Interview: Zhou Hongliang, President of Lanzhou University Pot Dance Association
Lanzhou University Scholar: Could you introduce the background of the establishment of Lanzhou University Pot Dance Association in 2006?
President: I am the third president, it is under the guidance of the Youth League Committee of Lanzhou University and the Federation of Student Associations, initiated independently by the Tibetan area of the school who both love pot Zhuang dance, and organized by the student associations voluntarily participated by students of all grades and majors. At the beginning, there were only eight people, and then increased to 40 people in two months. In 2006, when the new, including new members of 60, the size of the development of 100 people. 2007 session of the inclusion of new members of 124 people, the development of the present, we have a foothold in the University of LanDa Pot Dance Association, although the qualification is not old, but now has become second only to the Green Team of LanDa society.
At the beginning of its establishment, the members of the association sought help from Mr. Bi, and Mr. Bi Yanjie immediately agreed to give great support to the association. There is also Ms. Chen Aihua, as a teacher in the school's dance class, who has provided great help to the development of the Lambda Potjang Dance Association. The initial financial problem was mainly the speakers used to play the potjang dance music. Thanks to the selfless help of Mr. Bi and the school association, the association had the necessary equipment and persevered. There are also funds needed to purchase music, sponsored by Mr. Bi and other teachers, and our annual summer social practice is to collect and organize potshuang dance music in Tibetan areas.
LanU Scholar: What kinds of activities has the LanU Pot Zhuang Dance Association done on and off campus?
President: At the beginning, we participated in some performances for new students. The large-scale activities include the association with Northwest University for Nationalities Pot Dance Association in 2006, and the performance in the large-scale cultural evening of "Spring Breeze" organized by Lanzhou University Federation of Societies;
The association with the Ethnic Friendship Association during the 11th anniversary in 2006, and the performance in Jinya to show sympathy for the students. During the "11th" period in 2006, the association and the ethnic friendship association went to Jinya to give a sympathy performance; on May 30th, 2007, the association and the first middle school in Yuzhong jointly organized the activity of 1,000 pots and pans; from July 19th to August 26th, 2007, the association went to Lhasa to carry out the social practice in the summer; during the period of November 27th to December 26th, 2007, the association assisted the Department of Physical Education in sorting out the tap dance of Tibet; on October 1st, 2008, the association went to the grassland of Sanko of Xiahe to pick the wind, and to learn On October 20, 2008, more than 20 members of the association were informed by the Physical Education Department of the school to go to the main school to participate in the opening ceremony of the "Gansu Lanzhou City Sunshine Sports Meeting for One Hundred Million Students"; on November 15, 2008, the association took part in the opening ceremony of the first university student games in Gansu Province. Recently, the association organized the "Tibetan Culture Activity Month" to show the national style of Tibetans and propagate the knowledge of Tibetan culture; the association participated in the opening ceremony of the school sports meeting and the first university students' sports meeting in Lanzhou city.
The association has provided a lot of information for the book "Tibet in the Perspective of Sports: Pot Dance" edited by Prof. Bi Yanjie and published by Lanzhou University Press.
In addition, the purpose of our association is: "to convey exotic flavors and carry forward the spirit of sports", in order to carry forward the national culture, enhance national unity, and dance in the snowy region. Promote national culture, is to promote Tibetan culture to all parts of the country, and then achieve the purpose of strengthening national unity. We have taken this opportunity to introduce the Pot Dance into the campus in order to enrich the campus life of the university.
Inside our association, our regular activities are teaching classes in the aerobics room in the west area every Friday night, practicing the potshuang dance in the small square in the field of vision every Saturday night, and attracting many students to join us.
The next step is to organize a large-scale event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Tibet and the third anniversary of the founding of the Lanzhou University Pot Dance Association, as well as the "Duanwu Dance Festival", which is currently in the planning stage.
Lan Da Scholar: What are the difficulties encountered by the Lan Da Pot Zhuang Dance Association now?
President: First of all, there is the problem of funding, we don't have the costumes we need for the dance, the equipment on the medical campus, mainly the speakers are rather old, and there is a lack of professional coaches, and there is less contact with the Tibetan area. Some of the elements of the pot dance we have collected are lacking, and the Yunnan Diqing pot dance has not yet been included.
The Scholar of Lanzhou University: How do you plan to solve these difficulties?
President: We intend to solve the current difficulties through teachers, the Internet and other channels, and prepare to go to Yunnan to include the Diqing potshuang dance.
In the process of our development, thanks to the help of the school committee and the Federation of Student Associations, our financial problems have been solved to a large extent. Without the support of the Federation, our association would not be here today. So thank you very much to the Federation.
The Lancaster Scholar: Why did you want to join the Potter's Dance Association in the first place? What attracted you to it?
President: I was curious but a little shy because I had never danced before and was too embarrassed to go up and ask. One of them, a sister from the Lanzhou University Potter's Dance Association, saw my embarrassment and introduced me enthusiastically, leading me to join the Potter's Dance Association. After joining, I found it very interesting. There is a saying, "If you can walk, you can dance potjang".
The Lambda Scholar: As president, what efforts have you made for the Potpourri Dance Association?
President: In the previous year, we lost a lot of members due to the earthquake in Aba Tibetan area. However, in the new activities for the class of 08, we absorbed more new members, and after more than half a year of study, there has been a large number of outstanding members produced, many of them are freshmen, very good indeed.
And, I have restructured the coaching group of the previous association, from the previous multiple people teaching together, divided into Aba group, Tibetan and Qiang group, Yushu group three groups to teach.
Lan Da Scholar: According to our understanding, the Lan Da Pot Dance Association organized a new activity in the last two weeks, which is the second time since the entrance of the class of 2008, isn't it?
President: Yes, this is the second time for freshmen students, we do this to provide more ways for them to participate, and grow the strength of the association. At the same time, we are preparing for the centennial celebration in September, "Campus Clubs Exhibition" is an important activity.
LanDSU Scholar: What have you learned from your time in the Potlatch Dance Association?
President: What I have gained is that I got to know many students from the faculties and departments, and the leaders and teachers of other clubs, and got a lot of exercise, and most importantly, I have a love for potshuang dance. As long as I hear the pot dance music playing, I am especially excited.
Every Saturday I would come here (small square of vision) to dance potjang dance with everyone, and met many friends who love potjang dance, there is no difficulty to play potjang dance music here every week, mainly because the logistics group did not provide us with a place to place the speakers, and we have to relocate them often so it is very difficult.
Now we have a medical chapter on the medical campus, and a chapter is being created at LANL. These are the things that I have gained.
The Lambda Scholar: Potter's Dance has made its way into the Lambda Physical Education program, so how is it different from a traditional physical education class?
President: Yes, potjang dance has been introduced into the physical education classroom as a physical education elective in '06. He is different from the existing physical education program, it is easy to be accepted, more casual. But one problem is that it is danced in the classroom and loses its original character. However, it is undeniable that this way is still very helpful for spreading the pot dance and enhancing the influence of pot dance.
LanU Scholar: What are your hopes for the future of the Pot Village Dance Association?
President: I certainly hope that the association will get better and better, and can spread Tibetan culture all over the country, and that potshuang dance can be accepted by more and more universities, and that more people will join the association to support the development of potshuang dance, and make their own contribution to the unity of Tibetans and other nationalities.