Monday, February 13, 2012

Ahn Trio unites with Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company for performance



Ahn Trio unites with Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company for performance

Published: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 12:14 p.m.

The sparkling Ahn Trio accompanies the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company for their Gainesville premiere onstage tonight in “Temptation of the Muses,” a concert of original music and dance.

The UF Performing Arts program begins at 7:30 tonight at the Phillips Center. Tickets range from $25-$40 and are available at the door.

Choreographer Nai-Ni Chen, along with violinist Angella Ahn, talked about what's in store, as well as how the collaboration came to be.

“We (the Ahn Trio and Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company) are both under the same management in America,” says Ahn. “So my sisters and I had seen the company perform and really liked it. Nia-Ni had heard us before, we all met at an event, and we thought we'd like to work together. Plus, I guess there is that Asian connection,” says Ahn, who was born in Seoul, Korea, while Chen is originally from Taiwan.

“Plus, going to school in New York City and being used to being surrounded by so many interesting and talented people who are all so different, my sisters and I just really love to collaborate often,” Ahn adds. “We've worked with singers of all styles, and we had even worked with another dance company before (Parsons Dance Company).”

“But ‘Temptation of the Muses' feels more organic, natural and comfortable for us”, she says.

In “Temptation,” choreographer Chen places the three strings players right onstage amid the dancing — so the musicians become immersed in the visual element of the piece along with the dancers.

“We move around during the performance, and the dancers interact with us,” Ahn says. Dancers slide through the piano and mimic the cellist's movements.

Chen says the it was important to her that the be musicians be part of the visual effect. “I did not want a collaborative effect where it was like, here is this one color over here, and another separate, over there,” she says. “The whole work is like an Impressionist painting, where all the colors mix together.”

Chen launched the collaboration with inspiration from a poem, “A Word for Freedom,” by Persian poet Latif Nazemi. “The poem talks about water, and water as a symbol of freedom,” she says. “In a lot of my work, I am very interested in nature, and in our human relationship with nature.

“I loved the idea of water, something that we all need that connects all people. And I also wanted to explore an idea that though water symbolizes freedom in both the poem and in ‘Temptation', that it can be contained.

“A large container of water is on the stage both at the beginning and close of the program,” she adds. “And the dancers work directly with water throughout the performance.”

“Temptation of the Muses” contains a commissioned musical score by composer Kenji Bunch, who was heralded by The New York Times as a “composer to watch.” Bunch, one of only three composers selected nationwide to inaugurate the Meet the Composer “Magnum Opus” Project, is also a favorite of The Ahn Trio.

“We perform Kenji's music more than any other composer,” Ahn says. “We love him, he's probably our favorite composer to work with.”

There are also musical selections by Pat Metheny, David Balakrishnan and Ronn Yedidia.

Chen named the piece “Temptation of the Muses” by taking the word “temptation” from Nazemi's poem, and combining it with “muses” after the effect that all of the collaborators had on each other. “‘Muses' is all of us, all of the collaborators involved,” Chen says. “We have inspired each other working together, not just the Ahn Trio and myself, but the composers, the costume and lighting designers, everyone.”

And while “Temptation of the Muses” premiered in New York City in 2010, Gainesville audiences will see a work that has only been performed a handful of times. “It's a pretty new work,” Chen says. “We just started touring it last fall.”

Ahn says the piece has been performed less than 10 times. “I feel like the show keeps growing each time we perform it,” she says. “My sisters and I are so inspired by the music and definitely by the dancers; and I feel like we in turn hopefully inspire the dancers. And we think the audience also really takes in the inspiration as well.”

Since forming in 1988, The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company has mounted more than 20 national tours, appearing in some of the nation's most prestigious concert halls.

Angella Ahn is the youngest of the Juilliard-educated Ahn Trio. Her sisters Maria (cello), and Lucia (piano) make up the energetic trio.

“I have always thought our personalities match our instruments,” Ahn laughs. “I'm the youngest, but I'm definitely the bossiest. My sisters would back that up completely; I'm kind of a Type A control freak. And Lucia, she's the middle child, knowing how to get along with everyone, which is just right for a pianist.

