Nan Shan holds up his whole body with just one arm.  The crowd cheers. He spins like a top on the wooden stage, and the crowd cheers louder. 

            Three years ago in Iran, Shan first learned how to breakdance. As an international student from Beijing, China, at the University of Oregon, Shan has choreographed 17 breakdancing performances in the United States since last year.  He established his own breakdancing group called “All Style Crew” at the UO, where he is a full-time computer science student. Americans are wondering how this kid from China can be so passionate for this originally Western form of dance, breakdancing.  

Every Saturday and Sunday after breakfast, Shan goes by himself to the same practice room in the UO recreation center.   He turns up the music loud and he tries to choreograph some new moves for his crew.  He replays the same part of a song a hundred times.  He replays it one more time, and he adds one more move to his choreography.  Sometimes his body freezes in the middle of a move while his mind seeks the next creative step. He spends the day choreographing and the night watching breakdancing videos on YouTube until he falls sleep.

Shan’s “All Style Crew” usually meets up at the UO recreation center on Tuesday and Thursday at 4 p.m.  There are eight members in the crew right now including Shan.  The room is filled with hard beat music and the giant mirror reflects the sounds and movements.  As the leader, Shan says “hi” to the crew, but quickly motivates them to warm up.  He holds his hands behind his back and paces the room, making corrections on the performance of his carefully planned moves.

            Usually after free-style practice at the weekly crew practice, Shan turns down the music and teaches the crew the new movements he learned or choreographed during the weekend.  He patiently shows his head-stand move to the crew members and he asks feedback from them. Dancers stay for the other three hours to practice the new move. Shan is the last one leave the room.  

            Shan started breakdancing when he was at Tehran International High School of Iran while his dad was a diplomat at the Chinese Embassy.  One day he came across a breakdancing television show and was intrigued by the foreign dance-form.  Shan was unable to find a breakdancing school at that time, so he taught himself by watching television online videos.  Though he had nowhere to take lessons, Shan would practice his one-handed hand-stand move for hours with his friends in public gym.  He continued to watch breakdancing videos and his interest increased.

            In the summer of 2006, Shan moved back to China with his parents after four years in Iran.  As soon as he got back to Beijing he took a breakdancing class at the “Zero Dance School” near his house in the Chaoyang District to satisfy his growing passion.  Shan had a great breakdancing teacher nick-named “Big Toe”.  Big Toe was a Korean “B-boy,” a slang term for professional breakdancers, and Big Toe’s “Super Chair Crew” was once one of the top 10 breakdancing crews in Korea.  Shan said he felt lucky that the dance studio closest to his house happened to be one of the best in Beijing.  Since breakdancing was a sub-culture in China, there were only five students in Shan’s first breakdancing class. Shan was the only student who stayed for the whole four-month training process.  Due to the intensity of the class, the other students dropped and Shan gained more practice time with his teacher.  

            After Shan’s first session of the breakdancing class, he injured the muscle on his right-hand wrist and right shoulder.  The doctor said that he was not allowed to dance for two weeks, but after one week he was already on the floor again.  He danced seven days a week for five hours each day. “The term ‘break’ doesn’t mean just break down the floor, it also means break yourself, (and) your body,” Shan says.  “It is weird because I never thought about giving up ever, not even just once.  When I dance I can deeply express myself in any way that I want; that’s the beauty of breakdancing.”

The skills that would normally take people four years to learn Shan picked up in just four months.  His teachers and fellow dancers became his brothers.  Soon Big Toe recognized Shan’s breakdancing skills and got Shan an opportunity to go on a Beijing television program supporting the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games called “We are ready.”  At that moment he became a performer rather than a student.

            Shan started to date a girl he met at the “We are ready” program.  She was a supervisor at another breakdancing school and she offered Shan a teaching job after she realized his talent.  Shan learned from her how to choreograph dance performances. At first he was not satisfied with his own teaching abilities.  “Teaching breakdancing was new to me,” says Shan. “It was difficult to teach at first.  My students were about the same age as me and you could just tell they didn’t trust me.  But once I busted a move they got impressed.  That’s how I clarified that I was the teacher and they were the students.”

Teaching made Shan a better dancer.  At first he used the methods of his previous teachers to teach the high school students.  Later on he created his own moves in order to make his students better dancers.  Although he didn’t get paid for any of the performances or teaching, he says that “experience counts.”  “I got opportunities really fast,” he says.  “I guess I am just lucky.  If you are a normal B-boy in China it’s really hard to make any money by performing.  It’s a hard road and a lot of people quit after a couple years because they can’t make a living.”

One day after Shan’s practice, he heard that someone was looking for him.  A professional singer, Qing Yuan, came to Shan’s apartment and asked Shan to choreograph a dance performance for him.  Yuan was looking for a new way to attract audiences because he had watched a lot of videos where the singers were surrounded by dancers. Yuan also wanted Shan to do some stage directing.  Shan was planning to ask 500 RMB ($70) for his first contract but Yuan offered him 2000 RMB ($300).  For the first time, Shan was making a living from dancing.

The money did not come easily.  Shan choreographed many dances, but his client was still unhappy with his work.  Shan eventually succeeded, though all of his work was stolen by Yuan, who put all the credits his own name.  In four months, Shan had been a student, a performer, a teacher and a choreographer.  He grew as a dancer and a person.  Shan’s unique experiences guided his way to the United States.  Breakdancing has helped Shan understand the constantly changing American culture through the lens of a free-form dance.

            “After I came to the United States, these two influences intersected,” he says.  “BAM! America and hip-hop. These two things that influenced me the most finally met.”