Chinese New Year Celbrations

Dear Friends,

Enjoy a cultural extravaganza for the whole family and kick off a roaring Year of the Tiger! www.nainichen.org/tiger Join the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company for a vibrant celebration of the Chinese New Year at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center's Victoria Theater in Newark on Saturday, February 13, and Sunday, February 14, at 2 pm. Our program will feature the traditional favorite Lion Dance along with other exciting and colorful works performed by the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. We will also present new Chinese dances by guest choreographers Wei Chen and Min Zhou, and feature the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, the oldest, largest, and only full-scale Chinese orchestra in the United States and the Americas. To top it all off, renowned paper-cut master Ho-Tien Cheng will be on hand to provide you with his unique take-home art for the Chinese New Year. After the performance, join us for a special Chinese New Year Banquet at the newly renovated Chinatown Restaurant, just two minutes away in nearby Harrison, NJ. Five-star, award-winning Chef Ni will create just for us spectacular Chinese New Year dishes not available on his regular menu. The feast will be an occasion not to be missed. So don't wait. Call us at (800) 650-0246 to reserve your tickets today (details below). We'll see you soon! And don't forget to tell your friends. TICKETS Price includes one admission to the performance and post-performance Banquet Adults $75 Children (age 12 and under) $25 Special discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Dance and Music Performance 2 pm NJPAC's Victoria Theater One Center Street Newark, NJ Click here to purchase performance tickets only New Year's Banquet 4 pm Chinatown Restaurant 218 Harrison Avenue Harrison, NJ Click here for gala banquet reservation form Sponsorships To learn about the benefits available to corporate sponsors or how your company can become a Corporate Sponsor of this event, please call 1-800-650-0246, email us or click here. Happy Holidays, Andy Chiang Executive Director Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company andy@nainichen.org

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company at APAP

2010 APAP Showcases

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company

DATE: January 9 & 10, 2010

TIME: 6:00-7:00 PM

LOCATION: NY City Center Studio #4
Entrance to Studios is at 130 West 56th Street. Between 6th and 7th Avenues

MORE: No reservations required
Visit us at Booth #820 in Americas Hall II
MANAGEMENT: Joanne Rile Artists Management
Booth #710 in Americas Hall II

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Gliding across the stage with color, lyricism and a subtle whisper of Chinese tradition, "Song of the Phoenix" features the original choreography of Nai-Ni Chen. Experience the majestic thunder of the Martial Arts and the mysterious whisper of poetry through the global language of dance. Nai-Ni Chen's innovative dances bring together the dynamic freedom of American modern dance and the splendor of Asian culture.

Click here for sample video

Another Review of Nai-Ni's "Three Riddles of Turandot" performed by NJ Ballet

NJ Ballet Goes International in Mayo Center Appearance
By SHEILA ABRAMS
Dance Critic
Published: Dec 9th, 9:53 PM

Looking very sharp and up-to-date, New Jersey Ballet took a mini-world tour during a Nov. 7 appearance at the Community Theatre of the Mayo Center for the Performing Arts in Morristown. This was the first of an annual three performance series the company offers at the theater, and it had something for everyone.

The centerpiece of the program, which was billed as “A World Tour of Dance,” was the world premiere of “The Three Riddles of Turandot,” a ballet created for the company by choreographer Nai-Ni Chen, who directs her own New Jersey-based modern dance troupe. Chen, who is from China, took both her inspiration and her musical accompaniment from Puccini’s opera, so you might say that, in that selection, New Jersey Ballet was hitting both China and Italy on its world tour.

Perhaps in the spirit of European grand opera, Chen chose to put the women on pointe. The movement language was largely neoclassical, but reflected the choreographer’s background in traditional Chinese dance and in modern movement as well.

In works for her own company, Chen has always used props like ribbons, flags and even bamboo rods to extend the lines and motions of her dancers. She did that to great effect in “Turandot,” with swaths of white gauze stretched across the stage by white-clad dancers, red silk flags manipulated by dancers in red silk, and banners with Chinese characters descended from the ceiling. These last apparently represented the three challenges the Princess Turandot presents to her would-be suitors.

Kerry Mara Cox projected a cold and powerful presence as the vengeful princess, and Andre Luis Teixeira, as the man who meets her challenge, handled Chen’s choreography adeptly, as did the others in the large cast. A nod should go to Karen Young for her beautiful costumes.

Click here for rest of article

Great Story from One of our Dancers!

