Hi, I'm Shao Qing (Phoebe) Huang, founder of OneDance.

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I began dancing at the age of three in Shanghai, China. At seven, my family immigrated to Canada and I too was forced to leave the familiar rhythms of classical Chinese dance long etched into my body. In this new country, I struggled to find belonging.

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Everything changed when we discovered the Centre for Immigration and Community Services (CICS). They helped my family transition -- teaching us English, enrolling me in free community dance classes, and supporting my parents in their job search. Dance once again became my anchor.

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By high school, I became highly proficient in ballet, modern and Chinese. Earning a teaching certification from the Beijing Dance Academy, I returned to CICS, but, this time, as a mentor. I dedicated myself to helping immigrant and refugee children, who faced the same challenges I once did, discover their own voices and belonging through dance.

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In our classes, choreography became a celebration of new beginnings. Together, we stitched a vibrant tapestry of Chinese folk dances -- the sharp tambourine beats of the Uyghur, the graceful peacock dance of Dai, and the bold, festive Northeast Yangge -- with hiphop and jazz. As I watched my students beam with pride while performing our creation, I realized something profound: it was precisely my “unconventional” form, my unique cultural blend, that allowed me to nurture belonging through expression.

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Through these workshops, I also met many talented children with lower body motor impairments caused by various neurological disorders. Their challenges and resilience have inspired our mission to support paediatric mobile rehabilitation through the SickKids Foundation, where assistive soft robotic garments are being developed, to give children with disabilities the same movement freedom and joy in dance

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Dance had welcomed me into community and, now, I had become my own kind of teacher, carrying that gift forward.​