However, Tai Lihua never gave up. Her determination would be physically manifest. During Tai's first summer of dance training, her mother took notice of her daughter's habit of always wearing slacks, never skirts. While Tai napped one day, her mother rolled up a leg of her daughter's trousers. She was shocked to see the severity of the bruising and became distressed to the point of tears.

Dancing, pitifully an art always related to music, captivates Tai. For her, the only way out is to memorize, repeat, and memorize again. In her mind, dancing is a piece of visible and colorful music. It's a unique language to express her inner world. Progress rekindled her hope.

  Peacock Fairy

The Spirit of the Peacock originally by Yang Liping is Tai Lihua's favorite dance. The first time she watched it, she fell in love with it. Lots of dancers tried to emulate Yang's performance and all failed. But after watching Tai's performance, Yang kept saying: "If faced with the same disability, I wouldn't dance it as well as you do."

Tai's outstanding performance brought her to the world stage. She is the only Chinese dancer to have performed both at Carnegie Hall in New York and La Scala in Milan. And a poster of The Spirit of the Peacock by her at Carnegie Hall is the only one from China.

Now when the curtain rises, the lights come up and the music fades in, there is Tai in the elegant flowing dress signature to the piece. She moves with her impressionistic interpretation of that precise-stepping and extraordinary land bird. As if in a silent wood, on a green lawn, or by a gurgling brook, with expression of face and body she captivates with physical interpretation and spirit.

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