On The River of Dreams

Oberon's Grove blog post (by Philip Gardner)

"On the River of Dreams" was originally choreographed by Nai-Ni Chen in 1988. She has revived it, and Kokyat and I were very taken with it at the studio rehearsal on October 7, 2011 as danced by Riya Mito and Guanglei Hui. In this love duet, a fisherman and a water nymph depict their journey on the river of life. A bamboo pole will provide a link between the two dancers in performance.

Guanglei Hui and Riya Mito of Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company: even in a studio setting and wearing practice clothes, they wove a poetic dance full of expressive detail. This is so characteristic of Nai-Ni's work, and of the generosity and artistry of her dancers.

Photos by Kokyat.

In the Studio with Nai-Ni Chen

Oberon's Grove blog entry (by Philip Gardner)

Friday September 7, 2011 - Nai-Ni Chen is one of my favorite choreographers. Her work is rooted deep in the ancient cultures of Asia but it also has a contemporary sweep and sheen that

make it extremely appealing. She seems to find the very essence of whetever musical forms she is working with, and to sense the undercurrents of energy in a rhythmic pattern.

Her dancers are finely attuned to her concepts and they move with a certain fluidity of style that has a ceremonial

elegance.

Today I went to watch Nai-Ni's rehearsal at DANY studios; she spent the first couple of hours having her dancers work with composer/percussionist Glen Velez. Glen was tapping out rhythmic patterns on a frame drum and the dancers were chanting in accented counter-rhythms. This actually has a genuine musical appeal. From there Nai-Ni asked the dancers to improvise movement, using the breathing mechanism of sustained chanted notes as a support while branching out on the ideas that Glen had shared with them. This led to some really lovely expressive improv.

I posted some of my snapshots from Glen's class on Facebook here. It was so enjoyable to watch Nai-Ni's dancers but I needed to be at another rehearsal at DANY so I left them chanting and improvising. Later, after Kokyat arrived, we decided to go back to Nai-Ni's studio and that's when Kokyat took the photos in this article.

Ekaterina Chernikhova, Riyo Mito, Sarah Pon, Jamison Goodnight

Ekaterina Chernikhova, Jung Hm Jo, Noibis Licea, Sarah Pon, Jamison Goodnight, Riyo Mito

Jamison Goodnight, Jung Hm Jo, Guanglei Hui, Noibis Licea, Ekaterina Chernikhova

Riyo Mito

Sarah Pon, Riyo Mito, Jamison Goodnight

Guanglei Hui, Ekaterina Chernikhova

Jamison Goodnight

Riyo Mito

Sarah Pon, Jung Hm Jo

Riyo Mito, Jamison Goodnight, Ekaterina Chernikhova

Photos by Kokyat

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company's 'Dragons on the Wall' celebrates freedom, growth and change

Published: Tuesday, May 17, 2011, 10:40 AM

By Robert Johnson/The Star-Ledger

NEW YORK — The dancers lie folded upon themselves and rounded like stones at the start of "Dragons on the Wall (Tianji)," a dance of rare intensity that the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, from Fort Lee, revived on Friday at Dance Theater Workshop.

Strewn across the floor and mostly isolated, they seem immovable and beyond reach.

Yet the great force that compressed these figures resides latent within them. In the background, the amplified sound of breathing suggests this scene is not a barren field, but an incubator. Each human knot is tense, awaiting the moment when a hidden spring will release it. When the dancers unlock their limbs and assemble in a circle on the floor, arms stretching toward a common center, the slow revolutions of this design suggest the inevitability of growth and change.

Despite the darkness of its scenes — almost the whole dance is cast in gloomy shadows — "Dragons" is an optimistic piece. The struggle that it portrays, as bodies attempt to escape confinement with sharp exhalations of breath, is a struggle that must be won. Pushed to the back of the stage and arrayed in a line, individuals make their way forward cautiously yet determinedly, ignoring whatever it is that makes them cringe and dodge. Notably they do not need to work together to achieve their goal. The desire to cross this space works inside each one like a hidden motor, an inborn yearning for freedom.

Inspired by the poetry of Chinese dissident writer Bei Dao, by ancient legends and by the challenges that beset the world today, "Dragons" is an ambitious piece. It comes elaborately dressed with props, projections and hanging fabric, all of which looked more elegant in 2001, when this dance made its debut on a proscenium stage at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

At DTW, viewers peer down into a pit, and Chen Shen’s scenery, which should dominate the space, is not as lofty or as magical in effect.

The dance remains filled with images of mysterious potency, however, reinforced by the aura of whispering, clanging sounds composed by Joan La Barbara, and by the dancers’ own strangled cries. At one point, sheets of paper rain down from the sky. Fragile things, they are easily disposed of. Yet not before a woman rescues some. Her eyes widen, as she contemplates the significance of the precious sheaf of papers in her hands.

