Friday, January 29, 2010

Video from this morning's Great Day San Antonio

This morning, Nai-Ni Chen appeared with a couple dancers for a brief interview and demonstration on Great Day San Antonio to promote the company's upcoming performances in San Antonio. Click on this link to watch: http://www.kens5.com/great-day-sa/Nai-Ni-Chen-83037342.html.

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Co. merge East, West

By Jasmina Wellinghoff - Special to the Express-News

San Antonio, TX

In Western cultures, the phoenix is a symbol of rebirth. In Chinese tradition, the mythical bird represents grace and the power of women.

For Taiwanese choreographer Nai-Ni Chen, it is also “a voice” that travels through time and space to connect past and present, East and West. Since she came to this country in 1988, Chen has strived to give visual shape to that voice by blending Eastern and Western concepts in her critically acclaimed original choreography.

Thanks to the Carver Community Cultural Center, Chen and her New Jersey-based company will offer San Antonians a glimpse of their hybrid dance style Saturday with “Song of the Phoenix.”

“‘The Phoenix' is a good, symbolic title for me,” Chen said by phone from her home. “For one thing, I am a woman choreographer and my work reflects my own experience. Then, the phoenix is a timeless, mythical animal that's always changing — like my work.

“I do respect and love (Chinese) traditional forms and that's why I always go back to them for inspiration, but then I create new works from a modern-dance perspective. Modern dance gives you more freedom to create,” she said.

The catchy title is actually an umbrella name for seven pieces, six of which are Chen's creations. Many include props and costumes of distinctly Asian origin, such as huge, undulating ribbons, long bamboo sticks, fans and, in one case, “water sleeves.”

The latter will be worn by Chen herself in “Passage to the Silk River,” a piece that reflects her Peking Opera artistic heritage. No actual water is involved — the dancer manipulates very long silk sleeves to conjure up river flow. Musical accompaniment will be provided by theguquing, one of the oldest instruments known to mankind.

Other dances draw inspiration from regions of China, such as the all-female number “Bamboo Prayer” (central China); “Mirage” (the Uighur region of Western China) and “Dancing With a Yak” — the sole piece that was not choreographed by Chen — which “connects you to the Himalayan mountain setting.”

“I like to take the audience on a journey,” said Chen.


Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company

  • What: The company performs “Song of the Phoenix.”
  • Where: Carver Community Cultural Center, 226 N. Hackberry St.
  • When: 8 p.m. Saturday
  • Tickets: $31 at Ticketmaster outlets and the Carver box office
  • Family program: A Passport to Culture Family Day program celebrating Chinese New Year will be presented at 10 a.m. Saturday. $11. Reservations, (210) 207-2719.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Upcoming Performances in San Antonio, TX


Youth Matinee Show: Year of the Tiger
Friday, January 29, 2010
11:00 AM

Family Matinee Show: Year of the Tiger
Saturday, January 30, 2010
11:00 AM

Featured Performance: Song of the Phoenix
Saturday, January 30, 2010
8:00 PM

Jo Long Theatre for the Performing Arts
Carver Community Cultural Center
226 N. Hackberry
San Antonio, TX

Tickets: $31 ($15 Children)
Call: (210)207-2234 or visit www.ticketmaster.com.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company coming to San Antonio

Victoria Advocate

22 January 2010

By Aprill Brandon

Acclaimed choreographer and founder of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Nai-Ni Chen has a new dance program that is currently touring the U.S. On Jan. 30, the dance company will be swinging through San Antonio to present that new work, titled Song of the Phoenix, according to a news release.

Since forming her dance company in 1988, Chen has created more than 50 dances and the company itself has received more than a dozen awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, according to the news release. Her latest work, Song of the Phoenix, blends ancient rituals and modern concepts and Chen is known for her mixing of the freedom of American dance with the discipline of Asian art, according to her bio.

The performance by the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company will be at 8 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Jo Long Theatre for the Performing Arts in San Antonio. Tickets are $31, available by calling 210-207-2234 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

For more information, go to www.nainichen.org.


Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Chinese New Year at NJPAC

'Year of the Tiger' Chinese New Year celebration at NJPAC

By Martin Tsai

January 14, 2010, 12:01AM
Looking to celebrate the Chinese New Year here in the state? New Jersey-based choreographer Nai-Ni Chen’s dance company will perform “Year of the Tiger” 2 p.m. on both Feb. 13 and 14 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark. Tickets are $20 to $22. Chen will also lead a parent-child workshop for the participants to create their own lion-dance masks and learn basic dance movements. Lion dance is a 15-century-old Chinese tradition that symbolically scares off evil spirits. Involving two dancers holding up a painted lion mask and a long cape, the dance has over the years evolved into various regional styles. The workshop, which costs $6 per participant, is on Feb. 13 at 12:30 p.m. at NJPAC. For more information, visit njpac.org or call (888) 466-5722.

www.nj.com

Monday, January 04, 2010

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company at Kingsborough Community College


Kingsborough Community College
Leon M. Goldstein Performing Arts Center

Brooklyn, NY


January 13 & 14, 2010 - 10:30 AM (School Shows)
More Information
For Reservations: call 718-368-5596 or email artsmart@kingsborough.edu

January 16, 2010 - 2:00 PM (Family Show)
Chinese New Year Celebration (Year of the Tiger)
More Information
For Tickets: call 718-368-5596 or order online