Dai Ailian
Dai Ailian (; May 10, 1916 – February 9, 2006) was a Chinese dancer and an important figure in the modern history of dance in China. She was born in 1916 into an overseas Chinese family living in Trinidad. Her years as a dance teacher and educator helped China build a generation of dancers, choreographers, and educators. She is known in China as the "Mother of Chinese Modern Dance" for her contributions to the field of dance in China, including her early articulation of three core commitments that shaped dance in China during the second half of the twentieth century. Early life Dai Ailian was born in Couva, Trinidad to a third-generation Chinese family, whose origins were in Xinhui, Guangdong Province. Born Eileen Isaac, she never knew her family's Chinese surname, as her paternal grandfather was given the surname Isaac upon his arrival in Trinidad. She used the name Eileen Isaac until her move to England, when her teacher Anton Dolin asked her for her Chinese surname. Her mother selected the surname Dai, after her father's nickname Ah Dai. Influenced by her mother, who loved music, she liked to dance from a young age. She began studying ballet in Trinidad