Famous Homeschoolers for
October 11, 2007

Lu Pinchang

Sculptor

During the Cultural Revolution, Lu and his family had to move to the countryside because his father was a professor of geography and, like all intellectuals at the time, he was expelled from the city.

Lu lived here until he was fifteen, at which point, in 1978, the government opened up the universities to all applicants and he entered the Jingdezhen Ceramics College having only a homeschooled education. His reason for choosing ceramics over any other artistic medium or any other lifestyle is remarkable in that—as far as he explained—there really wasn’t one. At that age, he had no great love for or experience in the art of working clay.

Stylistically, Lu originally rejected traditional Chinese sculpture and pursued a career of sculpting in a more Western style. From this experience, he published a book in Chinese, The Western Contemporary Sculpture. However, deciding that this style was too limiting, he began to derive his influences from Chinese folk stories and traditions, even the Great Wall, although a strong contemporary Western influence remains in his work.

David Tamaki

Ballet Dancer

DAVID TAMAKI began his formal training at New Jersey School of ballet at age 7. He also studied at the Joffrey Workshop in Texas and with Miami City Ballet.  In 1998, he became a member of the NJB Junior Company and joined the Company in 1999. His repertory includes Allegro Brillante, Cinderella, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, For Ella, Saturday Night, Trepak and the Prince in Nutcracker. He has guested with the Eglevsky Ballet and International Ballet. He earned plaudits for his performance in Diana and Acteon from Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times.