Han Xuanting spins around in a style typical of the Uygur ethnic group from western China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, surrounded by a dozen schoolgirls eager to imitate her steps.
However, while one might perhaps expect this dance class to take place in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi, it was in fact given at Samuel Marsden Collegiate School on the outskirts of Wellington, New Zealand.
For Han, a Chinese dance teacher, this has been her routine. "Children learn very quickly, and they can easily master the skill of twisting their necks while dancing," says Han, referring to a key feature of the Uygur dance.
Wednesday evenings are a busy time for Zhang Jianyong. As a Tai Chi teacher in Wellington, this is when Zhang teaches his students, many of whom are senior citizens, this traditional Chinese exercise.
"Many Kiwis chose to practice Tai Chi on a daily basis after learning of its health benefits," Zhang says, adding that this exercise has become a good way of spreading Chinese culture.
Both Han's and Zhang's classes are part of a program run by the New Zealand Chinese Cultural Center (NZCCC), which has been working to introduce Chinese cultural elements to the local public.
The center recently signed a memorandum with Wellington's Whitireia New Zealand to open an optional course of Chinese dance in the government-funded tertiary institute of technology.
The college is also Han's alma mater, where she once performed a traditional Chinese dance for teachers and students before her graduation.
The enthusiasm for Chinese dance has been growing in New Zealand, and it is set to be taught along with Western modern dance in this college for the first time.
Guo Zongguang, director of the NZCCC, told Xinhua News Agency that since the center was established more than a year ago, various cooperation forms have been explored, including jointly hosting cultural events and supporting local cultural organizations and Chinese cultural groups.
These events have enriched the cultural lives of New Zealanders and contributed to the local multicultural atmosphere, Guo said.
At the opening ceremony of the 2016 Chinese Cultural Week, more than 100 local performers, including the then-mayor of Wellington, took part in an ensemble Tai Chi performance in the capital’s municipal square.
The multicultural festival also saw a performance staged by the Chinese Cultural Center in the New Zealand National Museum, in which over 10 indigenous groups from New Zealand took part, reflecting the country’s diverse and multicultural makeup.
And at the 2017 Wellington Capital Cup, an exhibition soccer game between teams from Wellington and Beijing, cultural performances staged by the Chinese Cultural Center were brought to the football field.
Guo also noted that China’s intangible cultural heritage was also brought to New Zealand in the form of Chinese New Year celebrations, which was applauded by New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English.
"Such interactions and exchanges have become a window for promoting Chinese culture," Guo said.
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched -- they must be felt with the heart," said Wellington City Councilor Sarah Free, citing blind American author Helen Keller, while attending an intangible cultural heritage exhibition in China's Liaoning Province last December.
2016 marked the 400th anniversary of the birth of both William Shakespeare and Tang Xianzu, a Chinese playwright from the Ming Dynasty often called the Chinese Shakespeare.
In a global event to commemorate both writers, Victoria University lecturer Megan Evans said that Shakespeare's well-known line in Hamlet "to be, or not to be" was reflected in Tang's Peony Pavilion, a play featuring the pursuit of love.
"Such clashes and exchanges of viewpoints are of great significance to cross-cultural communication," Guo said.
Guo also noted that various Chinese cultural events have been introduced to New Zealand to promote Chinese culture and strengthen bilateral ties.
Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Lutong told Xinhua that both the governments and the public have been very active on cultural exchanges, with various cultural forms and schools being introduced to each other.
Zhang has been keen to go beyond his Tai Chi classes. He said that he would also seek to promote traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese tea art in New Zealand, so as to enable the people of the Oceanian country to learn more about the Chinese culture.
(Source: Xinhua)
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