Dancers from Folk Art Academy, a Chinese dance school on South Livingston Avenue, brought home top awards from the Taoli World Dance Competition North America Finals, held July 31 through Aug. 2 in Irvine, California.

The competition rounds took place July 31 and Aug. 1 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, with the grand awards ceremony on Aug. 2. More than 500 dancers from the United States, Canada and beyond competed, ranging from children to adults and performing Chinese classical dance, Chinese folk dance, contemporary Chinese dance, ballet and modern dance, according to the West Essex Tribune.

The Taoli World Dance Competition, founded in 2017 by Professor Pan Zhitao of the Beijing Dance Academy, has grown into an internationally recognized platform for preserving and promoting Chinese dance overseas. Pan Zhitao chaired the jury at this year's finals, which also included dance educators and artists from China, the United States and the United Kingdom, China Daily reported.

The event was organized by the Pan America Chinese Dance Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to cross-cultural exchange in the performing arts between Chinese dancers in the U.S. and dance professionals in China.

Folk Art Academy, also known as FA Dance, is led by dance director Ying Shi, a Beijing Dance Academy graduate with more than 25 years of teaching experience in Chinese traditional and folk dance. Shi also serves as arts director of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company and sits on the Traditional Dance and Preservation Board of the Pan America Chinese Dance Association. The school's Chinese folk dance teacher, Ms. Song, holds a master's degree from Columbia University and herself won first place at the 2017–18 Taoli International Dance Competition.

"True internationalization is not becoming someone else — it is having the confidence to be yourself on the world stage," PACDA co-founder and executive director Cheer Pan said at the Aug. 2 awards ceremony.

The ceremony drew community leaders and elected officials from Orange County, including Irvine Mayor Larry Agran's executive assistant and former Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan. Beyond the competition rounds, the finals weekend included a PACDA Wudao Forum, a multicultural master workshop, alumni exchange activities and the launch of the Li Chen Fellowship for Chinese Dance Studies.

One dancer shared the experience on Instagram on Aug. 10:

@yixian_yxyx: "FA Dance has been a sweet home for dancers loving dance and Chinese dance especially. … Dancers came with dreams and left with bigger dreams!"

Award-winning groups from the Taoli competition may be invited to join national and world tours, according to PACDA.

Folk Art Academy offers classes in Chinese dance, acrobatics and contemporary dance at its Livingston location. Enrollment information is available at faacademyplus.com.