Last month I had the opportunity to tour with NNCDC in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. We performed two different programs--our educational Art of Chinese Dance program for local schools and a public performance of A Dragon's Tale at the Alhambra Theatre. This allowed us to share traditional Chinese culture, as well as Nai-Ni's contemporary works, with a town whose Asian population is less than 1%. After our Dragon's Tale performance we met a shy young lady who enjoyed our Art of Chinese Dance program at her middle school so much that she begged her mother to bring her to our performance that night. She told us that watching the company inspired her to take dance lessons herself. It was very heartwarming to learn that our performances were an impetus for this young lady to try something new. It reminded me of the first time I saw NNCDC in performance as a teenager in Atlanta, Georgia, as I too vividly remember being inspired by what I saw. I feel privileged to be performing with the company eight years later!
-Kerry Lee, dancer

"Three Riddles of Turandot" Review

Nai-Ni Chen brings a different style to her collaboration with New Jersey Ballet

By Robert Johnson/The Star-Ledger

November 09, 2009, 6:19PM

Artistic collaborations are never easy, but the payoff can be huge.
New Jersey Ballet and guest choreographer Nai-Ni Chen, for instance, took a whopping chance when they joined forces to create "The Three Riddles of Turandot."
This sumptuously theatrical production made its debut Saturday at the Community Theatre in Morristown as part of a delightful evening of fantasy excursions titled "A World Tour of Dance."

A contemporary artist based in Fort Lee, Chen had worked with a classical ballet company only once before, and New Jersey Ballet’s dancers were unfamiliar with her style. Telling a story in dance was also new for Chen, who prefers to create abstract works. Yet this experiment has produced a ballet of compelling mystery and emotional depth, marking a significant addition to N.J. Ballet’s repertoire.

"Turandot," employing music from Puccini’s famous opera, compresses the plot into one brief but intense act — exquisitely dressed in silks by designer Karen Young and set in the fairy-tale land of China’s Middle Kingdom. The scene is multilayered, with projections and fabric drapes suggesting the seemingly impassable distance between Princess Turandot (Kelly Mara Cox) and her hopeful suitor, Calaf (Andre Luis Teixeira). To win Turandot’s hand in marriage, prospective husbands like Calaf must divine the answers to three riddles or forfeit their lives.

After a tumultuous opening in which crowds of men and women crisscross the stage, Calaf’s unfortunate predecessor attempts to scale a human pyramid only to be brought low by the executioner’s ax. Then Calaf waits, gathered inward as he listens to each riddle, while Turandot guilefully picks out steps that trace a labyrinth on pointe.
The hero bursts into triumphant leaps when he unravels the riddles’ meaning. Chen finds attractive imagery to depict his answers: A clutch of women in white represent the birth of hope. When Turandot herself is revealed to be the answer to the third riddle, attendants remove her outer robes and carry her on display like a golden trophy.

The lover-antagonists, who have taken opposing positions first downstage and then at a distance, are united at last. Yet the choreographer’s imaginative use of space and lighting to create a luxurious yet deadly atmosphere is only part of her achievement. Although Chen does not make extensive use of the ballerinas’ pointe technique, she gives them elegantly sinuous gestures and a haughty allure, while the men hunker down and stretch in crafty, martial-arts poses, their energy winding up and then springing outward in surprise attacks. All of this is completely new for New Jersey Ballet’s dancers, yet they look terrific.

With any luck, Chen can be prevailed upon to work with them again.
The premiere of "Turandot" took place as part of an evening dedicated to a longtime New Jersey Ballet supporter, the late Republican Assemblyman Eric Munoz. In addition to visiting the Forbidden City in Beijing, this program, a "world tour of dance," made stops in Havana ("Guajira"), Rio de Janeiro ("Para Dois") and New York (the slight but endearing Broadway number "March"), not to mention a familiar island off the Levantine coast inhabited by pirates and their admirers (the "Le Corsaire" Pas de Deux). In addition to Cox and Teixeira, dancers Michelle de Fremery, David Tamaki and Mari Sugawa gave performances outstanding for their musicality and freedom.

'Three Riddles of Turandot' presented by New Jersey Ballet

By Robert Johnson/The Star Ledger

November 05, 2009

Choreographer Nai-Ni Chen works with New Jersey Ballet dancers Kerry Mara Cox

and Andre Texeira to create "The Three Riddles of Turandot"

New Jersey Ballet Presents “The Three Riddles of Turandot”
Where: Community Theatre, Mayo Center for the Performing Arts, 100 South St., Morristown
When: 8 p.m. Nov. 7
How much: Tickets are $22-$42. Call (973) 539-8008 or visit mayoarts.org.

Dancers flash across the stage, flying or tumbling. Their movements can be so quick that a viewer’s eye barely has time to discern the pattern.

