Dance connects these Asian Canadians to culture, and to others

May is Asian Heritage Month, and in the wake of the tragedy at a Vancouver festival celebrating the contributions of the Filipino community, the importance of celebrating Asian Canadians is front and centre. 

Dance plays a vital role in many Asian cultures, and for those living abroad, it can help connect them back to the place they or their ancestors came from.

People have migrated from Asia to Canada for the last two centuries, according to the federal government, "bringing our society a rich cultural heritage."

According to Statistics Canada, more than 1.4 million people of Asian heritage were living in B.C. in 2021 — about 28 per cent of the total population. 

In 2001, the federal government declared May Asian Heritage Month as a way to honour the contributions Canadians of Asian origin have made to this country. 

CBC spoke with several Asian Canadian dancers in B.C. to learn more about their passion for dance and why it's such an important part of who they are. 

Lion Dance can bring you out of your shell

Growing up in Toronto, Anna Jing said she was quiet and introverted. The daughter of immigrant parents, she never felt connected to Chinese culture. She said she didn't really see the importance of it, either.  

She started learning wushu — a sort of contemporary kung fu — which naturally lends itself to Lion Dance. Lion Dance is a traditional dance performed in China and other Asian countries.

When Jing arrived at UBC four years ago, she joined the school's Kung Fu association, where wushu and Lion Dance are both practiced. She was still shy, but learning more about her culture helped her connect with others, and made her an active participant in the community.

"Meeting so many like-minded people who have the same goal as you to reconnect with their culture, to learn about wushu, learn about Lion Dance, perform for other people, it's very fulfilling," she said.

"I feel like I've grown an immense amount because of this club. I've definitely learned to talk with a lot more people. I've learned to not shy away from who I truly am, and I think it's also because of the confidence I've gained in performing and learning this special sport for me."

Mandala dance connects long-distance family members

Veena Vinod and her family immigrated to Canada from India when she was five years old, about 20 years ago. While her parents wanted her to have access to all that Canada offered, they worried she would lose touch with her culture, Vinod said. 

As a child, she watched dance performances and asked her parents if she could be a dancer. In Vancouver, Vinod and her sister found Mandala Arts, a studio dedicated to traditional Indian dance. 

Now, Mandala dancing has become an important part of her identity.

When she dances, Vinod feels a deep sense of connection to her family members in India — many of whom are dancers or are somehow connected to the arts — thousands of kilometres away. 

She's used to seeing her culture in books and media, she said, but being a dancer herself helps her live that culture. 

"Seeing the dance form adapt and grow, seeing how it's changed but kept the roots, seeing how it's grown and adapted, has been really great and made me feel close to the dance."

Yosakoi unites communities

Yuhei Shimada was working to become a Japanese teacher in Toronto when he came across Yosakoi, a Japanese dance combining tradition and innovation, and using wooden instruments.

"I fell in love instantly," he said. "A lot of people from different cultural backgrounds, language backgrounds united together and enjoyed the moment together."

Ultimately, he said, he wanted to share the language and culture of his home country with Canadians and felt Yosakoi was a perfect fit. 

A self-described "true Japanese with a Samurai spirit," Shimada brought his love of dance with him when he moved to Vancouver in 2022, where he started Appare Yosakoi. The kanji (or Japanese writing) for Appare, he said, means clear the sky. 

"When I first moved to Vancouver, everyone was like, 'Hey, welcome to Raincouver, rain, depression, cloud,' and I was like, 'Oh, that's sad,'" he recalled.

"I knew how energetic the Yosakoi culture is, so I wanted to bring this culture to Vancouver. We dance to be the sun of this rain covered and light up the city and bring the people, like, joy and energy and smiles and all the positive vibe to the city."

His group is now made up of more than a dozen members, about half of whom are Japanese, Shimada said. Their oldest member is in their 50s, while the youngest is in their teens, he added. 

"People don't speak the same language but they get together and [dance] together, united together."

Punjabi culture 'rooted' in Bhangra

While Kabeer Panesar has been dancing Bhangra for several years, he feels a sense of responsibility to share it with fellow South Asians, and with British Columbians as a whole. 

It's especially important to him during Asian Heritage Month. 

He described how a Bhangra move called the faslan, which means crops, mimics the way crop fields sway in the wind.  

"There's a lot of symbolism, a lot of cultural aspects that are involved in the dance," he said.

"The culture is so deeply rooted in the dance, which is why I guess I'm so in love with it." 

Panesar said many people from outside Punjabi culture are coming to his dance studio, Vancity Dance, to learn more about the culture through Bhangra. As the popularity of South Asian music continues to soar, he said there's been a greater interest among non-Punjabi people.

He said sharing his love of Bhangra honours his parents. 

"They came here with no money, with no support, and they made a life for themselves," he said. 

"They made life for us. So for us to be able to do something like this, give our culture back to our community, that's kind of the legacy that we want to leave behind. If our next generation can give back just the way we did, that would be amazing."