Dai was born and raised in the British colony of Trinidad but by her mid-twenties she was dancing, choreographing productions, and designing China’s national and ethnic dance curriculum. Upon her arrival to London, she began her training at Anton Dolin’s ballet studio, later with Lydia Sokolova, and until up to the Second World War trained with Ballet Jooss at Dartington Hall. Puzzled at the dancers of European descent perform oriental dances on London stages, and seeing Javanese, Indian, Japanese touring performers, Dai simultaneously developed a strong Chinese identity and a will to create Chinese movements as modern dance forms. Dai led fundraising through China Campaign Committee (CCC) where she showed her own choreographies blending activism with art. Participating in the formation and early application of Labanotaion, she initiated many infrastructural, material and corporeal changes in the mediation of dance. A cultural producer, a champion of intercultural encounters as learning aid, Dai has influenced every generation of dancers in China and Chinese diaspora, after her own tepid beginning in Britain.
