound this weekend?



JH: A lot of people have misconceptions of what Asian dance is like; it is so much more than just soft, flowy, slow dance. Chinese dance, for example, has many different styles, just like the many different Chinese cultures.

We have the resources so that we can congregate all of our talent into one show. I can promise that when you go, you will see a lot that you have never seen before. Last year, we had a Mongolian dance with chopsticks, performed by all girls, even though it was a very masculine dance. Several people in the audience came up to us after to say how unexpected the dance was.

It’s good entertainment because Asian dance is mostly for presentation. Imperial dance especially is really about the show, the style, and the choreography. It’s very theatrical.



THC: One of the dances in the show is called Peach Princesses. Where did the inspiration for this name come from?



JH: It’s from a really famous Chinese children’s book, called “Journeys from the West.” People nowadays, when they interpret it, get a lot of secret messages out of it. But I would bet that every Chinese person knows this story. Basically, there is a garden in heaven, and if you eat the peaches from the trees in the garden you can live a thousand years more. The dancers are the protectors of the peach trees.



THC: What is the highlight of this year’s show?



JH: I just went to the dress rehearsal yesterday, and I was blown away by how hard everyone worked. I couldn’t pick out just one or two acts. We have very graceful, soft pieces, and we have Korean hip-hop, with the song Purpleline, as well as an imperial fan dance.



THC: Which performance in this year’s show do you think exemplifies the mission of AADT the best?



JH: The mission of AADT is to have fun. It doesn’t matter if you have or have not danced before. It’s really about fun and dance, because we all love to dance. All the dances this year exemplify this. They are all very varied in terms of seniority and style. We try to mix up people who have danced before and people who haven’t.