Duets seem wary and mistrustful, conducted just out of reach of watchmen who pass by carrying lanterns. Yet in the small space that remains to them, the partners seem to find a haven where they can rest undisturbed.

Long sheets of fabric unfurl, and dancers slide along them on their backs working their way upstream. Others gather on the shore, as if waiting to embark. Although much of the choreography has a stolid, sculptural quality, the impulse to move builds gradually gathering momentum until it finally explodes as calligraphic action-painting.

In the finale, all restrictions seem lifted. Dragging heavy tubs to the border of a canvas, the dancers fling water into the air, and smear the stage with gleaming jets of ink. Never has the act of writing seemed so all-consuming or so liberating. Significantly, only when Chen’s characters can taste freedom do they form a genuine community.

Robert Johnson: rjohnson@starledger.com

Read the review on NJ.com
The Star-Ledger

Dance Review

Dance Review Commentary (as seen on 2/12/2011)
Temecula Old Town Community Theater, Temecula, CA

By Rob Appel

From their resident home at the Harlem School of the Arts in New York City (for more than 10 years), the 9-dancer Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company brought to us, one of the finest contemporary and modern dance companies to have appeared at the Temecula Old Town Community Theatre annual Dance Series. Representing the ‘grace and splendor of Asian Art’, it is indeed a pleasure to see a group of dancers, whose quality of dancer’s technique is equaled by the superb choreography of Nai-Ni Chen! What a satisfying marriage!

Opening with a welcome greeting by Temecula Artists Advocate Lauri Torok, the Nai-Ni Chen dancers presented a varied program of seven (7_ dance creations of choreographer nai-Ni Chen, to the excellent lighting designs of AC Hichcox (Rain Drops, Incense and Bamboo Prayer), Barry Steele (Peacock Dance), Susan Summers (Way of Five-Fire) and Carolyn Wong (Love Song of Xishuanbanna and Mirage). Lighting plays such a key role in the visual success of any dance – all the more so, with Nai-Ni Chen’s casting of dancers representing a round-the-world cross-section of excellent dancers – Ekaterina Chernikhova (Russia), Jamison Goodnight (US), Jung Hm Jo (Korea), Saki Masuda (Japan), Riyo Mito (Japan), Francisco Silvino (Brazil), Wei Yao (China), Min Zhou (China) and Nai-Ni Chen (China), it was a banquet of super bodies and technique!

In Rain Drops, choreographer Nai-Ni Chen has her four female dancers, bare-footed, in the very flattering-to-the-figure, paneled Chinese dresses – moving effortlessly to the music of Henry Wolff (and others), while introducing the audience to the symmetric-design of Chinese umbrellas opening-closing-twirling…what peaceful patterns of serenity. The second work, titled just Incense shared two couples in “recalling the ritual of the incense offerings at a temple”. An American female dancer (Jamison Goodnight), a Korean male dancer (Jung Hm Jo), a Japanese female dancer (Riyo Mito), and a Chinese male dancer (Wei Yao…together, in a quartet of blissful harmony of movement…very precise and restrained.

Even though each dance work presented, stood very much on its own elegance, there were a couple of stop-your-breath moments of such incredible beauty. One came with the solo piece The Peacock Dance, danced by the rather sensational Min Zhou (from China)…as she created a bird peacock…drinking water, walking, working, running and combing its feathers. (As noted) with over 55 ethnic groups in China, each with its unique traditions of dance and music, the Peacock is considered a sacred bird among the Dai people of the Yunnan Province. Min Zhou’s captivating hands and head movements left no doubt to the story she told – fabulous!

This viewer’s favorite though, was The Way of Five – Fire – in which, powerful and strong, Brazilian male dancer (Francisco Silvino) led the exploration focus into the element of fire. Both choreographed and costumed (in all red Kung-fu wardrobe) by Nai-Ni Chen, the five dancers related to the elements of wood, fire, water, metal and earth, with the extremely effective use of Chinese fans – opening and snapping-closed to the dramatic moments in the music of Tan Dun. This dance piece is very physical when needed, lyrical when called-upon, and virtually explosive in a dynamic finale to Act I.

In the second act, three works were featured – the opening Bamboo Prayer with Nai-Ni Chen herself, dancing (with four female dancers)…making most effective use of long 10-foot, very flexible bamboo poles – reflecting mankind’s nobility and virtue – symbolizing justice, strength and humiliy. Nai-Ni Chen loves to use ‘props’ as extensions of her messages. In the succeeding duet by the tall and lanky Chinese male dancer Wei Yao, and the absolutely brilliant Min Zhou…Love Song of Xishuanbanna – is inspired by a tropical zone on the Yunnan Province of Southwest China, endowed with sufficient sunshine and rainfall, which is the cradle and paradise for wildlife, as well as the habitat for more than 5,000 tropical plants…this was the resource for this very stylized dance – a young couple admiring each other in this beautiful paradise. So performed these two fine dancers in another ‘hightlight’ of the evening’s program.

