When Nancy Weng was four, her mother signed her up for private dance classes in her native Taiwan.
The pre-schooler started with ballet, then moved to modern, Chinese traditional and jazz dance. Later, she would take hip hop and reggae.
She quit twice. The first time, her middle school turned her down for its dance program "but I realized dance was important in my life so I studied very hard," she recalled.
The second time she was 16 when her high school rejected her for its dance course. "I got so upset. I told myself that God wants me to spend three more years."
Her mother and studio teachers were behind her, encouraging Weng to pursue her dream. And, so, at the age of 17, she immigrated to Canada - along with her father, step-mother, brother, step-brother and step-sister - to find an outlet for her passion.
"I came to Canada to dance," she said, but noted, "it hasn't been easy for me."
With barely any English, Weng enrolled in Grade 10 at Pinetree secondary in Coquitlam, half way through the school year.
Drama teacher and choreographer Nicole Roberge remembered Weng as "shy, scared and stormy but when she danced, she flew. Her talent was irrefutable and, before she could communicate clearly in English, she was coaching other dance students for our recital, using only basic counts and her movements."
Over the next year or so, Weng excelled in the school's dance, drama and musical theatre programs and took part in school productions. In Grade 11, Weng choreographed a number for the Surreal Project 1 and, this past year, for the Surreal Project 2.
And, as she got more comfortable on stage, her language skills also improved. This last school year, she was allowed to move into regular English classes and took English 11, English 12 and English Literature 12 to qualify her for post-secondary education.
But, Weng admitted, it was tough to keep her grades up.
Take her weekends, for example: After school on Fridays, Weng bussed to Richmond to waitress from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. She stayed overnight at friend's home in Richmond before starting her next shift, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., on Saturdays at the Stagecoach Theatre Arts Schools, where she volunteered as a dance assistant. She was back at the restaurant on Saturday nights and all day Sundays before returning to Coquitlam - by bus - to re-start her school week.
Homework was crammed in between. "That's why I didn't really do well in my courses," she said, crying. "I had no energy. I was always tired."
Still, she needed the money for her future, to live a dancer's life like her idol Fang-Yi Sheu, a Taiwanese dancer who, like Weng, found the Asian island too small for her ambition.
(Sheu joined the famed Martha Graham Dance Company in New York City in 1995 as an apprentice and rose to become its principal dancer two years later; she is also the founder of the Lafa Dance Company.)
Weng credits Roberge and Natalee Fera, Roberge's successor at Pinetree, for helping her through this past school year. She calls both teachers her "best friends," especially for offering a shoulder to cry on when she felt alone and got down.
"I have come across so many kids who have either natural talent, hardworking discipline and artistic passion, but rarely do you see all three things together in one person and not to the extent that Nancy Weng has," Fera told The Tri-City News by email last week. "To some, a triple threat in the theatre is someone who can sing, dance, and act. To me, an artist that is a triple threat is someone who has artistic talent, discipline and passion.
"Nancy is a true triple threat," she said.
As for her next step, Weng plans to retake English 12 to improve her grade. Though she was recently turned down by the Toronto Dance Theatre, she intends to apply for "all universities" in the new year so she can train as a professional choreographer and earn her bachelor of fine arts degree.
"I have been given so many opportunities here - dancing solo and creating my own dances - that I couldn't do back home. I feel that dancing is the only way I can express myself and I want to tell people what's on my mind, to tell them a story through dance."
jwarren@tricitynews.com
