Jane is a registered professional engineer in the State of California. As a bridge engineer, she calculates loads on bridges and analyzes load distributions. As a ballroom dancer, she identifies the forces acting on her body and transfers her weight from her sternum to the dance floor. This is the secret behind her success in ballroom dancing!
1. Introduction
Jane started her ballroom dancing journey in 2017 when she became an empty nester. After dancing with Genya Malko, a finalist in Open Professional Smooth at Blackpool, for two months, she placed 1st in Bronze Ballroom at her first ballroom dance competition.
Three months later, she placed 1st in Bronze Ballroom at her second competition.
Encouraged by these results, she started dedicating more time and energy to training and competing, leading to more success …
2. Rising through the ranks
After the first two local competitions mentioned above, Jane started attending regional and national competitions around the country, advancing steadily from Bronze to Silver, Gold, and Open in Ballroom. In 2023, she added Smooth to her portfolio.
Below are highlights of her progression from 2018 on (with 2020 being a void, thanks to Covid-19):
- 2018: Bronze in Ballroom – going regional.
- 2019: Bronze in Ballroom – going national.
- 2021: Silver in Ballroom.
- 2022: Gold in Ballroom.
- 2023: Open in Ballroom and Silver in Smooth.
To briefly highlight each …
2.1 2018: Bronze in Ballroom – going regional
Emerald Ball (EB) was Jane’s first out-of-town (SF) competition. She placed 4th in Bronze Ballroom.
Holiday Dance Classic was her first out-of-state (CA) competition. She placed 2nd in Bronze Ballroom.
2.2 2019: Bronze in Ballroom – going national
Manhattan was her first competition on the East Coast. She placed 1st in Bronze Ballroom in Division C (photo below) and 2nd in Division B.
Jane attended the USDC for the first time, placing 5th in Bronze Ballroom.
2.3 2021: Silver in Ballroom
Competing in Silver, she placed 3rd in Ballroom at EB (held in Dallas, TX).
After winning the BoB at the SF Open, she competed in the BoB finale at OSB 2021.
At OSB 2021, she also placed 5th in Silver Ballroom.
2.4 2022: Gold in Ballroom
Competing in Gold, she placed 1st in the Rising Star Open Ballroom and placed 2nd in Ballroom at the EB.
At USDC 2022, she placed 2nd in both Gold and Silver Ballroom.
2.5 2023: Open in Ballroom and Silver in Smooth
Jane was thrilled to reach her goal of competing in Open Ballroom. She decided to compete “seriously” in Smooth after she found out that the Vegas Open Dance Challenge offered a new 9-dance (five in Ballroom and four in Smooth) scholarship, the first-ever such a 9-dance competition in the industry! She won the 9-dance in Silver/Gold, in addition to placing 2nd in the Rising Star Open Ballroom Championship and 4th in Open Ballroom.
One month later, she won both Open Ballroom and Silver Smooth at SF Open.
Next, Jane competed at the Desert Classic, winning the Rising Star in Open Ballroom Championship, placing 3rd in Silver Smooth, and making the final in Open Ballroom.
Her last competition of the year was USDC 2023, in which she placed 5th in both US “Open to the World” Rising Star Ballroom and Silver Smooth.
3. From bridges to ballroom
At 5’3”, Jane is often literally buried in the crowd at quarter-finals. She also knows she had a late start in ballroom dancing, waiting until her children left for college. She practices diligently and efficiently to make up for the lost time, putting her engineering background and knowledge to good use.
Jane is a Structural Engineer by training, having earned her Bachelor’s degree from Zhejiang University in China and her Master’s degree in the US. She spent a decade in the private sector before joining the California State Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in 1999. Working as a senior transportation/bridge engineer at Caltrans, she calculates loads on bridges: dead loads from the bridge’s weight, live loads from moving vehicles, and dynamic loads from wind or earthquakes. She analyzes the load path from bridge decks to girders, to columns, and finally to the foundation. Jane translates this analysis to ballroom dancing. During practice, she identifies the gravity that helps her stay grounded, the friction from the floor that helps her push off, the centrifugal and centripetal forces that help her execute turns, and the forces that help her swing or sway as moving speed and direction change. She applies the load path theory to transfer her body weight from her sternum to her hips, feet, and dance floor.