The full ensemble of 9-dancers came together in the concert’s finale, simply titled Mirage to the music of Glen Velez…and, though a bit too long (could have been edited down for easier focus and consumption)…nevertheless, the Nai-Ni Chen dancers worked hard and delivered a sterling evening of quality dance. Seems much a shame that more of the SD [San Diego] dance community do not take these unique opportunities to see this quality of contemporary and modern dance.

www.theatrereviews.com

'Year of the Rabbit' review: Dancing to bring luck, fortune to the New Year

Published: Wednesday, February 09, 2011, 8:00 AM

By Robert Johnson/The Star-Ledger

Putting your left fist into your right hand, and then wishing your neighbor a Happy Chinese New Year, will bring good luck and happiness.

That’s according to Andy Chiang, the executive director of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, which welcomed the Year of the Rabbit with a boisterous Chinese New Year celebration at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark on Saturday.

It worked! The happiness started immediately, as soon as Chiang concluded his introduction and the curtain rose on the “Lion Dance,” an annual tradition featuring two men in a lion suit with a spectacular, wooden mask and the lion’s acrobatic handler.

In a shower of good fortune, the program also offered a striking Kunque Opera solo; a song recital by guest artists; folk dance favorites; and samples from Chen’s modern repertory displaying the sinuous and appealing physicality that is one of her trademarks.

The first duet of the evening showcased an odd couple. While the acrobat, Yao-Zhong Zhang, remained cheerfully deadpan, channeling his energy into foot-slapping leaps, his furry companion, the lion, was more relaxed and expressive. Though tempted by the toy that the acrobat held out to him, this jovial beast was too tame to charge after it, flopping on the ground to bite at imaginary fleas and needing to be roused from a nap.

lyrical partner

In “Duet on the River of Dreams,” Saki Masuda made a lyrical partner for Francisco Silvino, the boatman poling along an eternal stream. While he remained weighted, offering her support and framing her with the pole, Masuda embarked on playful adventures, always returning, however, to her place beside him.

Min Zhou and Wei Yao were the young couple flirting in “The Love Song of Xishuangbanna,” based on the traditional dances of the Dai people of Yunnan Province. Their oblique, twisting moves and finicky gestures, with the index finger bent, suggested the influence of neighboring countries in Southeast Asia.

Zhang returned in “The Double Spear Warrior,” an episode from Kunque Opera, an ancient Chinese performing art. Preening and striking poses in a costume that extended the lines of his body, with an extravagant, feathered headdress and platform shoes, Zhang was still able to twirl two batons and perform gymnastic feats.

Chen’s contemporary ensemble pieces were the most ambitious works on the program, however, from the wary and intensely contained “Way of Five — Fire,” in which the dancers sparred and brandished large fans as if they were weapons, to “Bamboo Prayer,” a dance in which bamboo poles created an environment trembling with life and energy.

Varying the mood and style, guest musicians David M. Liao and Linda Xia offered a trio of classical songs, his baritone warm and caressing to her piano accompaniment.

The matinee concluded with the “Dragon Dance,” actually a suite in which the title character, a serpentine puppet with gleaming, golden scales, made his appearance surrounded by dances in which the performers manipulated colorful ribbons, flags and kerchiefs. This kaleidoscopic ending placed the final, seal of good luck on the event, expressing everyone’s hopes for a New Year just as bright.

Photo by Joseph Wagner

CALIFORNIAN: Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company celebrates nature

By HOLLY HERNDON - For The Californian North County Times - The Californian | Posted: Thursday, February 10, 2011 1:35 pm

When Nai-Ni Chen watches the changing of the seasons from her home on the East Coast she sees not only one of Mother Nature's greatest visual spectacles but also gets inspiration she can use in her day job.

"Ever since I was a little child I was very observant of nature," Chen said during a recent phone interview. "I would watch the clouds in the sky and the seasons change and it was like, somehow, I was born with a lot of interest in these things and I use them in my choreography. I see the colors. I feel the rhythm and I see the imagery change so I use nature as a subject."

Born in Taiwan, Chen began her training at the young age of four, specializing in Chinese dance. As a teenager, she branched out into various other styles of the dance genre as well as martial arts and music study. She began her professional dance career just out of college and has been on stage ever since.

Artistic Director and Choreographer Chen started Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in 1988 and, together with nine additional touring dancers, she has since won dozens of awards and critical acclaim for the unique style and vision she calls "cross cultural contemporary."

"I have a lot of training in traditional Chinese dance and the culture and philosophy but I've also been in this country for a long time so I'm trained as a modern dancer and choreographer so my work combines both cultures," she said. "My dancers also have very strong backgrounds and come from very different places like China, Korea, Brazil and the United States. It's a very international company and once they join the company they all bring their own specialties and their diverse unity which the others will learn. We are basically immersed into this unique style of unity."