Yet if the dancing seems effortless, the task of choreographing it was anything but.
Just ask Nai-Ni Chen, the contemporary choreographer invited to create “The Three Riddles of Turandot” for the New Jersey Ballet. The work, inspired by Puccini’s famous opera, “Turandot,” will receive its premiere Saturday at the Community Theatre in Morristown as part of an adventurous mixed bill called “A World Tour of Dance.”

Chen says it took her five hours to create the first 90 seconds of “Turandot.” She spent half a day reaching for ideas and testing them, compressing her effort into a spare design. Now completed, the entire ballet is 18 minutes long, which, at five hours per 90 seconds,comes out to — well, you do the math.

“The process was slow for the first three days,” Chen says, although she laughs off the challenges of creating the new work and setting it on the performers.
The New Jersey Ballet’s classically trained dancers have never worked with Chen, and her style — full of spirals, back-rolls and unfamiliar gestures — needed to work its way into their muscles. For the first time, she invented steps for ballerinas on pointe.

“It’s a totally different body language,” Chen says, explaining that she didn’t even try to improvise in the studio, as she would have done if she were creating a dance for her own company. “I had to plan everything ahead of time.”

So as the opera’s lush orchestration gradually took possession of her consciousness, Chen found herself inventing phrases at odd moments. “I dream about the music. It’s a 24-hour thing,” she says.

She might have been cooking dinner, for instance. Suddenly an idea would come to her, and she had to try the movement right then and there. “I bump into things, bump into furniture,” Chen admits. Her 14-year-old daughter, Sylvia, though accustomed to her mother’s eccentricities, couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “She’ll say, ‘Okay, I didn’t see that,’ and she just walks away,” Chen says.

Meanwhile, the plot of the ballet unfolded in Chen’s imagination. A public execution is imminent. To avenge her ancestor, Princess Turandot has decreed that any man who seeks her hand in marriage must first answer three poetic riddles or face death. Yet another prospective suitor has failed the test, and as the disturbed crowd jostles for room, clemency is denied.

What kindles like a flame, but is not flame?
What is lily white, and dark?
What does the whole world implore?

Chen’s head was full of images. “A few years ago, I had a collaboration with the Westfield Symphony, and also with the Bohème Opera Company,” she says. “At that time, both companies were presenting ‘Turandot,’ and they asked me to choreograph for them. That’s when I started to get familiar with the story.

There’s a lot of meaning to it. It’s mysterious and very dramatic, and it has the potential to become a beautiful dance.”

NJ Ballet to Premier work by Nai-Ni Chen

New Jersey Ballet

Presents the Premiere of
The Three Riddles of Turandot
Saturday, November 7, 2009 - 8:00 pm

Community Theatre
Mayo Center for the Performing Arts
100 South Street, Morristown, NJ

Acclaimed choreographer Nai-Ni Chen will bring her unique brand of Asian elegance to New Jersey Ballet's season opener An Evening of Dance From Around the World on November 7. The evening will be a tribute to the late Eric Munoz, assemblyman, trauma surgeon at UMDNJ and longtime member of New Jersey Ballet's Board.

The evening will feature the premiere of The Three Riddles of Turandot. Ms. Chen, whom Dance Magazine described as a "spiritual choreographer," will explore Puccini's tale of a beautiful but cruel princess, her would-be suitor and the riddles that hold the key to Turandot's heart.

Also on the program are:
The return of Guajira by Cuban-born choreographer Pedro Ruiz Contemporary ballet with Afro-Cuban and Latin music. The Star-Ledger cheered "Viva ballet Latino!" James Kinney's March, a colorful, upbeat all-American work about busy New Yorkers whose chance encounters transform a walk in the park into an adventure. Rounding out the world tour will be a return of Para Dois, a duet is based on traditional Brazilian street dances and and Le Corsaire pas de deux. It will be a wonderful evening of dramatic, energetic dance to remember. Don't miss it!

Tickets are $42, $32, $22
Discounts available
For Tickets Call the Box Office at 973-539-8008 or
New Jersey Ballet at 973-597-9600

BUY TICKETS ONLINE!

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company to Perform in Hopkinsville, KY

Pennyroyal Arts Council

Live at the Alhambra Series
October 15, 2009 - 7:30 pm


Alhambra Theatre
507 South Main Street, Hopkinsville, KY

Tickets:
Adults: $20 + $3 (taxes and handling)
Students
Elementary & Middle School: $5 + $1 (taxes and handling)
High School & College: $10 + $1 (taxes and handling)
Group discounts available for 15 or more. Call the Pennyroyal Arts Council for details.