“And while Maria is the oldest only by ten minutes, our parents definitely raised her as the oldest child, and that has always been her role. Which I think suits the cello.”

With six albums and 10 years of successful touring, they are favorites of UF Performing Arts, and reportedly the feeling is mutual.

“We love Gainesville, and we love the Phillips Center,” says Ahn. “It really is one of our favorite places to perform.”

Sarah Maze can be reached at sarahi@ufl.edu.

NY Social Diary: Year of the Dragon



Year of the Dragon
January 27, 2012

Traditional Dragon Dance on the Josie Robertson Plaza at the New York Philharmonic's first-ever Chinese New Year Gala concert. Photo Credit: Chris Lee.


This past Tuesday night, the New York Philharmonic hosted its first-ever Chinese New Year Gala concert. 390 guests attended the event and over $1 million was raised for the Philharmonic.

The evening celebrated the Year of the Dragon with a program of Chinese and western orchestral music. The performance was led by Long Yu in his Philharmonic conducting debut, and featured pianist Lang Lang and Philharmonic Principal Oboe Liang Wang, as well as bamboo flutist Junqiao Tang and the Quintessenso Mongolian Children’s Choir, also making their Philharmonic debuts.

A special Dragon Dance took place on the Josie Robertson Plaza preceding the concert and inside Avery Fisher Hall throughout the evening. Arranged by Nai-Ni Chen in collaboration with Sifu Henry Lee for the occasion, the dance was performed by the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company and members of its youth program, accompanied by live percussion music by Mr. Lee.


Philharmonic President and Executive Director Zarin Mehta watches as Lang Lang feeds the Chinese dragon on the Josie Robetson Plaza. Photo Credit: Chris Lee.

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. Photo Credit: Lindsey Lindekins.


Gala Co-Chairmen. Photo Credit: Lindsey Lindekins.

NJPAC’s FamilyTime Performance Series Offer So Much More Than A Show




NJPAC’s FamilyTime Performance Series Offer So Much More Than A Show

BY | Wednesday, Jan 25, 2012 10:00am

Last Sunday, I was invited to take my family to NJPAC to see the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company’s Show. I was so grateful for the invite and jumped at the chance to take my 8-year-old. She has been learning Mandarin as part of Nisuane’s Mandarin program since kindergarten, I love dance and it was the start of the Lunar New Year, so it was a perfect opportunity for both of us.

If you haven’t been to NJPAC yet, what are you waiting for? No seriously? It’s a beautiful space with great shows. The truth is, I have been there many times, but only once before for a family show. I took my girls to a Dan Zanes show a couple of years ago. But this was the first time that I, or my daughter, got to experience a FamilyTime performance, which includes either a pre- or a post-show workshop.

After the show, which we both really enjoyed, we were invited to the workshop. My daughter and a group of other children were greeted by a man from Nai-Ni Chen. He talked about Chinese New Year and the year of the dragon. He discussed the other Chinese Zodiac animals and then showed the kids his own Lion mask he made out of a paper plate and some construction paper. The kids were excited to get to work and created their own Chinese Lions. Once they were compete he had the kids take their masks over to an open area and taught them a traditional Lion Dance. The kids, and their photo snapping parents, loved it.

Next, we were honored by Ms. Nai-Ni Chen herself, who handed out ribbons and taught the kids a traditional Chinese ribbon dance.

The workshop, which included arts & crafts, cultural lessons and dance lasted about an hour. My daughter had a blast and was so proud when Ms. Chen told her she was impressed with her Mandarin pronunciation when she wished her a Happy New Year. It was a great experience.

NJPAC’s FamilyTime Programs serve students PreK-12th grade, and families with children ages 3 to 18. NJPAC also provides curriculum materials, professional development workshops, pre-performance workshops, and meet-the-artist sessions, all designed to reinforce the educational value of each program.

Photo Slide Show: http://www.flickr.com//photos/baristakids/sets/72157629017357633/show/

Article Link: http://kids.baristanet.com/2012/01/njpacs-familytime-performance-series-offer-so-much-more-than-a-show/

Scene Last Night: Wilbur Ross, Kenneth Buckfire, Henry Cornell

Scene Last Night: Wilbur Ross, Kenneth Buckfire, Henry Cornell

By Amanda Gordon - Jan 25, 2012 9:54 AM ET

At the New York Philharmonic’s Year of the Dragon gala last night, plenty of guests had advice for doing business in China.

