We were lucky to catch up with Hsiao-Ning Liao recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hsiao-Ning, appreciate you joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I am happy to be an artist. As a dancer, come from a small island to New York City to chase my dream, every day is a struggle, physically, mentally, and financially. Me and my best friend, who is a dancer from South Korea, we always joke on each other how poor we are, how painful and tired our bodies are, and why we are still here in NYC. But we know one thing, in long time in the future, we are going to laugh and cherish so much about the time we are here in this big city fighting for our dreams to be professional dancers. For sure I wonder about if I have a regular life, I am probably married and have kids already, but then I think about how many exciting and special experiences I had as a dancer, and artist here, and so many ups and downs that make me feel the life more than others, that help me become a artist as well.

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.

My name is Hsiao-Ning Liao (Ning), I was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, and currently, I am a freelance dancer/dance artist/dance instructor in New York City. I wasn’t a dancer before I came to the U.S. When I was around 21 years old, I had a taste of hip-hop and jazz dance, after that, I completely fell in love with dancing. I feel that when I’m dancing, I can express my true feelings and emotions, better than words, cause the body doesn’t lie. When I was 23, I made the first biggest decision of my life, I wanna move to New York try dancing, and see if it could be my career. So I came to NYC and started taking classes at Broadway Dance Center, I mostly took ballet, contemporary, and street styles choreography classes, at the same time, I was trying to apply for dance college in the U.S., because, in my culture, the degree is important, so at that time I was trying to prove myself to others that I can get a dance degree in the U.S. even if I started dancing late. After training in New York City for about 9 months, I went to Texas Woman’s University to major in Dance. I danced mostly modern dance in Texas for three years and I got my dance degree, I feel I really want to go back to New York City, the energy and vibes of NYC are just different. Eventually, I moved back to NYC in 2021 and started to be a freelance dance artist here, so far, I think it’s the best part of my life.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

As a dancer, the first thing I think of the most rewarding is my body. I have more awareness than before of my body after I started dancing. And most important, I love my body more, and I appreciate my body whether It’s good or bad. When it’s good, I can feel every single emotion go through my body like water, and I can dance with my whole body, using the space, and feeling the ground. When my body is in pain or bad shape, I feel grateful for it as well because supports me through hard times, and reminds me that slow down, and think about what I should do, or change something that’s not working for me anymore. I believe my body connects to my mind more than before too. As a dancer, I use my body to show my emotions and feelings, and vice versa, my body will tell me something that maybe I haven’t noticed yet. Being a dancer, creating through my body is exciting. and I really love my body, I appreciate my parent giving me a healthy body that lets me dance, My body is a gift to me, let me explore the world.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I would say I have goals every day, I want to learn a little bit of new things and become a new version of myself every single day. I think, for now, my goal or my mission is more focusing on myself, and how I can express my feelings through my body, by making a choreography or freestyling, and how I can make the movements make more sense with the music, how I can use my body to show love, desire, sensuality and so many different versions of me. I always feel that I want to dance to make people feel something when see my dance, especially commercial dances, however, I don’t want to force it, because when I truly and genuinely enjoy myself, I think people will feel it naturally.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.instagram.com/ninga0908/
• Instagram: @ninga0908
• Facebook: Hsiao-Ning Liao
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/xCRIpo7bUUg?si=-3BTDdwvoz8JzHXQ

Image Credits
Ry @ryalexanderphoto Malik @anitnoheroes Jonathan @jonathanm.art Audrey @_audreychou_