Printable Ticket Order Form
For Tickets: 270-887-4295 or 270-887-4079

Company headed to Troy, NY

Hudson Valley Community College


presents

Friday, September 25, 2009 - 7:00 PM

Maureen Stapleton Theater
Siek Campus Center
80 Vandenburgh Ave, Troy, NY

Tickets: $10 general admission;
please call (518) 629-8071
(Hudson Valley students, faculty and staff receive one free ticket.)

For more information, click here

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company at Ball State University

Ball State University

September 18, 2009 - 7:30 pm

Emens Auditorium

Corner of Riverside Ave. & McKinley Ave., Muncie, IN 47306



General Admission: Adults $20 in advance/$25 at the door; Youth (18 & under) & BSU students $5; Artist Series Subscribers & Pick 4 $15 in advance/$25 at the door.



For Tickets: 765-285-1539
or
BUY Tickets Online!

8.31.09

Asian-American Dance Company Returns to Sweet Briar Sept. 14

Tickets available Sept. 7

By Suzanne Ramsey

At 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14, Sweet Briar College will welcome the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company to Murchison Lane Auditorium for the first event of the 2009-2010 Babcock Season. Hailed by The Village Voice as "visual poetry," the Asian-American troupe combines modern and traditional Chinese dance in its new show, "Song of the Phoenix."

Named for its Taiwanese founder and art director, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company last visited Sweet Briar in 2004. Mark Magruder, a dance professor at the College, described that performance as "fantastic" and "visually stunning," but what seems to have stuck with him most were the "water sleeves."

"Nai-Ni did an amazing solo with water sleeves," Magruder said, describing the garment as a tunic with 6- or 8-foot-long sleeves. "It's really cool because you get this gorgeous, flowing effect that with the lighting makes a rippling pattern."

During the upcoming concert, the dance "Passage to Silk River" - an homage to Chen's ancestors - will feature water sleeves.

Other pieces on the program include "Bamboo Prayer," which uses rattan to "symbolize the strength and resilience of women"; "Incense," in which Chen looked to her religious roots for inspiration; "The Way of Five" referring to the five elements; "Raindrops," which draws on the choreographer's childhood memories; "Crosscurrent," a dialogue of passion and strength; and "Mirage," which was "inspired by the unique rhythms and dance movement of the Uyghur people of Xinjiang."

"I think people will be in for a very beautiful visual experience and some very exciting choreography," Magruder said.

Tickets and are $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and free for children younger than 12. For tickets, contact the SBC box office at (434) 381-6120 or boxoffice@sbc.edu , beginning Monday, Sept. 7. Credit card orders can be placed after Sept. 7 via www.lynchburgtickets.com.

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company is in Korea

The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company has been invited to perform as part of the 15th Annual ChangMu International Arts Festival in Seoul, Korea.



ChangMu International Arts Festival
Uijeongbu Arts Center Small Theater
Seoul, Korea

Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
8:00 PM

The ChangMu International Arts Festival, focused on "pursuing the globalization of traditional dances through modern forms," is one of the international cultural exchange programs organized by the ChangMu Arts Center. The festival, which has been held annually since 1993, aims to connect distinctive art forms of the Asia-Pacific region, introducing current dance trends across the world to international and Korean audiences, and contributing to the globalization of the Korean culture. The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company would like to thank the Spingold Foundation of New York for making this presentation possible in this economically challenging time.

New Dancers

The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company would like to welcome new dancers:

Chien-Hao Chang, from Taiwan, is a graduate of the Taipei National University of the Arts with a major in Modern Dance and is also professionally trained in Chinese Martial Arts and dance.

Jung Hm Jo, from Dae Gun, Korea, earned a BA in dance from SeJong University and has an extensive background in modern, ballet, and Korean traditional dance.

Kerry Lee, from Atlanta, Georgia, is trained in ballet, modern and Chinese Dance.

Nijawwon Matthews, of Newark, NJ, began his professional dance career at age 16 with Absolute Dance Company and recently worked with Philadanco in Philadelphia, PA.

We look forward to their active participation in re-creating our repertory and the making of new works.

Collaborations with the
Harlem Schoool of the Arts

For the past several months, Nai-Ni has been working with students in the Children's Dance Ensemble at the Harlem School of the Arts (HSA). She choreographed the dance In this Sky, where the Angels Fly for them to showcase in their year-end performance. They also had the opportunity to perform it again at the Harlem Arts Alliance event, Artz Rootz & Rhythm at The Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building's outdoor plaza in May and again in June at the Morris Jumel Mansion (Manhattan's oldest house and headquarters to General Washington in September and October of 1776).