Wilbur Ross, dressed in a black-and-red Chinese jacket, said, “You’re dealing with a much more sophisticated culture than we have.”

Thomas Wu, a consultant based in Dusseldorf, Germany, who helps foreign companies do business in China, was more exact.

“When you invest according to the Five Year Plan, the likelihood of success is high,” Wu said. “The plan is future- oriented, so good investments are clean tech, renewable energy and rare earths, used to produce LED chips. China will be leading in lighting products.”

As Kenneth Buckfire, chief executive officer of Miller Buckfire & Co., mingled with fellow Philharmonic board member Daisy Soros, Gary Parr, Philharmonic chairman and vice chairman of Lazard Ltd. (LAZ), talked with Joan Weill about Alvin Ailey’s tentative plans to perform in China.

Ansso Wang of American International Group Inc. (AIG) knew the Year of the Dragon was auspicious: “This is the year to have children.”

The topic of doing business with China returned as waiters passed duck rolls and dumplings.

U.S. diplomat Nicholas Platt, father of actor Oliver Platt and restaurant critic Adam Platt, said the key is to “keep showing up.”

“Be patient,” added Andrew Xuejun Mao, chief marketing officer of the New York branch of China Merchants Bank (600036) Co.

“Ensure you have a really good Chinese friend,” said Anthony Walton, vice chairman, Americas, at Standard Chartered Bank.

Dragon Puppet

Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg.

A dragon puppet made an appearance at the New York Philharmonic party and concert.


“All of the above,” said Maurice Greenberg, chairman and chief executive of C.V. Starr & Co.

The concert at Avery Fisher Hall began, to the beating of a drum wrapped in red silk. A dragon puppet danced across the stage.

The showstopper was the Quintessenso Mongolian Children’s Choir, from the area of the Hulun Buir Grassland. Dressed in colorful robes, boots and white-fur pompoms, the 22 children performed folk songs without an ounce of stage fright.

Their sweet voices and Lady Gaga-caliber dance moves earned them a standing ovation, led by Damian Woetzel, a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, and Alan Patricof, managing director and founder of Greycroft Partners LLC.

At intermission, Henry Cornell, a partner at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), said he was looking forward to the oboe piece, “Extase” by Quigang Chen, featuring New York Philharmonic oboist Liang Wang.

“I played the bassoon and oboe until I was 16,” Cornell said. “Now my 6-year-old is studying piano. We take lessons together on Saturday mornings.”

(Amanda Gordon is a writer and photographer for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. Any opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the writer on this story: Amanda Gordon in New York at agordon01@bloomberg.net or on Twitter at @amandagordon.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.

Article Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-25/scene-last-night-wilbur-ross-kenneth-buckfire-henry-cornell-gary-parr.html

The Right Dragon for the New Year

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
The Right Dragon for the New Year
JANUARY 26, 2012

With its Chinese New Year Celebration on Tuesday night, the New York Philharmonic may have launched a new tradition. The evening was the first time the orchestra set a gala event around the Chinese holiday, and the new addition to the social calendar raised more than $1 million.

The evening also expanded the Philharmonic's outreach efforts: about two-thirds of the gala guests were first-time donors or ticket buyers. "We've had a large turnout from the Chinese community," said gala co-chair Lizabeth Newman.

On a fashion note, the evening's theme allowed for guests to wear some of their boldest, most colorful finery. "New Yorkers are always so head-to-toe black," said attendee Harold Koda, curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. "It lets women wear all their color. It really lights up the room."

Embroidered coats and red silk dresses, such as one worn by board member Karen LeFrak, were abundant, but the brightest color of the night came from the yellow-and-green dragon manned by the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.

"I said: 'We need a dragon.' [Gala co-chair] Shirley Young found the right dragon," said Ms. LeFrak.

