"You need to develop a 20-25 minute performance that we will perform on the first day that we arrive in China.... you all will be asked to perform everywhere we go."
It was at our first of three group meeting sessions during the DukeEngage Academy when Hsiaomei informed us of this feat and gave us time to start our choreography for the infamous group dance that we have been warned about by many previous Zhuhai participants. We naively thought that we would be able to quickly fill 20-25 minutes of a performance, including multiple group dances, songs, instrumental pieces, and individual dances/talent demonstrations, by the end of the academy. However, we barely finished one group dance, which equated to about 4 minutes in length. Nice.
Despite what may seem to be an underachievement in light of our ambitions, I am proud of our accomplishment. The time that we spent on this dance throughout the three group sessions allowed the group to grow closer through the shared laughs, struggles, confusion, missed movements, and sense of achievement when it finally came together. Here is a sample of the (incomplete) dance after our second session together.
I am beyond excited to get to experience this summer in Zhuhai with this amazingly talented and kind group of people. At the end of the first day of the academy, we pulled two chairs to the head of both sides of a table meant for 8 so that all 12 of us could eat dinner together.
One speaker at the academy, while telling a story about their DukeEngage experience, said that the group dynamic never works out. I beg to differ. I am optimistic, even only after two group dinners and two days of training together, that everyone in this year's group will connect and care about one another. There is no place I'd rather be.
