Si-Lan Chen, known as Sylvia Si-Lan Chen Leyda, Chen Xuelan, or Chen Xilan, was a dancer, choreographer, and activist of Chinese and Afro-Caribbean descent.
13 Facts About Si-Lan Chen
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Si-Lan Chen was born in Trinidad in 1905, the daughter of Eugene Chen, a Chinese-Trinidadian lawyer and diplomat, and Agatha Alphosin Ganteaume, a Trinidadian woman of French Creole heritage.
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Si-Lan Chen was the first ballet teacher of her cousin, Dai Ailian, who would go on to become an influential figure in modern dance in China.
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Si-Lan Chen's dance combined classical dance with African and African American folk cultures.
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Si-Lan Chen was influenced by other interpretive styles, including from the Caribbean, from the Soviet Union, and Chinese folk tradition.
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Si-Lan Chen was romantically involved with the poet Langston Hughes during his visit to Moscow in 1932.
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In 1935, Si-Lan Chen was diagnosed with cancer and had major surgery at the Shanghai Red Cross hospital.
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Si-Lan Chen adapted her dance program Southern Blues based on a poem by Hughes.
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Si-Lan Chen worked in Hollywood as a choreographer and dance instructor, appearing in some films, such as The Keys to the Kingdom.
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Si-Lan Chen did ballet background work for Anna and the King of Siam.
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Si-Lan Chen played the only Chinese role in South Sea Sinner.
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Si-Lan Chen's last film appearance was an uncredited role in Peking Express.
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Si-Lan Chen was invited to participate in the development of The Red Detachment of Women, which later became one of the model plays during the Cultural Revolution, but declined.