The company also performed The Art of Chinese Dance for the students participating in the HSA's ARTScape Summer Camp, followed by a traditional Chinese dance workshop taught by Chu-Ying Ku. Both were very well received by the students.


The Harlem School of the Arts collaborated with The Joan Mitchell Foundation and Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company to do a workshop, where visual art students draw professional dancers. The Foundation brought over about 15 high school students and they did drawing for about 1-1/2 hours. It was a great success and we hope it leads to future collaborations of this type.

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company to Perform in Great Neck, NY

The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company will be performing at the Steppingstone Waterside Theatre in Great Neck, NY, on Sunday, July 18, 2009 at 8:00 PM.

Program:
Festival
Peacock Dance
Fan Dance
Sword Dance
Way of Five - Fire
-Intermission-
Ribbon Dance
Passage to the Silk River
Mirage

The performance is Free and open to Great Neck Park Department resisdents only with a valid parks card.

For more information, click here.

Executive Director, Andy Chiang, interviewed about the economy for article in Back Stage

Dancing On
How two boutique dance troupes are weathering the downturn.

By Lisa Jo Sagolla
June 25, 2009

(excerpts from article)

"Because we're a touring company, we noticed signs of the weakening economy early on, in the Midwest, and immediately started cutting back on senior-level administrative staff and marketing," says Andy Chiang, executive director of the New York–based Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, founded in 1988. Its bookings in the Midwest dropped about 50 percent from 2007 to 2008. "Even though our bookings in the Northeast hadn't yet dropped off, we started making changes in early 2008, so when things really got bad, around last September, we weren't hit by surprise."

Nai-Ni Chen presents contemporary choreography infused with Chinese dance sensibilities, as well as actual Chinese dances. "Fortunately, our company has a very good education assembly program," says Chiang, "and that really helps keep us going. Wherever we go to perform, we offer in-school programs. The funding for educational programs has not been cut back as severely as other funding sources, so we're currently focusing on doing more in that arena. We also plan to have our dancers teach more workshops here in New York, which is something we were never able to do as much of as we wanted when we were touring constantly. Nai-Ni Chen has created a unique movement style, and there's a great interest in it among dancers here. So we're viewing this as a chance to increase our local presence."

Click here for entire article

Project Poetry Live! Final Performance Tonight

PROJECT POETRY LIVE!
Final Performance

Friday, June 5, 2009
Naugatuck Valley Community College
Waterbury, CT

The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company was excited to be invited back to work with 1,100 middle and high school students in five Connecticut school districts. Students write poetry, attend writer's workshops, see their words become music, design sets and work with community artists translating their words into other art forms, including dance. The final results of the project will be performed on Friday with original music performed by the student jazz band. In addition, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company will be featured, performing Bamboo Prayer, Crosscurrent and Mirage. For tickets or more information, click here.

SOPAC Residency Update

SOPAC Residency Update
from Chun-Yu Lin

I have been having a great time teaching and sharing my dance experience with the kids at SOPAC. Although we only have one hour each week, they always have so much fun dancing until the last minute and don't want to finish. I start my class with breathing exercises to concentrate and gather their energy. We follow with some feet, torso and hand exercises in the center and cross-floor movement such as running, turning and jumping. The dance technique I have been teaching them is based on Chinese modern dance, and it's a fusion of both western modern dance and eastern Chinese dance. I also give them some movement phrases from Nai-Ni's repertories as examples, such as Raindrops and Unfolding, so that they can experience what Chinese modern dance is. Recently, I gave them a small movement phrase which I made up for them. It's pretty modern and involves some floor work. I have been adding more and more each week, so they can slowly build up their memory and the strength of their bodies.

Poetry in Motion at Union County Academy for Performing Arts

I started Poetry in Motion at Scotch Vo Tech at the end of December. From the moment I began working with the students, I found them to be very open and determined. This was surprising to me considering they were in ninth grade (I really had no idea what to expect). The ideas for movement and dance were created from their own poetry that was guided by the poet Arthur Wilson. Actually the most challenging part of the project was choosing which of their poems to create to; to really narrow in on a few ideas from a huge pile of others words. We then divided the students into different groups, one with me and one with Arthur (the poet, who created a great script for the students).

Through out the next couple of months I met with the students about eight times. Each time I would warm them up and then give them different improv exercises. I wanted them to feel that the movement was coming naturally from themselves. In fact a lot of them had never danced before and I felt inspired watching how organic their created movement was. And for some of the trained dancers, I could see that it was a bit more challenging for them not to stylize their movements. Though in time and with constant reminders of what they were supposed to be imagining or feeling, each and everyone of them was dancing and creating from the inside out.