Inland Empire residents can experience Chen's work this weekend as the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company comes to Old Town Temecula. The performance will include seven pieces from the company's vast repertoire.

"We will be doing a unique program that will include some of my jewels; my signature pieces that I have done over the past 20 years," Chen said. "Some are original choreography and there are a few folk dances as well. It should be a good mix."

The Temecula performance begins with an original work by Chen entitled "Raindrops."

"'Raindrops' is modern choreography and it is inspired by my childhood memories," she said. "I was born and brought up in a city North in Taiwan. It was a city by a seaport and it rained a lot. This dance is very joyful because it's a mixing of my childhood memories and how playful you can be during a rainy day as a child. It's just very lyrical and very sweet and very sentimental for me. It's a place that's very far away from me now but it's always in you."

A second piece, entitled "Incense," draws upon Chen's religious upbringing for inspiration.

"I remember I would go to temple and see the incense burning and people use it as a way to communicate with their god," Chen said. "I go to this country and see many artists and many other religions using it. We are so vulnerable and want to communicate with a higher being and somehow we use incense as a way to give our prayers. So, it's a piece that's very spiritual and very physical."

An additional piece being performed this weekend is "Bamboo Prayer," which pays tribute to one very symbolic plant.

"This piece describes how, in Chinese tradition, bamboo means a lot," Chen said. "It means justice and it means humility. It grows straight up into the sky but is flexible and I relate that to women's spirits. I feel that females have a lot of strength and willpower but we're very flexible. So, in this dance I use five female dancers with long bamboo poles. It's kind of like a ritual ceremony where we celebrate women's lives."

In a fourth dance, entitled "Mirage," Chen's choreography, combined with original music from Grammy winning composer Glen Velez, the audience is transported into the desert as the dancers depict the caravan of the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang province of western China.

"I really wanted to show the spirit of this group of people as well as bring the mystery of the desert scene," Chen said. "So, I open the scene with only one dancer in this desert back drop and he is essentially moving very slowly toward the audience to take them into a dream world; slowly moving toward the climatic celebration."

With seven unique works combined with the diverse cultural backgrounds of herself and her dancers, Chen promises the performance of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company has something for everyone.

"My work is very accessible and the choice of pieces are very colorful and can be appreciated by anybody," Chen said. "Certainly a beginner who's never been to dance before will have a great experience. I think they would take home a very special feeling, a certain spirit, which is common throughout the whole program."

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company

8 p.m. Feb. 11-12

Old Town Temecula Community Theater, 42051 Main Street, Temecula

$15-$25

866-653-8696

temeculatheater.org

Originally Published: 1/27/2011

Dance review: Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company brings studies of movement to Kutztown University

John Fidler

Reading Eagle

Dancers' eyes, arms and spirits reached upward, ever upward, as the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company brought its unique set pieces, tableaux and celebrations of movement to Kutztown University on Tuesday night. The performance in Schaeffer Auditorium was part of the Kutztown University Presents series.

The eight dancers, including Nai-Ni Chen herself, who danced a transporting solo tribute to her Chinese heritage in "Passage to the Silk River," swirled, pirouetted, pranced and seemed to make their bodies move in two directions at once through seven works, all choreographed by Chen.

These were studies in movement of all kinds.

In "Incense," four members of the troupe - Jamison Goodnight, Jung Hm Jo, Riyo Mito and Wei Yao - danced separately and together, their bodies arching and ramrod straight, sometimes touching without quite touching, arms akimbo and fluidly waving. Their white costumes became incense itself.

Moto and Francisco Silvino seemed to be floating in "Duet on the River of Dreams." Silvino wielded a rattan pole to push them across the water as she writhed around the oar, all the while reaching upward.

He finally shared it with her, the oar becoming a pathway between two sensibilities. There were moments when their bodies paralleled the oar in peaceful symmetry.

The finale, "Mirage," evoked Matisse's "Dance," his seminal work from 1910. The entire company, Chen included, danced in this feral tribute to the Uyghur people of Xinjiang province in western China.

The piece opened with a triptych: two pairs of two dancers and a trio, each creating a different mood to the whistling, sighing electronic music by Glen Velez. The dancers stopped and started, seemingly simultaneously, creating the effect of a body moving in a strobe light - without the strobe - for a rhapsodic study in staccato and legato.

Chen's demanding choreography required movements that seemed to defy anatomy. Hips loosened, shoulders seemed to dislocate and waists defied the limits of torsion.

As stirring as the dancing were the music and the lighting, especially that of A.C. Hickox, whose lighting design added a poetically intimate atmosphere to the first three dances. Her dramatic ending to "Raindrops," using a fading blue light that cloaked the four dancers, lent a sense of formal control over the piece, even as the music died away and the blue disappeared into darkness. It was a chilling moment.

