A class of their own

On March 29, 16 students from the Fuzhou class, including Yao, and their former teachers, had a reunion at Beijing Dance Academy. It's been 25 years since the students of the class graduated in 1997. They also got together in 2017 when they celebrated the 20th anniversary of their graduation.

Yao also remembers that all of the students spent long hours dancing every day. They not only learned to dance but also learned about the history of Chinese folk dance, a major dance form in China, which centers around the dances of Chinese ethnic groups.

"For me, it was a great experience to broaden my vision and learn to be creative, which benefits my acting career," says Yao, who later studied acting at Beijing Film Academy and rose to fame by starring in a popular comedy TV show, My Own Swordsman, in 2006.

"It was not just about obtaining dancing skills. For us teenagers, it was about giving us the space to explore, to imagine and to try something new. If we didn't have the opportunity to study at Beijing Dance Academy, we would not be able to see the outside world and figure out what we love to do," says Shao Yang, 42, who, in 2013, obtained a master's degree in directing from the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts and is now a dance teacher.

One of the teachers of the Fuzhou class is Jia Meina, 79, who graduated from Beijing Dance Academy in 1960 and, that same year, became a teacher of Chinese folk dance at the school.

"For those children, I was known to be strict. They got up at 6 am and went to bed at 11 pm. I told them to keep in mind that they came to Beijing to study and they shouldn't waste their time.