The most rewarding part of teaching dance to me is seeing how much your students grow. I feel very blessed to have seen this every time I worked with them. It was amazing to watch them trust themselves and each other more. After eight long rehearsal of constant searching and creating, through their willingness and determination, they shared a very powerful performance and grew tremendously as artists.

-Teri Miller (company dancer)

Week-long Residency in Pemaquid, Maine

March 30-April 3
We had the chance to work with the whole school (K-8th grades) creating and choreographing a 40-minute show called "China's diverse legacy." We based the story on Chinese Culture 5000 years ago using many of the traditional Chinese ribbons, fans, lanterns, lion masks, etc. We had six classes everyday followed by Questions and Answers meetings three times that week, where we also taught students a few greeting phrases in the Chinese language. The day was full of activities interacting with everyone in the school. They have been doing this type of residency for over 10 years now and this year they had the biggest number of students participating in their diversity week show. It was very well received. I do say the place was beautiful and mysterious, with an amazing landscape and delicious food. It was the best place to relax and the people were terrific.

-Noibis Licea (company dancer)

Auditions for Dancers to be held on June 9 & 10

AUDITIONS

Professional Male AND Female Dancers

Full-Time Position

For 2009-2010 Season

Excellent Pay

June 9th, 2009 and June 10th, 2009 from 12-4 pm
Call Back on June 12th

Call for appointment - (800)650-0246

Location: Harlem School of the Arts
645 Saint Nicholas Ave, NYC

resume and picture required for audition

Practical Training / P-3 Opportunity available

Equal Opportunity

hr@nainichen.org

(800)650-0246

Nai-Ni Chen to Perform in Morristown on Saturday

Nai-Ni Chen melds East and West to suit her creativity

by Robert Johnson/The Star-Ledger

Thursday April 23, 2009, 2:43 PM

REBECCA LETZ
Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company presents "Silk and Bamboo" Saturday at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts in Morristown.

Nai-ni Chen Dance Company. Where: Community Theatre, Mayo Center for the Performing Arts, 100 South St., Morristown. When: 8 p.m. Saturday. How much: $20-$40. Call (973) 539-8008 or visit mayoarts.org.

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Nai-Ni Chen has grown accustomed to living in two worlds.

The contemporary choreographer, whose Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company presents "Silk and Bamboo" Saturday at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts in Morristown, brought centuries' worth of Chinese culture with her when she came to the United States from her native Taiwan in 1982. She now lives with her family in Fort Lee.

At first, Chen says, she tried to embrace American ways of thinking.

"I was trying to create something very abstract," she says, describing her search for a completely new movement vocabulary. "I put what I had learned in the past into my pocket and didn't go there."

Yet Chen discovered that her rich Chinese heritage was not easy to ignore. Now the two perspectives, Chinese and American, balance each other in her work. The Morristown performance will include the New Jersey premiere of "Crosscurrent," a duet in which the physical tension between the dancers reflects a cultural clash. This tension abates as rival currents begin to mingle.

The other novelty on the program is actually a revival. Chen describes "Calligraphy II," which she created in 1995, as pivotal. It was the first dance in which she allowed herself to dip into the pocket where she kept her Chinese identity.

"I saw the calligraphy hanging in my living room, and I thought, 'Oh, gosh, the inspiration is right here in front of me. I walk past it every day,'" Chen says. "I found that I could look deeper and see movements and ideas. I realized it was time for me to go back to my roots and dig."

"Calligraphy II" turned into an ambitious collaboration with a commissioned score by American composer Joan La Barbara and a set designed by Myun Hee Cho. Under Chen's influence, La Barbara incorporated instruments and vocal effects from Beijing Opera. Yet she also employed chance procedures to write the score, adapting an avant-garde technique pioneered by John Cage. Cho created a backdrop and hanging panels decorated with a style of calligraphy called wild cursive.

Chen explains that most Chinese characters are written with several strokes of the ink brush, but in wild cursive each character is formed with a single stroke, bringing the act of writing closer to dancing. "It's more passionate and without restrictions," Chen says.

She adds that, like fine calligraphy, her choreography channels energy to achieve a harmonious balance between positive and negative space. Although "Calligraphy II" is an abstract work in which the dancers' relationships to one another remain as guarded and oblique as the metaphors in classical Chinese poetry, the performers' awareness of the space around them imbues the dance with strength and vitality.