The music joined the lighting as an integral part of the performance. Electronica, whispers, percussive elements, birds chirping and the sounds of the jungle swirled about the dancers as their own swirling arms created contours beyond mere torsos and backs.

Braiding harmony and dissonance, joy and melancholy, fluidity and angularity, Nai-Ni Chen brings a singular voice to the world of dance. We are fortunate to have seen her here.

Contact John Fidler at 610-371-5054610-371-5054 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting or jfidler@readingeagle.com.

Article online: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=282043

Oberon's Grove accounting of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company/Ahn Trio Collaboration

Nai-Ni Chen/Ahn Trio Collaboration

Friday December 5, 2010 - Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company and the Ahn Trio have joined to present an evening of dance and live music at Harlem School of the Arts. Read about our first encounter with Nai-Ni Chen's company here, and a recent rehearsal here. Photo above: dancer Wei Yao.

There are two more performances of this programme: Saturday evening December 4th and Sunday matinee December 5th. For information: 800-650-0246.

The collaborative presentation is entitled Temptation of the Muses. The Ahn Trio opened this well-paced evening with a dynamic rendition of David Balakrishnan's Skylife. The three sisters - violinist Angella, cellist Maria and pianist Lucia - are leading proponents of contemporary classical music. Following this prelude, they embarked on the Pat Metheny score for the first of five new Nai-Ni Chen choreographic creations: Yu Ryung.

This work opens with a solo for Jamison Goodnight (above) danced with an intense lyricism that keeps the viewer entranced. The other dancers of Nai-Ni's company - Saki Masuda, Ekaterina Chernikova, Riyo Mito, Jung Hm Jo, Wei Yao and Justin Lynch - appear in this ensemble piece of flowing combinations...

...and quietly ecstatic partnering motifs (Ekaterina & Wei, above).

The music of composer Kenji Bunch was a central element of the programme. The first of Kenji's works to be heard was Dies Irae. a brief spirtual work played by the Ahn Trio. The stage was then set for the longest and most complex work of the evening: Concrete Stream.

In this work the excellent lighting by Joe Levasseur was an integral part of the performance. Click on the above image to enlarge. An illuminated font of water where the dancers bathed and annointed themselves gives the piece a rutualistic feel. The musicians became active participants: the cellist is seated alone in a pool of light...

...as the dancers move in and out of her sphere of influence. Above: Jamison Goodnight at the left with cellist Maria Ahn. Click on the above image to enlarge.

Partnered phrases: Jung Hm Jo and Riyo Mito (above). The baby grand became a source of both the music and the movement: dancers emerged from under the piano and later a bolt of silky cloth was unrolled...

...creating a waterway down which the violinist Angella Ahn slowly walked as the work came to an end.

Following a brief intermission four dancers in street clothes - Wei Yao, Jamison Goodnight, Saki Masuda and Justin Lynch - performed to a Ronn Yedidia score, the first of two Lullabies which were programmed. The Ahn Trio played two lively interludes from Kenji Bunch's 'danceband': Backstep and Disco Boogie. These bookended a gently lyrical duet entitled Lullabye for My Favorite Insomniac...

...danced with expressive tenderness by Ekaterina Chernikova and Jung Hm Jo (above).

In the concluding work, Grooveboxes, Nai-Ni Chen put aside her usual style of sweeping expansiveness in favor of a fast-paced, jazzy style to mirror Kenji's energetic score which was played with lively attack by the Ahn Trio.

Francisco Silvino (above) clad in sexy, fiery dancewear, was the lone male in this work. The four women in candybox colours are Ekaterina Chernikova, Saki Masuda, Riyo Mito and Jamison Goodnight.

Here are some of Kokyat's images from Grooveboxes:

Jamison Gooodnight

Francisco Silvino and Riyo Mito

Saki Masuda

Francisco Silvino

Composer Kenji Bunch and choreographer Nai-Ni Chen with the performers sharing the applause at the end of an impressive evening. Click on the image to enlarge.

With this programme, Nai-Ni Chen and her Company secured a top spot in my shortlist of dance groups to follow closely on my blog. Her choreography, her musical and stylistic expressiveness, and the beauty and spirit of her dancers are just the kind of thing I love to experience. And her East-meets-West fusion is wonderfully satisfying to the senses.

All photos: Kokyat

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Oberon's Grove gets sneak peek of this weeks premieres

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company: Rehearsal

Tuesday November 23, 2010 - I went down to Harlem today to watch part of a rehearsal of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in preparation for their upcoming performances. The Company will perform at the Harlem School of the Arts from December 2nd thru 5th. Details here. The performances are a collaboration with the Ahn Trio and composer Kenji Bunch. In addition, dances set to works by Pat Metheny and Ronn Yedidia will be premiered.

We discovered Nai-Ni Chen earlier this year when a dancer we'd met, Jamison Goodnight, joined Nai-Ni's company. Both Kokyat and I so thoroughly enjoyed the programme we saw and have been looking forward to seeing the group again. Kokyat's photo of Jamison, above.

