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This mesmerizing dance routine is a cultural phenomenon in China and with good reason

Hearing impaired performers come together in perfect synchronization to share a beautiful message.

Hi China/Youtube

Dancers emulate Guan Yin, the goddess of compassion

In a world full of jaw-dropping dance routines, the Thousand Hand Guan Yin manages to captivate like no other.

A large group of performers in identical golden costumes flow together in synchronized movement so seamlessly that it appears as though one entity with several arms is moving about space.

That entity is Guan Yin, a goddess of compassion who, according to Buddhist legend, will never rest in nirvana as long as any sentient being suffers on Earth.

Guan Yin is often depicted with a thousand arms, having an eye in the palm of each hand, to symbolize an omnipresent mother figure always witnessing the pain of humanity with endless amounts of mercy, extending out one of her many arms to lend a helping hand.

The performers emulate this with intricate, delicate hand gestures while standing very close to one another, resulting in a mesmerizing optical illusion.

But the dance in and of itself isn't the most remarkable thing about this piece—each of the performers are hearing impaired.

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Health

What do women do when no one is watching? These images sum it up nicely.

Realness is key in Sally Nixon's work.

What are women up to when no one is watching?

Artwork courtesy of Sally Nixon, used with permission.

Well, take a look at Sally Nixon's illustrations and you'll see.

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Identity

13 side-by-side portraits of people over 100 with their younger selves

These powerful before-and-after photos reveal just how beautiful aging can be.

Centenarians — people 100 years or older — are a rarity. Their lives are often scrutinized as holding the key to aging.

Czech photographer Jan Langer's portrait series "Faces of Century" shows them in a different light: as human beings aged by years of experience, but at their deepest level, unchanged by the passing of time.

In the series, Langer juxtaposes his portraits with another portrait of the subject from decades earlier. He recreates the original pose and lighting as closely as he can — he wants us to see them not just as they are now, but how they have and haven't changed over time. That is the key to the series.

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Education

Museum reveals a Louisiana painting that had an enslaved child camouflaged for over 100 years

After Bélizaire was sold, he was painted out of the family portrait.

The New York Times|YouTube

Louisiana painting had enslaved child camouflaged for 100 years.

There are parts of history that are overlooked or forgotten, but the truly astonishing thing is the lengths to which people will go to cover them up. The thing about hiding parts of history, though, is that they always find their way into the light, and that's exactly what happened with a child named Bélizaire.

In 1972, a painting of three white children was donated to the New Orleans Museum of Art by Audrey Grasser, who inherited the family portrait. When she dropped off the painting, she informed the museum that there was an enslaved Black child in the picture that had been painted over.

The painting was never displayed in the museum. It actually sat in the basement for more than 30 years, and when speaking to Audrey's son, Eugene, there's no family story on why the boy was painted over. The Grasser family didn't seem to have much information about the boy at all, but he was important enough to be painted with the enslaver's children.

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art

Hearing impaired performers come together in perfect synchronization to share a beautiful message.

Realness is key in Sally Nixon's work.

What are women up to when no one is watching?

The subjects in her artwork aren't aware we're looking at them.

And that's the point. They're living in a world free from the pressures that exist in the real one.

Capturing her subjects in this liberated light wasn't intentional at first, she explained.

You also might notice none of the girls in her illustrations are smiling.

The theme of friendship is also an important one in Nixon's drawings.

Creating relatable scenes was key to Nixon, too — from the details of women's lives to the physical shapes of their bodies.

The women in Nixon's work aren't real, but she hopes their stories are.

These powerful before-and-after photos reveal just how beautiful aging can be.

Centenarians — people 100 years or older — are a rarity. Their lives are often scrutinized as holding the key to aging.

1. Prokop Vejdělek, at age 22 and 101

2. Bedřiška Köhlerová, at age 26 and 103

3. Ludvík Chybík, at age 20 and 102

4. Vincenc Jetelina, at age 30 and 105

5. Marie Fejfarová, at age 101

6. Antonín Kovář, at age 25 and 102

7. Anna Vašinová, at age 22 and 102

8. Stanislav Spáčil, at age 17 and 102

9. Anna Pochobradská, at age 30 and 100

10. Antonín Baldrman, at age 17 and 101

11. Marie Burešová, at age 23 and 101

12. Vlasta Čížková, at age 23 and 101

13. Ludmila Vysloužilová, at age 23 and 101

Haley Morris-Cafiero's photos might make you rethink how you look at people.

“He transformed the pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty."

After Bélizaire was sold, he was painted out of the family portrait.

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