Huai Bao Dhawa has lived, studied and worked in China, Canada and the USA, building an impressive list of accomplishments around the globe.

As a young man in China, he trained with several renowned Jingju (Beijing Opera) artists from Jiangsu and Beijing. He then went on to do his MA in literature at Beijing Normal University’s Graduate School, and published two books on parapsychology and occultism in China (Vibrations, New World Press, 2010, and The Return of Spirituality, Guangzhou Publishing Group, 2011) as well as a number of textbooks and articles. He also has an upcoming book by the New World Press in Beijing, China, titled Your Fate Is In Your Hands.

In 2010, he also produced and directed a full length feature film, Fearless from Red China, based on his original research on interracial sex work in Vancouver.

Fearless from Red China trailer (contains explicit images)

In 2011, he began his PhD research in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies at SFU under the supervision of Professor Helen Hok-Sze Leung.

His research focuses on a comparative study between the returning cross-dressing practices in Asian performances with Chinese xiqu (musical drama) being the most representative art form and the contemporary revival of the cross-gender performance of the Elizabethan theatre.

His experiences so far have been split between Eastern and Western performing traditions in the theatre, literature and film production. He is finally drawn to gender and sexuality research as he believes the core drive for all the arts is sexuality, which goes hand in hand with our gender consciousness and gender performativity in a very complex way beyond our normal perceptions.

He says, "I've benefited greatly from my extensive prior projects, and plan to develop a fresh reading of the myths of gender and sexuality in the performing arts, which I believe is the epitome of our everyday life."

He also writes a personal blog (in Chinese) which has over 500,000 readers, and was interviewed by CNN on the sexual revolution in China, and National Geographic about women and cosmetic surgery.

Since September 2011, he has received a graduate fellowship and a private scholarship, and he was also selected to present his creative and critical project at the Think Again! Conference by the Graduate Students' Society in October 2011. He also has an upcoming article in the Journal of Homosexuality.

• Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, SFU
• Supervisor: Dr. Helen Hok-Sze Leung
• Feature film: Fearless from Red China
• CNN interview: "China's sexual revolution"
• Facebook: Huai Bao
• Personal blog: 灵性回归 达哇世界
• "White Haired Girl" (ppt): Presentation at UBC about China's feminism and revolutionary ballet

Tags: student profiles; arts & social sciences; gender, sexuality and women's studies;