At today's rehearsal I watched a preview of the works to be shown at the upcoming performances. Each piece is like a visual poem; certain stylistic elements run like silken threads thry the tapestries of dance but each work is also a unique response to the respective musical composition. Above: dancers Riyo Mito and Justin Lynch.

Central to the Chen/Ahn/Bunch collaboration will be a piece entitled CONCRETE STREAM. The work - which begins with a finely-wrought solo for Jamison Goodnight - will feature the musicians' participation onstage. For another Kenji Bunch composition, GROOVEBOXES, the choreographer departs from her signature style of spacious, lyrical movement and has the dancers sailing thru fast-paced, energized combinations with perfect grace.

I am not sure who has the finer fortune here: the dancers who have Nai-Ni's entrancing choreography in which they can give wing to their expressive artistry, or Nai-Ni Chen herself in having such an appealing and polished roster of dancers to turn her visions into danced reality. It's an ideal situation for all concerned.

The dancers were kind enough - at the end of a long day in the studio - to pose for some photos which of course made me wish that Kokyat had been there. It does seem that he will be photographing one of the performances next week so then I should really have some exciting images of this radiant Company to share. Above: Riyo Mito and Justin Lynch.

Wei Yao and Jamison Goodnight...

...performed an impromptu adagio for me.

Jamison and Wei

Francesco Silvino...

...tries on a new costume, and he looks great.

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Oberon's Grove Review of Moon Festival in Harlem

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in Harlem

Saturday October 16, 2010 - You have no idea how time-consuming it is to blog about dance in New York City. It's a full-time job, especially if it's to be kept current. Every single day I get invitations to performances I'd love to go to, but it's simply not possible to do it all. Only rarely these days do I get a chance to try a new company but this evening I made time in my schedule and went with Kokyat to see Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company performing at the Harlem School of the Arts.

Kokyat and I see so many wonderful dancers in our travels; we see them performing, rehearsing, taking class, at intensives or taking auditions. Once in a while a dancer makes a special impression and it was one of these - Jamison Goodnight - who drew us to the Nai-Ni Chen performance tonight. I first saw Jamison at an audition for Amy Marshall Dance Company and I thought she had that special something that made me want to see more of her dancing. She performed in Amy's production, and when Kokyat and I were setting up our first blog photoshoot, Jamison was someone we wanted to be a part of it. She was so great to work with and so beautiful to watch in that up-close setting. She told us she had just joined Nai-Ni Chen and about the upcoming perfomances. Kokyat and I were genuinely excited to watch Jamison performing from the front row tonight and we were honestly thrilled by her beauty, intensity and her passion for dancing.

Every dancer in Nai-Ni's company proved to have a similar spark, making this evening a real treat to watch. And Nai-Ni Chen has created works of extraordinary poetic power and grace; in her fusion of traditional Asian dance elements with the spacious breadth of movement of contemporary Western dance, Nai-Ni offers a bridge between two cultures and she has the choreographic wisdom, the musical taste and the vivid imagination to transport us to another world.

Six works were offered tonight, two of them (Incense and The Way of Five - Fire) zoomed to the highest echelon of dance pieces that I've seen in the past twelve years. But in fact, there was not a weak link on the programme. And the music Nai-Ni has selected was an integral part of the evening's success. Superb lighting (by Tony Marques) and costuming (various designers, all of them enhancing the dancers' attractiveness and movement) gave the production added visual flair.

In Incense, four dancers clad in white move in mysterious rituals to a score by Joan LaBarbara. Hypnotic humming mingled with the sounds of nature give way to drumming as the dancers waft thru the choreographic patterns with a wondrously rapt quality. Ethereal lifts evoke the ascendance of prayers to heaven. Here Jamison and the exquisite Riyo Mito were simply gorgeous to watch while the two beautifully bare-chested boys - Jung Hm Jo and Wei Yao - were thrilling in their combination of poetry and strength. By the end of Incense, Kokyat and I were major Nai-Ni Chen fans.

The delicate sound of small bells chiming created the feel of Raindrops falling in the second and equally fascinating work. Four women are clad in satiny gowns over soft trousers; their sense of wonder to be caught in the gentle rain was charmingly depicted. The women (Ekaterina Chernikhova, Julie Judlova, Saki Masuda and Riyo Mito) each have solo passages in which we can enjoy their individual personalities. Translucent parasols are in play and the music evolves to gently percussive sounds. There came a moment that seemed to me to be a lovely final image of the dance but alas, another section followed - a celebratory finale - which was well-crafted and finely-danced but which ended Raindrops in a pleasant but less-poetic way.

