Juan-Pablo Alba Dennis of the Metamorphosis Dance Company and Seon Nurse of the North West Laventille Cultural Movement will soon be jetting off to Beijing, The People's Republic of China.The two are the first beneficiaries of Dance Scholarships to the Beijing Dance Academy, courtesy the Dai Ailian Foundation.The Dai Ailian Foundation, officially launched on August 8, was formed to honour Dai Ailian, a great-grandchild of the Chinese immigrant born in Couva, Trinidad, on May 10, 1916.Dai Ailian was a famous dancer, choreographer and teacher. She is one of China's premier dance icons and widely regarded as "the mother of Chinese ballet dance."
Dai Ailian, according to a press release from the Chinese Association of T&T, deserves much of the credit for the founding of the Beijing Dance Academy in 1954.She died in Beijing on February 9, 2006, at the age of 89.Recipients of the dance scholarship to the Beijing Dance Academy were announced on August 8, when the Dai Ailian Foundation, in collaboration with the Embassy of the People's Republic of China, hosted the official launch of the Foundation and cocktail reception at the Chinese Association in St Ann's.The full scholarship is for a ten-month period, commencing September 2011. (Andre Alexander)