Sharing the evening with "Crosscurrent" and "Calligraphy II" will be three dynamic group works inspired by various aspects of Chinese culture: "Bamboo Prayer;" "The Way of Five -- Fire," incorporating elements of martial arts; and "Mirage," which draws upon the folk dance traditions of Xinjiang Province in Western China.

"I focus on exploring what I think is the essence of Chinese tradition," Chen says. "Then I use those ideas as inspiration to create contemporary work."

Nai-Ni Chen to Perform at Liberty Health Gala

Liberty Health's May 8 Gala to Support Trauma Center and EMS
by Denise D. Gibson / The Jersey Journal
Thursday, April 16, 2009

Liberty Health will hold its annual Spring Gala on Friday, May 8, with proceeds to benefit the Port Authority Heroes of September 11th Trauma Center at the Jersey City Medical Center and the Jersey City Medical Center Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The events will take place at the Westin Jersey City, at 479 Washington Boulevard, from 6 to 11 p.m.

"The Gala affords us a good time to reflect on the past year, to take pride in our accomplishments and to confront the challenges that lay ahead." said Joseph F. Scott, FACHE, Liberty Health's president and CEO.

The Gala will recognize the role the Jersey City Medical Center EMS and Trauma Center played in serving as a triage for survivors from the World Trade Center's terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, and taking passengers from rescue boats and speeding them to safety in the miraculous airplane landing on the Hudson River on January 15, 2009.

Their responses to these emergencies, as well as hundreds of smaller life-saving efforts, have earned the Center and EMS citations and national commendations. Today, JCMS's Trauma Center and EMS employ the most up-to-date technology, with a response time that has been reduced to 6 minutes and 2 seconds, one of the best in the country.

The Gala will have an Asian theme, which will include a performance by the internationally acclaimed Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. Asian fusion cuisine will be featured, with attendees dancing to the beat of the renowned Peter Duchin Orchestra. To purchase tickets or for additional information for the Gala, call (201)377-6057, or go to www.libertyhealth.org.

Join us at the Harlem School of the Arts this Saturday

Join the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company

Saturday, April 18
12:00 Noon

Harlem School of the Arts - Gathering Space
645 Nicholas Ave
(Take the A,C,D trains to 145th St.)

An informal showing of Nai-Ni Chen's most recent works,
including excerpts of "Mirage," "Quest" and "Crosscurrent."

There will be a Meet-the-Dancers/Q & A session
following the performance.

Admission is free and open to the public

Nai-Ni Chen to Teach at Peridance in May

Nai-Ni Chen has been invited this year to teach an Intensive Summer Workshop at the Peridance Center, with an emphasis on Modern Technique and Repertory.

The workshop will take place May 25 - 29,
Monday - Friday 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Workshop Costs:
Monday - Friday:$90
Single Class: $20

For more information or to register for the workshop, click here.

Rutgers' Confucius Institute Celebrates First-Year Anniversary

Performing Arts show planned for April 11

March 11, 2009

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The Confucius Institute at Rutgers University (CIRU) will celebrate its first-year anniversary with “The Splendor of Chinese Performing Arts,” which will showcase Chinese opera, dance and music.

The show will take place at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 11, at the Nicholas Music Center, 85 George Street, on Rutgers’ Douglass Campus in New Brunswick. Tickets are $20 general admission, $10 for students and children over the age of 8 years old.

The show will feature performances by two Kunqu opera masters from Shanghai, China, Maestro Zhengren Cai and Maestro Xunpeng Zhang. Other featured performers will be Nai-Nee Chen, award-winning dance/choreographer and director of the Chen Nai-Nee Dancing Company; Yi Yang, world-renowned master guzheng virtuoso; Tao Chen, internationally acclaimed Chinese flutist and director of the Melody of Dragon; Beijing opera artist Xinlai Zhou; and Peng Li, a face mask magic performer.

The first and only Confucius institution in New Jersey, CIRU had its opening ceremony in November 2007 and began operation in May 2008. The institute was established in partnership with Jilin University in China and with support from both Rutgers and the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) to promote quality Chinese language and culture education, and to serve as a resource center for Chinese studies in the state.

For more information on the Confucius Institute, go online to www.ciru.rutgers.edu.

NY Season Review on iDanz

Dance Review: Nai-Ni Chen’s Company Rides Magnificently on Cloud Nine at Baruch PAC

Celebrating twenty years of Chinese traditional and contemporary dance magic, Nai-Ni Chen's company enchants and amazes this past Saturday at the Baruch Performing Arts Center. A former member of Cloud Gate and a native of Taiwan, Chen has the stunning ability to fuse her Chinese heritage with her experience as an American immigrant, a fusion that creates her unique voice in dance. Nai-Ni Chen's diligently composed art is vividly alive in her dancers’ bodies. The two repertory works, Calligraphy II (1995) and Bamboo Prayer (1998), mesh well with the three premiers of Crosscurrent, Q (Quest) and the breathtaking Mirage. The dancers, who perform at forty venues a year, have crystal clear movement and are perfectly in tune with Nai-Ni’s vision.

