ABOUT US
Share Chinese culture through dance performances.
Build friendships through community service.
Founded in January 2008, Jasmine Chinese Dance Group is a non-profit organization whose mission is to share Chinese culture through dance performances and build friendship through community service. We are located in Overland Park, Kansas. With the generous support of our sponsors and in partnership with local organizations, Jasmine has grown rapidly and is making an impression in the local community.
The Jasmine flower symbolizes women and femininity in Chinese culture, and in particular, gratitude, beauty, and kindness. In kind, Jasmine dancers express grace, beauty and elegance through eye-catching performances and service to the community.
Jasmine Chinese Dance Group offers adult and youth classes. For more information about classes offered, please visit our Classes page. To become a member, please visit our Membership page. To request a performance, please contact us.
JASMINE FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
Jinsong Zhang
The idea behind Jasmine Chinese Dance Group started in 1998, when Jinsong moved to Kansas City and discovered a lack of Chinese folk dance representation at an annual Kansas City ethnic festival. As a lover of Chinese folk dance, she began to consider forming a dance team. In 2005, upon being elected president of the Kansas City Chinese Association, Jinsong established the KCCA Chinese Dance Team (now known as the KCCAA Chinese Dance Team), the first adult Chinese folk dance team in Kansas City. The team rehearsed weekly in her basement. However, Jinsong quickly noticed an additional demand for youth involvement in Chinese folk dancing. In 2008, Jinsong created Jasmine Chinese Dance Group to provide opportunities for Kansas City youth to explore and share Chinese culture through folk dance.
Jinsong holds a bachelor's degree in Printing and Dyeing Art from the Art Institute of Suzhou and a master's degree in Multimedia Design from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). In her free time, Jinsong enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with her family.
JASMINE INSTRUCTORS
Wanwan Cai
Dance Instructor
Wanwan Cai has been teaching dance in Kansas for five years. She has taught at the Lawrence Arts Center, KU Center for East Asian Studies and the RDA Mid-States Festival. Wan Wan began dancing ballet and Chinese classical dance when she was five. She trained with the local art school for many years and continued with the arts group in college. During college and graduate school, she also performed with a Shaoxing opera company in Tianjin, China. Wan Wan also teaches yoga at OmTree Shala.
Cindy Jiang
Dance Instructor
Cindy Jiang has been immersed in dance since she was 5 years old. Over the past 11 years, she has devoted herself to the disciplines of ballet and Chinese dance. Cindy has been a teaching assistant for Jasmine since Spring 2022 and has participated in numerous Jasmine performances including Qin Lian/沁莲, Farewell/九二，Dancing with Long Sleeves in Changan/袖舞长安, Rainy Valley in the Spring/雨涧春行图, and Peach Blossoms Under the Moonlight /桃花挽月. Cindy was honored with the Jasmine Star Award in 2022 and 2023. She is currently serving as the Vice Youth Director of Jasmine's Giving Heart Program.
Rylie Zhang
Dance Instructor
Rylie Zhang has been a dancer for 13 years and has trained in a variety of dance styles including ballet, contemporary, jazz, pointe, and Chinese folk dance. She has been training at Crescendo Conservatory for over 9 years and has been a Jasmine member for over 13 years. She has participated in many Jasmine performances and held lead roles in dances including Qin Lian/沁莲， Rainy Valley in the Spring/雨涧春行图, and Peach Blossoms Under the Moonlight /桃花挽月. Rylie received the Jasmine Star Award in 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023. She is currently serving as the Youth Director of Jasmine Giving Heart Program.
JASMINE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Qinglan Zhang
Cindy Wang
Director of Operations
Cindy has served as Jasmine's Director of Operations since 2021 and is responsible for managing community outreach, website design/maintenance, and Jasmine's strategic operations. She previously served as Jasmine's Board Secretary from 2020-2021. Cindy has been a Jasmine member since its founding in 2008 and is the founder of Jasmine's Giving Heart Youth Program.
Cindy received her BA in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently pursuing a dual-degree MBA/MA in International Business at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