By nature and training, Jane is a detailed person and professional. She pays close attention to every part of her work product, and dancing is no exception. Her teacher, a technique master himself, recognizes that he is training a “technique freak.” Jane believes that success or failure rests on getting the details right.
4. Practice makes perfect
For years, Jane struggled to find time for dancing as she juggled competing priorities as a mother of two, a full-time engineer, and a dedicated volunteer in several local community organizations. She did manage to squeeze in social dancing on the weekends, to fulfill her passion for dancing. However, everything changed after her younger child left for college in 2017 – She was “free at last”, training regularly and travelling everywhere for competitions! When push comes to shove with her work deadlines, Jane trades sleep for dance practice, as she would rather be lying on the ballroom floor than lying in bed! Jane is tireless when it comes to practice – practice makes perfect, after all!
5. Dancing as medicine
After a long day at work, Jane drives straight to the dance studio. There, the mental and physical stress of a stationary day in the office is released the moment she begins her warm-up routine with music.
Jane was diagnosed with cervical spondylosis in her 20s, a condition caused by her heavy studying hunched over a desk in college and later hunched over a drafting table multiple hours a day at work. She suffered from severe lower back pain for many years and was even unable to hold her first child after birth. She had received physical therapy for her neck and back, but the symptoms were persistent and always returned. Ballroom has been a godsend for her: holding the correct posture and engaging the core muscles have relieved the stress placed on her body by her profession. Jane’s teacher often reminds her, “Whenever you step onto the dance floor, you should have the right posture. Keep your chin, sternum forward, and core muscles engaged.” Ballroom dancing has given her a remedy better than any other treatment!
Ballroom dancing has also been a preventative measure against diabetes. Jane’s parents were diabetics in their 50s, and Jane has been considered “pre-diabetic” since her early 40s. Her doctor suggested she attend diabetes prevention and management classes. Instead, Jane takes dance classes. Being a competitive dancer, Jane knows and stays fit and controls her weight, two important factors in counteracting diabetes. Twenty years later, she has not progressed to actual diabetes, and she hopes to use dance to stave off the disease for as long as possible, hopefully forever!
6. Dancing with friends
Jane’s passion for ballroom has motivated dozens of her friends to join the sport. In 2016, she founded a ballroom dance club in Sacramento, where her friends meet weekly to practice. Her friends are happy to drag their “couch potato” husbands with them, encouraging them to practice assiduously at home between their weekly studio sessions. The couples enjoy this pastime together, as well as participate in performing at a variety of local dance showcases and fundraising events.
7. Dancing for the community
Jane has volunteered her time and expertise at several local community organizations for years. One major endeavor is the Sacramento Chinese New Year Culture Association (CNYCA). CNYCA is a non-profit that hosts the biggest Chinese New Year celebration annually in the greater Sacramento area. On CNYCA’s Board of Directors, Jane is responsible for fundraising events. Along with two other Board members, Jane has hosted an annual fundraising dinner and dance party since 2019 (with 2020 and 2021 being the exception due to COVID-19). Not only does Jane plan and organize the party, but she also takes part in the entertainment by performing ballroom dance routines with Genya. What a great way to contribute to the community!
8. Dancing with musicality
Aside from ballroom dancing, Jane is a musician and composer. As a child in Shanghai, she was trained in Pipa (a Chinese stringed/plucking instrument) for years, regularly practicing four hours a day – “practice makes perfect,” again!
Jane loves the deep connection between music and ballroom dancing. Her musical background enables her to understand rhythm and timing, leading to more precise and controlled movements on the dance floor. Moreover, playing a musical instrument requires coordination between the hands, fingers, and sometimes even the whole body. This translates well to ballroom dancing, where two partners must communicate with their body parts seamlessly.
Knowing this connection between music and ballroom dancing, Jane has continued to play Pipa. Recently, she started teaching how to play Pipa. In 2016, she founded a cross-cultural musical ensemble melding Eastern, Western, and modern electronic instruments. She prepares scores, conducts the players, and leads the ensemble to perform all around Sacramento. This is yet another form of community engagement and cultural education to which she volunteers her time.
9. Closing
Jane may be a latecomer to ballroom dancing. However, she strives to make up the lost time with efficiency, rising through the ranks much faster than the average.
Jane wants to continue to dance for as long as she can walk. She takes every opportunity to encourage her grandchildren to pursue ballroom dancing and become her future partners!
