Overcoming the sound barrier through dance

Wei Yujie was visibly incensed and her gestures showed it.

As she pumped both hands in a circular motion to sign her vexations, the 16-year-old from Shanxi, China, stormed off from the interview and settled among the comforting presence of her fellow dancers to cool off.

The deaf lead dancer, who performed at The Awakening concert by the China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe which took place in the Plenary Hall in KLCC recently was having a mini tantrum.

The next day, however, at the lobby of The Palace of the Golden Horses, Wei had visibly cooled down enough to revert to her playful self by fluttering her eye lashes to convey her apologies for last night’s tantrum.

Mentor: Wei (right) with her dance teacher Wang Jing.

But, Wei certainly had not put the matter to rest. Having gone through a night of soul-searching, she had come prepared to defend herself.

Dance, she said in sign language, was about the dancer and her ability to touch her audience through her art.

While it may be public knowledge that Wei is deaf and that she will never be able to hear the music that accompanied her movements on stage, Wei insisted that by no means would a discerning audience allow a dancer to use her disability as an excuse for a dismal performance.

As such, though being handicapped may be a criterion to be a part of the troupe, it does not mean that their performance would be overlooked.

So, in the end, though Wei may be deaf, she still had to work as hard as any other hearing dancer to maintain her place in the troupe and as such, was entitled to the same recognition as bestowed to an able-bodied dancer.

As it is, the China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe, founded in 1987, is an internationally rated dance troupe which does 150 performances a year.

Graceful and opinionated and sure of what she wants, summed up this slender Chinese beauty who began dance lessons at the age of five.

Wei, who lost her hearing during infancy after a botched up injection, said that she had never allowed anyone to push her around.

“I’d fight back, she gestured with a kung fu pose. But don’t get me wrong, she signed again. I am not some street hooligan itching for a brawl. I prefer to love instead of fight, she maintained.”

It was such qualities that had endeared Wei to the troupe’s talent scout when she was spotted at a dance competition in Hubei at the age of nine.

“I had liked her at first sight because I felt that she possessed an inner strength and for someone so young, she looked very sure of herself. Also she had such a charming smile” recalled Wei’s dance teacher Wang Jing, 41, who is also the vice-president of the troupe.

Of course, Wei, who is the only child had also benefited from the advantages of having broadminded parents.

Preferring to keep their identities anonymous for reasons of privacy, Wei revealed that her mother, a teacher, and her father, who holds a management post in an international firm, had ensured that she received a proper education and was sufficiently exposed to the outside world.

“One thing for sure, they did not hide her away for shame as some parents would have done. This is why, she is able to advance to such a level,” said Wei’s teacher.

But though Wei, who is based in Beijing, now holds the esteemed position of lead dancer, a teen will always be a teen.

“She keeps a diary and of course that is strictly private. She likes to read and when she is not dancing, her nose is perpetually buried in a book,” said Wang.

But one of her biggest pleasures, Wei communicated in sign language, was to indulge in cheesecake. The chances are few and far between as such fattening foods are strictly off limits for the troupe’s dancers.

Meanwhile, this bubbly teen hopes she will inspire her readers with this message - Never Give Up!