Fly High, Reach Your Dreams

Wei Jingyang performing The Soul of a Peacock in the commemoration of 10^th year of DAAI TV, Saturday and Sunday, 29 - 30 July 2017 in Jing Si Hall.

The festivity of the celebration of the 10^th anniversary of DAAI TV Indonesia which showcased My Dream does not seem to come to an end, leaving beautiful memories in the heart of the audience. Exclusively the audience witnessed the popular Thousand-hand Avalokitesvara Boddhisattva dance delivered by 21 dancers who has disabilities in their hearing. Many audience were stunned by how pliant The Soul of a Peacock dance was and yet how graceful the Master of Ceremony was in using sign language.

Praises and applauses were deserved to be given to these disabled artists. Not only did they succeeded delivering beautiful performances, they were also giving inspiration to thousands of audience. Their accomplishments are not easily achieved.

They asserted that even though we could not decide where we are born, our social status, our living place, even our situation, we have to do our best and never give up.

Wei Jingyang: The Extraordinary Peacock

 “I have been joining My Dream since 2007. It has been 10 years”, said Wei Jinyang, the dancer of The Soul of a Peacock. With the help of her sign language interpreter, Jinyang expressed that she felt delighted to be able to perform in front of Indonesian audience.

 “I feel like looking at my own families. Every time my performance was ended by warm applause and cheers, I feel that my hard work has been paid”, she continued using sign language with sparkly eyes.

Wei Jinyang was born in Heng Shui city, Hebei province, China. This year she has just turned 22 but she had gained many achievements in dance art performing world.

Jinyang was actually born having normal condition, but when she was one year old, this pretty girl had a terrible fever which caused seizures. From that moment on, Jinyang lost her hearing.

Since then, Jinyang’s mother prepped her to be able to survive in the society. She was taught by using pictures with the explanation sentences. At all times, her mother was also teaching her how to speak with patience for her.

Jingyang felt that she was a blessed person because she was able to study in a public school. She shared that her friends and teachers treated her very well even though she felt uncomfortable at the beginning.

 “When I first came to school, there was a teacher calling me but I did not respond at all. My friend then pulled me and told me what happened. When I went home I asked my mother, ’Why am I different from my peers?’ then my mother told me that I was not able hear sound”, she explained. Listening to her mother’s explanation, Jinyang stared at her ears in the mirror. She was mistaken to think that the world was without a sound. “At that time I was feeling sad and alone.”

Wei Jingyang (middle) rehearsing hard since she was 10 year old. In this team, Jingyang was also chosen to be the main role of ballet dance to perform My Dream concert.

How graceful the movement that she performed in The Soul of a Peacock, The Dance of Secret Garden, and Thousand-hand Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.

Knowing that Jinyang had a different condition, her teachers and friends did not abandon her. They even always helped Jinyang. As an example, she was helped by her friends to practice lip reading. Other than that, Jingyang was always positioned on the first row in class. All the supports she got made her gain satisfying results.

Learning dance since the age of 10 made Jingyang seemed to find a new world. She admitted that she always perform each dance with all her heart. Therefore, do not be surprised to see how graceful the movements  she brought into The Soul of a Peacock, The Dance of Secret Garden, and especially Thousand-hand Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.

Despite being complained and forbidden by her mother to learn dancing because of the thought that the daughter will not be able to dance and catching up with the music rhythm, Jingyang did not give up. She even purposely waited for her 10^th birthday to come so she could ask for a dance course. “After that moment I attended my first dance class before I joined the My Dream team”, Jingyang said.

Joining China Difabled People’s Performing Art Troupe (CDPPAT) which carries out My Dream performance was then becoming a valuable chance for her. “We learned to know about rhythm. First, for me to be able to get to know rhythm, I would knock on cajon to catch up the music tempo. The most important thing is my instructor, she is my music”, explained Jingyang

 “During my study, I did not expect that my ballet instructor gave me compliments that my body shape is very good and suitable for ballet dancing. Getting that much motivation by her, I eventually dreamed of becoming a ballet princess. I underwent tough ballet training and it made me feel miserable yet content because I could wear ballet shoes and tutu skirt”, she continued.

In this team, Jingyang was chosen to be the main role of White Swan performance which was delivered on the celebration of the 60^th anniversary of China. Moreover, she was also responsible to be the main ballet dancer in “My Dream” performance.

Her life journey made her learn very much that they are not incapable. “We are just not totally free to do so. We have eyes and hands, also we are able to create miracle and a special life for ourselves”, she asserted.

Jiang Xintian: Elegant as a Dove

Almost similar to Wei Jingyang, Jiang Xintian, the sign language emcee was very grateful to be able to entertain the audience in Medan, Jakarta, and later on will be in Surabaya as well. For her, this opportunity is her second time for her to perform in Indonesia after ten years ago. She is also happy because of the warm welcome that is given to her in Indonesia is similar to the time when My Dream was performing in front of Master Cheng Yen in Hualien, Taiwan.

Despite her experience joining My Dream for 14 years and hundreds of performances in front of the audience, Jiang Xintian still feels touched watching her audience acknowledged her team’s performance. “That was an amazing appreciation for us”, she said, commenting on the ‘silent’ applause from the audience.

Same as Wei Jingyang, Jiang Xintian was also born healthy. When she was three months old, she suffered high fever and pneumonia, until at the end the antibiotic she took caused her lose her hearing. Her mother was devastated by the incident.

One day her mother brought her to the beach, she was very devastated that she decided to end her life bringing Xintian with her. They walked onto the sea, deeper and further from the mainland. She erred at the time but then hearing her daughter crying fearfully, she told herself that even though she gave her life, she had no right to end her life. She then decided: “No matter how hard I try and however XIntian’s life later on, I will always try to give her a happy life!”

Jiang Xintian, the sign language MC elegantly started each performance brought by My Dream team.

Jiang Xintian (red gown) with My Dream team appreciated the audience after their performance.

Her mother’s determination resulted Xintian to be full of spirit, independence, and full of achievements. She was the only disabled finalist who was through the competition until the finals.

 “Experienced being in the final of Miss Universe was a great challenge in my life and that was the first time I competed with normal people,” she said.

 “I felt very nervous because of my disabilities. I was afraid that I could not control the rhythm, and also when later that time I would not able to answer the questions asked by the judges, just like the other contestants”.

Despite her success, Xintian had also experienced a moment that made her feel sad. One day she was communicating using sign language on the street. In that place there was a group of children that called her “dumb”. “I could lip read those children and I was really unhappy,” she said. When she went home afterwards, she beat both of her ears. Feeling confused, her mother asked her what she was just experienced.

Understanding her child’s sorrow, her mother took a paper, crumbled it and tore it into pieces, which looked like a snow. When she saw the ‘snow’ that her mother made for her, she turned happy right away. “Now you are just like these pieces of paper, but one day you will become a piece of snowflake and people will like you”, lament Xintian. “My mother encouraged me to overcome my imperfectness”, she added.

At the end of the conference, Xintian shared her spirit by quoting one line of a Tzu Chi song, “With virtue, the world becomes beautiful. With love, life will always carry on. With compassion, life becomes broad. With gratitude, life can turn to be a happy one.”

“That lyric of Tzu Chi song above is also a spirit of Thousand-hand Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, which is also my personal life principal,” she added.

Translated by Evelyn (Tzu Chi School)

Editor : Henky Sasmita (Tzu Chi School)