COMPANY BIOGRAPHY

A blossom of color, energy and motion, "like endlessly proliferating forces of cosmic energy," says the New York Times. The dances of Nai-Ni Chen fuse the dynamic freedom of American modern dance with the grace and splendor of Asian art. The Company's productions take the audience beyond cultural boundaries to where tradition meets innovation and freedom arises from discipline.

One of the few professional Asian American Dance Company in the world with over 40 weeks of performances annually, the Company has been continuously touring for over ten years, reaching millions of audience. The Company’s constantly evolving work incorporates new ideas and influences from around the world. Nai-Ni Chen’s mesmerizing and dramatic contemporary choreography has gained increasing recognition among domestic and international presenters and festivals. Most recently, the Company was honored by a distinctive award from both the President's Committee on Arts and Humanities and the Department of State to represent the United States in a seven-city tour arranged by the Tamaulipas International Arts Festival in Mexico.

Presented by some of the most prestigious concert halls in the United States, from the Joyce Theater in New York to the Ordway Center in Minnesota and the Cerritos Center in California, the Company has performed in such acclaimed international festivals as the Silesian International Contemporary Dance Festival and the Konfrontations International Dance Festival, both in Poland, the Chang Mu International Arts Festival in Korea and the China International Dance Festival.

The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company also has the unique honor of having received more than twelve awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous Citations of Excellence and grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. In the First China International Dance Festival in Kunming, Yunan, the China Dance Association presented to the Company its most prestigious honor for companies not based in China, the Golden Lotus Award.