Moving to the southern borders of China, Love Song of Xishuangbanna is a duet which shows the influence of Laotian and Burmese traditional dance. In richly coloured costumes, dancers Min Zhou and Wei Yao express the love poetry of the culture in which the courting man refers to the object of his affection in with floral allusions. The dancers moved fluently to the traditional folk tunes of the Dai people: yet another Nai-Ni chen jewel.

The Way of Five - Fire: the music of Tan Dun signaled a brilliant finale to the first half of the evening as five dancers, clad in vivid scarlet costumes with flared trousers, leapt and swirled about the stage in a striking dance depicting the element of Fire and its role in the ever-changing phenomena of Nature. Each dancer carried a large fan which is flicked open and closed in rhythmic patterns that illuminate the movement. This astonishingly gorgeous piece featured a striking trio for women (Saki Masuda, Jamison Goodnight and Ekaterina Chernikhova) and a combative, martial arts-styled duet for two men (Francisco Silvino and Jung Hm Jo). Tan Dun's score, with its magnificently throbbing rhythms, supported the dancers perfectly and the combination of music, movement, costuming and lighting resulted in a fascinating theatrical experience.

The second part of the evening began with the dancers in silhouette in Mirage, danced to music by Glen Velez. The sound of the gong resonates here, and the dance is inspired by the desert-dwelling tribes of the Uyghur peoples. There is a long solo with a veil danced with a tranquil sense of mystery by Ms. Chen, and in another section the slow pacing of the dancers was a simple but wonderfully expressive moment.

Min Zhou, clad in soft white like a bride in a dress spangled with peacock appliques and wearing a peony in her hair, was a pure delight in Peacock Dance. She uses her entire body to express the actions of the sacred peacock, a bird revered by the Dai people of Yunan province. Traditional Dai music in dulcimer style provides the aural imagery for the dancer in a charming portrayal of the peacock's movements which Ms. Zhou expressed with delicate and slightly ironic gestures.

Finally, Festival sets the Nai-Ni Chen dancers in a bravura celebration of the traditional Dragon Boat Festival. Banners and swirling long ribbons of fabric create joyous, flowing movement patterns while masques and an enormously tall figure (one dancer atop another's shoulders, covered in a long gown) add comic touches. Colourful folk costuming and music give the work a buoyant feeling of happiness.

Kokyat found after the performance that he could have photographed the whole evening; it's a shame we didn't clarify that beforehand because the images all thru the performences were just strikingly wonderful. He did take a couple of shots during the bows, top and here:

I am hoping to have some images from the production taken by the Company's photographer and to post them here soon.

So: we have a new and exciting addition to our dance company A-list and we are looking forward to following Nai-Ni Chen's work in the future and hopefully getting to know her and her dancers and watch them at close range.

In the immediate future there will be performances at Harlem School of the Arts on December 2nd thru 5th featuring music by composer Kenji Bunch (yay Kenji!) performed live by the Ahn Trio. Following tour dates ranging from California to Montreal, Ni-Ni Chen will be at Dance Theater Workshop May 13th - 15th, 2011. And we will surely be there also!

Click here to go to Oberon's Grove blog

Friday & Saturday, October 15 & 16, 2010, 8:00 PM Sunday, October 17, 2010, 3:00 PM

In Asia, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is one of the most important holidays on the calendar, a day rich in myth and history. For most Asian cultures, the full moon is often associated with family, unity, art and immortality.

Join the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in celebrating this special occasion in support of the arts. Each dance in the program is infused with the energy Ms. Chen acquired being a resident artist in the Harlem School of the Arts, and reflects her background as an immigrant artist who continually incorporates new and diverse ideas into her work.

The program will include:
Incense
Rain Drops
Love Song of Xishuangbanna
Way of Five - Fire
Mirage
Peacock Dance
Festival

Harlem School of the Arts
645 Saint Nicholas Avenue at 141st Street, NYC 10037

Tickets:
$15 general admission
$10 children (under 12) & seniors (over 65)
order tickets online

Moon Festival in Harlem

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company

presents

Moon Festival in Harlem

Friday & Saturday, October 15 & 16, 2010, 8:00 PM
Sunday, October 17, 2010, 3:00 PM

In Asia, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is one of the most important holidays on the calendar, a day rich in myth and history. For most Asian cultures, the full moon is often associated with family, unity, art and immortality.

Join the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in celebrating this special occasion in support of the arts. Each dance in the program is infused with the energy Ms. Chen acquired being a resident artist in the Harlem School of the Arts, and reflects her background as an immigrant artist who continually incorporates new and diverse ideas into her work.