The evening's program was a surprising step above standard gala fare. Led by guest conductor Long Yu of the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the N.Y. Philharmonic played several works of Chinese orchestral music that illustrated how percussion and strings can be employed with Eastern inflection. Celebrated pianist Lang-Lang playing a rousing Liszt concerto, but the show-steeling act was the Quintessenso Mongolian Children's Choir, a group of 22 children aged 8 to 12 from Northeastern China's Hulun Buir Grassland. Dressed in traditional tribal costumes, they were adorable just standing in their stage stances, but their performance of folk songs and nursery rhymes—plus their encore of "America the Beautiful"—showed them to be artists in the making.

Following the concert, guests sat down to dinner on the second-floor lobby of Avery Fisher Hall. Soprano Renee Fleming, who attended as a guest, enthusiastically greeted one of the concert's soloists, Junqiao Tang, who had turned playing the traditional bamboo flute into an act of grace and glamour.

Though the evening overlapped with President Obama's State of the Union address, the subject didn't seem to weigh too heavily after the concert.

"I'll read it in the paper," Ms. Newman said. "I did have one guest who was invited to attend the speech, and I said, 'You should go to that.'"

Write to Pia Catton at pia.catton@wsj.com



The Lyricism of Chinese New Year



MUSIC REVIEW

The Lyricism of Chinese New Year

NJPAC Brings Arts Education to Life With 'Dragon'





NJPAC Brings Arts Education to Life With 'Dragon'

A recent performance of Year of the Dragon by the Nai-Ni Dance Company was followed by a Q&A and a workshop for children.

NJPAC wants New Jersey to know that it's not just for grown-ups.

Newark's downtown jewel is well-known for its world-class entertainment — hosting symphony orchestras, jazz greats and touring companies of Broadway hits. But did you know it boasts the

nation's fourth largest arts education program for school-age children?

NJPAC's comprehensive Arts Education Department consists of several divisions providing programs for children ages 3-18, their families and schools. Each season, the programs serve over 100,000 individuals. NJPAC's mission is to "continually explore innovative ways to use its resources to serve New Jersey students and educators."

This was evident on Sunday, Jan. 22 during a special Verizon Passport to Culture FamilyTime series perfomance of Year of the Dragon by the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.


First, the principal of the Oliver Street School in Newark was in attendance. NJPAC has been bringing arts education programs to the school. After the perfomance — which included traditional Chinese dance including the "Dragon Dance" as well as the contemporary Whirlwind I by Glen Velez in collaboration with Nai-Ni Chen — children in the audience had the opportunity to interview the dancers on stage.

"How old were you when you started dancing?" one 7-year-old asked Sarah, 14, and Erika

, 13, from Nai-Ni Chen's junior company.

Next, children and their families where invited to a hands-on workshop with the per

formers in the Chase Room of the Arts Center, where they made masks and learned some traditional Chinese dances.

Sandra Bowie, NJPAC Vice President of Arts Education, explained how NJPAC arts education programs include arts training, in-school residencies (see Seth Boyden School's Dancing Classrooms program), and schooltime perfomances. For the FamilyTime perfomances, NJPAC also provides Teacher's Resource Guides that are written for use by teachers who bring their classes to performances.

Observing the room full of dancing children, Bowie said, "They're having fun and they're learning!"

Learning some dances in the workshop

Dancing for the dragon: Nai-Ni Chen celebrates Chinese New Year in Newark

Dancing for the Dragon: Nai-Ni Chen celebrates Chinese New Year in Newark
Robert Johnson/The Star-Ledger
Posted: 01/21/2012 11:26 AM

Celebrating the Chinese New Year with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, audiences can count on seeing friendly lions, nimble acrobats and a dragon puppet that snakes in at the end, bringing prosperity and good luck.

This weekend’s “Year of the Dragon” program, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, will be no exception, its repertoire of dances enlivened by the chime of “coin-sticks” and the ripple of colorful streamers. A “Feast of the Dragon King” banquet follows the matinee performance on Saturday.

“You can express joy in different ways,” Chen says, however, explaining why her New Year’s program also features the premiere of “Whirlwind I,” a contemporary piece inspired by the choreographer’s travels along the old Silk Road in China.

