Photo by Shenzhen Standard

“As long as you are kind and there is love in your heart, a thousand hands will naturally come to your aid. As long as you are kind and there is love in your heart, you will reach out with a thousand hands to help others.” -Guan Yin Prayer

I first saw this dance watching television with the family as a child. It was on one of the variety shows so popular in the sixties – Ted Mack & the Original Amateur Hour, The Lawrence Welk Show, one of those. I remember that when my mother told me not to sit so close to the television, I told her I needed to get closer to see everything. It was so special, she let me stay. Considering how hypnotized I was by the dance,  it’s no surprise that I’m enchanted by this version. What makes it extra special, however, is that it was performed by the My Dream Deaf Chinese Dance Team. The precision of these lovely dancers would be completely impressive were they not hearing challenged, but it’s actually shocking when you consider that they couldn’t hear their music.

What draws me to this dance is the concept of so many individuals working together as if they were one body. Everyone needs to be perfect if the dance is to work. And really, the audience would only get the full benefit of the choreography if they were positioned directly in front of the first dancer, so I think of it as a dance more intended to bring pleasure to the dancers (and maybe the camera operators) than to the audience.