We were lucky to catch up with Melody Xie recently and have shared our conversation below.

Melody, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Northwest Folklife Festival is the largest community festival in US. The 4 days events are always free. As a professional dance instructor and choreographer, I really enjoy watching all kinds of performances no matter where I go. But over 30 years ago when I first stepped on this new continent, I was poor and could not afford tickets. In Folklife festival, for the first time I could see all kinds of shows for free! This comforted my artistic soul. I really appreciate the opportunities that Folklife gave me. After I started teaching Chinese dance in the big Seattle area, I took my students to perform at the Folklife festival. Since then, I have been volunteering there for over 25 years and became a showcase coordinator at theaters. In this way, not only can I give back the opportunities I was once given, but I can also allow more people to experience different cultures and arts for free.

Looking back my path in US, after I was a little better in English and got used to the daily life here, I had the American dream. What is the American dream? A nice house? Cars? A good job? Children’s education and future? Vocations? Parties? I believe many people have dreams like these. But is it all that we want? What else should we dream for? Even after we have all of those things, in such a country founded with all kinds of immigrants, old and new, do we really understand each other? How about our children? Do they know our histories, our cultures and our languages? Do we have a gap with our second generation who grows up here? Do we have a gap with the other people who have different cultural backgrounds? A lot of misunderstandings or conflicts are caused by lack of knowledge of language and cultures. People can learn a language from schools or through other ways. But how about cultural understanding? If we can do something to make a bridge between cultures, the world will be more harmonious and peaceful. And also, we need a world with diversity to make it more colorful and beautiful. I found the Folklife Festival is one of the bridges. I am really glad that in Seattle there is such a wonderful organization that is devoted to preserving and documenting ethnic heritages, and advancing cross cultural understanding. It’s my great pleasure to participate in it and to share my knowledge and skills with many people.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was born in China. My mother told me that born two months premature, I was always sick as a child. In order to improve my physical fitness, my parents encourage me to dance as a way to exercise. It was said that my first performance on stage was at the age of three. When I was 11 years old, a professional performing arts troupe visited my elementary school, and after passing various evaluations, I was recruited for professional training, since I was born with a talent for dancing. This required me to stay with the troupe. My parents didn’t want me to leave home at such a young age. My mother cried over that. She only wanted me to get exercise and she didn’t know it would lead to this.

At that time, Mao Ze-dong issued an order that all urban families could only keep one child with the parents. All the other children were to be sent to the countryside to live after high school. My parents finally agreed that it seemed better for me to go with the troupe, rather risk having either me or my sister sent to the countryside after we grew up. So I left home and started my career as a professional dancer. I learned ballet, all kinds of Chinese dances, as well as various style of foreign dance, recitation, and some drama.

After the culture revolution, China reinstated college-entrance testing, which opened doors for many people who didn’t get a chance to colleges. I always love to read all kinds of books and dreamed to study in classrooms. So, I wanted to go back to school. But I hesitated for years and could not make the decision to take the test. Because I only had 4 years in elementary school and two months in middle school. But my parents encourage me and supported me, although they later told me that they didn’t think I would pass the test on the first try.

I taught myself the courses of middle school and high school in about 11 months at my spare time, while I was still working full-time in the troupe. I studied very hard without any rest time and passed the exam with flying colors. I majored in international business at a prestigious university in China. I remained a part-time dancer and choreographer. I has had many jobs pertaining my business degrees (bachelor and master). But finally I decided that office life wasn’t for me and returned to teaching Chinese dance, language and culture. I don’t think I am the kind of person to hide in an office and deal with computers, telephones and files all day long. Later I got into Bill Gates’ alma mater, Lakeside school and became the cofounder of their Chinese language program. After 5 years, I left there. I believe a more active lifestyle fits me better. Dancing is much more fun than anything else. So, I started my own school called Melody Institute. We have been performing in many theaters, festivals, schools and all kinds of events, working with different organizations, such as Folklife festival, Seattle Theater Group, Friends of Waterfront.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I left home when I was only 11 years old and dropped school, becoming a professional dancer. After over 9 years, I decided to go back to school and take the college -entrance tests. At that time, I only had four years of elementary school education (since I skipped a grade) and two months of junior high, and had been out of school for over nine years. I had to compete with a large number of high school graduates, and I couldn’t afford to study full-time—I had to balance studying while working full-time. It seemed almost impossible! No one believed in me; they thought I was dreaming. But I still decided to take the plunge. How could I know I couldn’t do it unless I tried? Even if I failed, I could face myself without regret. Deep down, it was my stubborn character and belief that kept me moving forward fearlessly.

During the approximately eleven months of preparation, I didn’t allow myself a single day off, not even an hour. I made use of every available spare moment to study/review junior high and high school courses, making the most of every second. Sometimes, after a performance, it was already late, and my roommate was asleep. To avoid disturbing her, I would hide under the covers with a flashlight to study. Even while sitting on a bus or waiting in line, I studied whenever I could. In just about eleven months of spare time, I self-studied all the junior high and high school subjects, and not only passed the college entrance exam but also got into a prestigious university, leaving everyone shocked and incredulous!

Of course, due to the extreme fatigue, I collapsed right after the exam—high fever, sore throat, and other symptoms made me suffer for a while. But all of this was worth it. Life offers few chances to take such risks! This exam changed my life and continues to benefit me to this day.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

To find the true self within; to find a way to express the inner self; to find a way to communicate with others and the world; to find a way to help others and give back to society; to find the meaning of one’s own existence.

Contact Info:

• Website: Melody Institute, Inc.
• Instagram: melody_dance_institute

Image Credits

Seattle Theater Group’s photographer for the group dance photo. (I don’t know the photographer’s name)