“The traditional dances, of course, are bright and entertaining,” Chen adds. “But I think the audience will be ready for a change by the second half. Personally, I can’t just watch short, joyful pieces for two hours. I need something that makes me think.”

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
Where: Victoria Theater at New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark
When: Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.
How much: $23 and $25; call (888) 466-5722 or visit njpac.org. Tickets that include admission to a 4 p.m. Saturday “Feast of the Dragon King” banquet are $100 for adults, $35 for children younger than 12. For banquet tickets, visit nainichen.org.

The “Dragon Dance” will be more populous than ever this year, reinforced by students from Chen’s new junior company in Matawan. Chen herself will don flowing robes to perform her stylish solo, “Dance of the Heavenly Flower Maiden,” with movements based on the Beijing Opera classic. Harvesters will frolic. In the comic “Wedding Chamber” skit, by guest choreographer Ji-Gong Zhang, a bride and groom will nervously make each other’s acquaintance.

Yet this Chinese New Year celebration, with live assistance from the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, offers more than picturesque folklore.

“Whirlwind I,” a collaboration between Chen and award-winning percussionist and composer Glen Velez, will introduce young audience members to a slice of world history, and to the desert landscape that Silk Road traders once traversed in caravans. When Chen began to explore the ancient route last summer, however, she traveled comfortably by train and automobile, departing from the legendary city of Xi’an and journeying West to Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Province, then north to the border of Kazakhstan.

Along the way, she noted the mix of ethnic groups that is one legacy of the trade route; in addition to observing local dances, she saw many whirlwinds. Chen says she got “a very spiritual feeling,” as the wind took up the desert sands and began to waltz with them, and as she thought about how many individuals had trod the path before her.

The whirlwind is a symbol of life—the “Great Breath of the universe,” Chen says, explaining why the dancers also vocalize in her production.

In workshops, Velez taught the cast to sing and introduced them to the percussive rhythms of Central Asia. Chen says her movements all grew from this breathing technique. Velez’s musical ensemble, the Ta Ka Di Mi Project, will accompany the premiere live.

“This piece is like a journey passing through different countries, and maybe from the past to the present to the future,” Chen says. “Everything has life and energy, even the rocks and the sand. How does nature perceive us? I put myself in the mind of the earth.”

Robert Johnson: rjohnson@starledger.com

Article Link: http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2012/01/year_of_the_dragon.html

Chinese Dance, Solid Brass, and Guitar Gods: First Night in Morristown from Marie Pfeifer


Chinese Dance, Solid Brass, and Guitar Gods: First Night in Morristown from Marie Pfeifer

By Marie Pfeifer


First Night Morris 2012 featured something for everyone. Here is what caught my eye (and ears).

Photos by Marie Pfeifer.Please click icon below for captions.


The Gods of Jazz

The duo of Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo jazzed it up with special guest Bucky Pizzarelli for a rendition of Stairway to Heaven at the Morristown United Methodist Church

for First Night Morris, to the delight of a packed house that bestowed a standing ovation upon the trio. The show was even more amazing after the announcement that Pizzarelli will celebrate his 86th birthday on Jan. 9. The years have not hurt his performance in the least!

Premier Brass Group – Solid Brass Lite

Solid Brass Lite welcomed the New Year with its one-of-a-kind, critically acclaimed brass ensemble that performed music spanning six centuries, from the Medieval to the Beach Boys (and everything in between). This performance did not disappoint the audiences at the Presbyterian Church on the Green. Solid Brass has recorded, toured internationally, appeared on PBS-TV and received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Nai Ni Chen Dance Company – Fusion of Chinese and American Dance

Nai Ni Chen Dance Company is a study in energy and motion. Its creative dance fuses American dance with the fluidity, grace and color of Asian art. The beauty and rich color of their performance mesmerized audiences who welcomed the New Year at the auditorium of

Morristown High School. The internationally renowned company has received 12 distinctive awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous awards from the NJ State Council on the Arts for its outstanding blending of the discipline of Chinese classical movement with the freedom of American modern dance.

The Nai Ni Chen Dance Company at Morristown High School for First Night 2012. Photo by Marie Pfeifer