NASA’s Best Ballerina

December 2003. In class.

June 2005, Stony Brook University

Yiran’s dream in life: “to help my brother at NASA and to be a ballerina!” Luran predicts, “Yiran will be the best ballerina in NASA!” Dance flows from Yiran’s heart. Since she was very young, she has been dancing to any music she hears at home (very often it’s Luran’s piano pieces). She has been taking dance lessons since age 3. Among the new steps she learned this year are “changement (changing)” and “pas de chat (step of a cat)”. Last year for the recital, Yiran danced to the music of “Chapel of Love”; her costume was a bridal gown with a veil. Daddy also participated in the recital with a bunch of “dancing dads”. At the end of the recital, father and daughter appeared on the stage hand-in-hand. It’s hard to imagine that twenty years from now daddy may walk down the isle with Yiran, in her real bridal gown…

If dance builds her grace and confidence, gymnastics gives her strength and courage. This is her second year of gymnastics lessons and she goes for 1 ½ hours each week. Round-off she can do quite well now; cartwheel and handspring are still being perfected. She is one of the youngest in her class but she is not daunted. After her class, she often bends her arm and makes a fist and asks us, “You see my big muscles?”