The program will include:
Incense
Rain Drops
Love Song of Xishuangbanna
Way of Five - Fire
Mirage
Peacock Dance
Festival

Harlem School of the Arts
645 Saint Nicholas Avenue at 141st Street, NYC 10037

Tickets:
$15 general admission
$10 Children under 12/Seniors over 65

Information:
(800) 650-0246
website
info@nainichen.org

Season reflection from Artistic Director Nai-Ni Chen

Very often I feel that the journey of this Company is like a voyage on an unpredictable sea. Sometimes the wind is blowing just right and we sail quickly and effortlessly, and sometimes we are tossing in a storm, trying hard to keep our balance. Looking back at this twenty-first season of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, I am amazed at what we have achieved. Once again, having a few new dancers on board contributed to the artistry and accomplishment of our work this year, but it also created some difficulties in the beginning as we readjusted the relationships among the dancers and found a new chemistry for the group. We spent hours and hours in our Manhattan rehearsal space at the Harlem School of the Arts. We traveled to ten states in the US, including California, Virginia, Iowa, Indiana, and New York, and, as always, we enjoyed our audience here in our home state of New Jersey. We also traveled for the first time to the British Virgin Islands. In all, the total number of audience members we reached with our artistry numbered nearly thirty thousand. The magic that theater creates continues to amaze me and will inspire me for many years to come. Through it, we touched many people's hearts, and, in return, their energy and support enlivened us and gave us courage and strength to continue on our journey in these difficult times. I thank all the dancers for their wonderful work. I thank Liz and Heather, whose dedicated work at the office kept us going. I thank Andy and Elyse, who spent hours to find new funding resources for us. I also thank all the Company's board members for their love, passion, and support. With them all, I look forward to our many new challenges as well as the opportunities ahead.

Dancer Kerry Lee reflects on her 1st season with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company

The 2009-2010 season has been quite an exciting one for me, as I had the opportunity to perform with the company in ten US states and abroad in the British Virgin Islands. I cherish memories from each and every performance, but my experiences in Iowa and the British Virgin Islands were particularly special to me.

Burlington, Iowa, where we did an evening concert in late March, is a small city bordering the Mississippi River. As we drove across the Illinois-Iowa border from the airport, we encountered miles and miles of farmland with few people, houses, or stores in sight. We didn't even see a Wal-Mart, which is where we usually stock up on food when we tour. It was quite a contrast to New York City! On the night we arrived, a local businessman who sponsored our performance graciously escorted us in Burlington's only limo to the only Chinese restaurant in town, where they had specially prepared an authentic ten course meal just for us (normally they serve Americanized Chinese food buffet style). There we learned that the number of Chinese residents in Burlington is literally about ten. We also discovered how much our performance had been anticipated and were quite moved by the great lengths they took to show their appreciation to us. Honestly the royal treatment made us a little nervous for the performance (after all of that, we didn't want to disappoint!), but after we received a standing ovation I knew that we shouldn't have worried. We had the opportunity to talk to several audience members at the post-performance reception, and they were equally impressed by our modern pieces as our traditional Chinese dances.

If Iowa was a big contrast to New York City, the British Virgin Islands were on a whole other level. Arriving in Road Town a couple of weeks ago where the humidity felt like 1000%, we immediately realized that Nai-Ni was not joking when she cautioned us to bring sunblock. Surrounded by the strong beat of Caribbean music and the picture-perfect turquoise water as we traveled by open air taxis and ferries, it finally sunk in that I was in a foreign country about to do my first international performances as a professional dancer. Our first performance in Road Town was an educational program for school children (the second was an evening concert for the public). We have been accustomed to performing for school children in the tri-state area who enthusiastically cheer us on as we dance; even so, the BVI children were by far the warmest group we performed for this season. After the performance they couldn't wait to ask us questions, and the number of questions they had seemed endless. They were so inspired that they asked what they needed to do to join our company. Even after the Q&A officially ended, they followed us onstage to hug us, get our autographs, and get tips on how to become more flexible. You know, whenever I have a bad day and start asking myself why I am willing to endure so much to be a dancer, moments like this make the answer crystal clear. Words cannot begin to describe how rewarding it is to perform for an audience like that!

Auditions for Dancers to be held on June 2 & 3

Directions to HSA

Audition by appointment only
Please call (800)650-0246 or email info@nainichen.org to schedule
Resume and Head Shot required for audition

Nai-Ni Chen will lead the Modern Technique and Repertory Workshop with the emphasis on her unique technique and movement style. With the influence of Chinese Martial Art and Calligraphy, her modern movements are full of strength and grace and deeply connected with the flow of energy. Excerpts of dances from her signature works such as "Incense"and "Mirage" will be taught during this workshop.

Monday, May 24, 2010 - Friday, May 28, 2010
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Peridance Capezio Center
126 East 13th
New York, NY 10003
(212)505-0886
info@peridance.com
Click here for more info

Full Workshop (Mon-Fri): $90
Single Class: $20

NEW STUDENTS - Welcome!!
Special Promotion - April 1st - June 30th
10 Class-Card Series for only $120. That's only $12 dollars a class!
Valid only for students who have never taken a class at Peridance,
purchasing their FIRST class-card series!
*Student must purchase promotion within 30 days of registration!
*This promotion cannot be combined with any other promotion
Click here for coupon