For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a deep love and passion for dancing. When I was around six or seven years old, I would sit mesmerized in front of the TV, watching the “background” dancers performing behind the singers. To me, those dancers were the true stars — the singer merely a secondary presence. I dreamed of becoming one of those dancers someday.
However, I grew up in a very conservative Asian family, and my dream didn’t align with my parents’ expectations. My father considered the kind of dancing I admired to be provocative and indecent. Instead, I was expected to focus on my studies, earn good grades, and play the piano. Needless to say, achieving my dream without my family’s support would be incredibly difficult.
During elementary school in Taiwan, where I lived at the time, we had daily 30-minute outdoor exercise sessions on the school field. The activities alternated between physical exercises and square dancing. I vividly remember how excited I would get on the days we were scheduled to dance. I didn’t realize it then, but the seeds of my love for dancing had already been planted. Even at that young age, dancing made me happy — it was already my favorite activity, even if I didn’t fully understand why.
When I got older, my family immigrated from Taiwan to Costa Rica. I attended middle and high school there, and I fell in love with school dances. I loved dancing so much that I often told myself, “When I grow up and live on my own, I’ll go dancing every day!” But at the time, I was only allowed to dance during school events. There was a youth disco club near my high school that hosted afternoon sessions, and I would occasionally sneak out with my friends to go dancing behind my parents’ backs. I felt so free and joyful when my body moved to the rhythm of the music — I absolutely loved it.
I moved to Texas from Costa Rica to attend college. Even though schoolwork kept me busy, I made time to take group lessons at SSQQ, a well-known ballroom dance school. A few years later, in 2005, I happened to join a Chinese dance group. We performed frequently, and I discovered that not only did I love dancing and performing — I also loved being in the spotlight. I enjoyed being on stage.
In 2016, I found my way back to ballroom dancing. By 2017, I had transitioned away from traditional Chinese dance, after 12 years, to focus solely on ballroom. I was very fortunate to find the best dance partner I could ask for — David Peng, who eventually became my life partner as well. We began competing in Ballroom Latin and Smooth in 2019, and by 2022, we shifted to focus exclusively on American styles — Smooth and Rhythm, the 9-Dance category. Though our training journey has had its ups and downs, we’re both passionate about ballroom and committed to this glamorous sport.
In 2021, after the pandemic, I had the opportunity to return to Taiwan for a short stay (my parents had moved back there from Costa Rica after I moved to the United States). I performed a Cha-Cha routine on stage — and for the first time, my father saw me dance. He was genuinely impressed. He said, “I didn’t know my daughter could dance like that!” He still told me to be careful not to fall and hit my head — a typical protective, conservative father’s comment — but this time, he didn’t call dancing indecent. That silent acceptance meant the world to me.
In 2019, David and I began sharing our love of ballroom dancing with the Asian community in Houston by starting our own classes. We call ourselves D & L Dance. Currently, we teach Latin classes every Wednesday night and Smooth every Thursday night. David also offers private lessons for a few female students. After retiring from a 30-year career in education last year, I now dedicate most of my time to dancing. Although I still work part-time as a bilingual educational diagnostician, dancing has truly become the center of my life. David and I teach, perform, and compete — living our lives to the fullest: productive, healthy, and happy. I cherish and love every minute of it!
Better late than never, I feel truly blessed to have finally found the real passion of my life. I now know what I want — and who I am. This year in March, David and I earned the titles of USA Dance National Champions in Senior II Rhythm and Senior II American 9-Dance (Rhythm and Smooth). When I heard our number called, I burst into tears — tears of joy, of pride, of hard work finally paying off.
Ballroom dancing not only keeps me young and healthy — it makes me a better person. A person with light in her eyes. A person who lives with purpose. A person who feels beautiful from within. A person who is free, with a heart full of love.
This fire for dancing will never fade. It will keep burning until the very last day of my life.