Her movement style is not only deeply visceral, but also possesses a rare combination of impressive dancer physicality, choreographic vision and universal chi (energy). The backbone of Nai-Ni’s company is her impeccable artistry and storytelling genius. Her pieces softly grab you as they elevate Chinese culture and illustrate the beauty of the modern dance vernacular. This lucky audience continues to experience the ingenious art from start to finish as the talented company executes her mastery.

In Calligraphy II (1995), the stage is draped in black muslin strips with white Chinese calligraphy. The piece has been reworked several times according to sources, and the evolution has fruited fine results. The work opens with a single dancer tracing a choreographic sequence that is reminiscent of tai-chi. More dancers appear, and the same strength is seen in their bodies as they define space with clear intentions. The work builds slowly, as if teaching the audience the patience that is required to practice calligraphy. Eventually, one settles in and takes in the energy or “chi”, which is evident in all the movements.

Nai-Ni appears on stage in this piece with long silk sleeves and performs a striking solo. She is a captivatingly beautiful to watch as she puts her stunning technique on display. Her performance breathes life into the Asian dance styles while showing her love of dancing them.

The ribbon dance is the highlight of Calligraphy II as color after color cuts through the space, flying through air and encircling the dancers’ bodies. Ribbon dancers say, "to watch the end of the ribbon, to see the clarity of the performer." There are no weak strokes on stage in Nai-Ni’ Chen's company.

Bamboo Prayer (1998) is a seminal work about the resilience of women and the nobility of bamboo, each symbolic of the other. The long twelve foot poles stand erect in the beginning as the dancers just makes them quiver. Each section builds and is more beautiful than the last as the poles divide the space and compliment the bodies of the women. Each pole is bent, beaten and lain on top of the other. The dance highlights the versatility of bamboo and the subtle power of the female frame. If women are like the bamboo as Nai-Ni describes through movement, then more power to us!

Another standout work is the premiere of Q for “Quest”. Singling out one dancer is difficult as all the company members are worth the ticket. However, Noibis Licea from Cuba takes the audience to another level when he starts his solo. Blessed with full bodied flexibility and amazing focus, he captivates with every movement. The work expresses primal angst as he beats his bare chest. His lines are beautiful, especially in the movements that pitch sideways before flawlessly returning to center. It is unclear why, with a piece entitled ‘quest’, Nai-Ni keeps the dancer confined to such a small space. Yet, Noibis breaks through the limited space with his moments of intense passion before resolving the piece on a quieter note as he walks slowly in a circle around himself.

Chen's latest work, Mirage, takes a journey on the Silk Road through the eastern-most part of China’s Xinjiang province. The piece is reminiscent of a time spent in Egypt where the road ahead constantly blurs, and the dusty heat creates dancing visions. The trace imagery of Indian dance styles is seen as the dancers beat their heels on the floor and snake their heads from side to side. The dancers, grouped together in three rows, move hypnotically closer and then further away. They sway and then join bodies in order to become multi-limbed spirits.

Nai-Ni uses the color of parched earth to introduce visions of sweltering heat. Clever invention shows itself in the layering of costumes, which includes a transition from velvet textured browns to overlaid skirts of deeper blue and watery purple. Nai-Ni returns to the stage to dance the dance that represents the curious state of not knowing if the vision is real, but not caring. Her watery presence marks the transition into fantasy.

Each section holds something up before your eyes that is joyous and mesmerizing. The driving score from Glen Valez has so many layers, and the dancers animate each one beautifully. The trios are hypnotic as each dancer moves together, but individually catches different highlights in the music. This gives their performance an improvisational and illusive rhythmic feel. I love this!

Some people in the audience loved it a little too much and started snapping ‘unauthorized’ pictures of the work. But, the iDanz police stepped in to squash that nonsense by tapping his shoulder. He looked back at me (with press kit and sharpened pencil in hand) before quietly turning off his camera.

Don’t steal art! Nai-Ni Chen worked extremely hard to create this new work, and a great success at that. This is a company that I will be following for many years to come.

Photography by Michael Cuno

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Sasha Deveaux
Performance: Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
Choreographer: Nai-Ni Chen
Venue: Baruch Performing Arts Center
Performance Date: March 14, 2009
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