On stage in Blackpool, England By Principal Chen

When I was young, I loved to weave beautiful dreams of princes and princesses dancing together, but that was only limited to the poetic feelings of a young girl. After I was married, I became a plain house wife taking care of the family. My dreams of romantic and poetic dance are all gone with wind.

After this year’s Asian Tour, the organizer, Jane, probably had more confidence in my performance and proudly recommended me to Open Worlds organizer Paul Killick to perform at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom in the UK. In the past, I was afraid of giving any performance abroad. Not only because of feeling not good enough, but I didn’t want people to think I was vain. But when Jane sincerely encouraged me to participate in Open Worlds in the hope that I could bring glory to Taiwan, I was moved by her enthusiasm. In the past, Taiwan seemed to be non-existent on the global stage for ballroom dance. Occasionally, there would be a few extraordinary dancers who could show off their talents, but they would immediately disappear like shooting stars in the night sky. With time, Taiwan’s economy has finally taken off, and the number of people participating in ballroom dancing has increased. Now, even some Taiwanese judges are invited to attend this event. However, relatively speaking, more competitors from China are flocking to Blackpool. In recent years, China has been eyeing Taiwan covetously. Politics and economics asides, just in the context of ballroom dance. If Taiwan doesn’t become self-reliant and strong, it may one day really be classified as the Chinese team. Reflecting on this stimulated my patriotism, and I thought －instead of waving the flag and shouting Taiwan, why not go out and win recognition from other countries? My passionate love for the country gave me courage, and I decided to let the world see Taiwan together with my professional partner Alexander Zhiratkov.

On May 9th, I flew to England as scheduled to meet up with Alexander. I had thought that after having participated in two Asian Tour performances, at least I was not a rookie. Yet what I never expected was that this year’s performance was specially arranged to be on the evening of the World Professional Open Ballroom Championships final round. It is the equivalent to the Olympics of ballroom dancing. In attendance were masters from all over the world, and each one whether the competitor or judge, was more famous than the other. I was originally full of confidence, but the more I thought about it, the more intimidate I felt. But what could I do? I could only pray and ask my Lord to lift me off. Doesn’t the Bible say that nothing is impossible with the Lord?

My thoughtful son Erkang happened to be giving a speech in Milan, Italy, so he flew all the way to Blackpool to support me. What surprised me even more was that he told me that he would also bring a friend Anna to cheer me on. This is interesting. I have never heard of this Anna. Why is she here to cheer me up? Is she just an acquantance of Erkang? Or his girl friend? In order for me to meet Anna, Erkang arranged an exquisite dinner. Beforehand, he only told me that she was Ukrainian, a ballerina who toured around the world, and currently a model working in New York. When I met Anna that night, I thought she was the Ukrainian version of Lin Chiling. Now I was really panicked. She was a professional performer, but I am just a mother.
She asked me if I was nervous? I simply can’t answer that. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t nervous. However, saying that I was nervous would make me seem chicken. Besides, who knows, maybe one day I will become her mother-in-law.

Blackpool Tower was built in 1898 and has a history of 127 years. It has always been the place where British and world ballroom dance competitors from the past and present compete every year. The holiest of holy place, where the greatest wish of the dancers is to be able to make a pilgrimage to Blackpool. If they can enter the final round to be one of the top six, they will become famous overnight and all their hard work will be worthwhile.

The tense moment finally arrived. When the emcee announced our names, the scene I stepped into appeared as if only found in movies, with high-hanging crystal chandeliers and classical boxes, my legs suddenly became rubbery and I almost stumbled. At that time, I felt like I was struck by lightning. I clenched my teeth, forced a smile, and reminded myself, “Calm down! Calm down!” In order to hide my panic, I smiled wider and wider, until the end of the dance. Paul came on stage and presented us with a beautiful bouquet. He immediately praised me, “You were amazing. You were smiling happily from beginning to end. The audience was influenced by you and everyone was laughing happily.”

Little did he know that I was simply scared to death. But thanks to the audience, as Tom Jones sang “Delilah” passionately and joyfully, the audience clapped their hands, sang along, and even gave us a standing ovation. I, the ugly duckling, had transformed into a swan! But I only realized after the performance that all my supporters were so nervous for me that their palms were sweating. I was the first person from Taiwan to perform at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom. When the music stopped, Jane and Sammy quickly walked onto the stage with bright smiles on their faces and looked relieved because they endorsed for me. Irina was more nervous watching me and her husband perform than she was when she was performing herself. She was afraid that her husband’s reputation would be ruined in my hands. They are the world champions of professional open ballroom show dance. Erkang was very nervous if I screwed up the performance, what kind of impression would that leave on his girl friend the first time meeting me?

The next day, the organizer specially arranged a cocktail party at Blackpool Tower, the city’s landmark , and invited Blackpool Mayor Hunter and his wife to attend. After the mayor and his wife gave their speeches, I quickly stepped forward to greet the mayor and introduced myself as being from Taiwan. He replied immediately and kindly, “Oh, I know Taiwan. It’s part of China…” I smiled and clearly explained to him in fluent English, “Mr. Mayor, Taiwan is Taiwan. We have nothing to do with China…” Fortunately, I usually pay attention to current affairs, have a wide range of friends, and have developed some eloquence. I advertised Taiwan fluently with a firm and gentle smile. Finally, the mayor gave me a thumbs up and said, “Yes, China is a communist country, Taiwan is democratic and free, and we all love freedom!”

This performance at the Blackpool Tower not only broke my own ballroom dancing record, but also allowed me to meet many world-class dancers and introduced Taiwan to them. I would like to thank Jane and Sammy for their trust in me, and I am very happy that I have met their expectations. Many thanks to Alexander for making a beautiful Viennese waltz choreography for me, and spinning and drifting joyfully with me on the dance floor. I would like to thank the many competitors and judges from Taiwan for cheering for me. I could actually hear cheers in Mandarin on the stage, which also set a new record in Blackpool, UK! What makes me happiest is that many former world champions were watching our show attentively. They praised me highly. Bryan Watson told me that he remembered how powerful I swung my body, Michael Malitowsky told me that he was impressed with my fast spins, and Marcus Hilton said that my bright smile was unforgettable. Life is really interesting. In the past, I was fascinated by their performances and never thought that one day they would be watching my performance. Life can be very beautiful when we wake up and find all the sweet dreams have come true.
— Bih-Hua Chen, Principal of Cornel International School

我的啦啦隊，爾康和Anna