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In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the
Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company has established a new dance institute through
Zoom, The Bridge. The Institute’s aim is
to bring together dancers, choreographers and directors around the world to
experience the master teachers of color whose practices are embedded in the
community and are focused on advancing the art of dance that transform the
personal, environmental and metaphysical spaces. Interested dancers
can join the class by registering here.
As a virtual dance
institute, The Bridge will invite world renowned as well as up and
coming dancers and choreographers to come to guest teach the class.
Advanced/Intermediate level professional or pre-professional dancers who
are looking to explore beyond their own boundaries and looking for new
dance experiences are encouraged to participate. The core program is based
on Nai-Ni Chen’s Kinetic Spiral, which is a cross-cultural dance
vocabulary that integrates the Chinese martial arts philosophy in TaiChi
with contemporary dance practices she studied in America. Guest artists
will cover a wide range of folk and classical dance styles.
The Bridge Class schedule are as follows:
Thursday March 10,
2022 | Layla Ogasawara
(Belly Dance) at 10am
About Layla
Ogasawara’s Belly Dance
This class will combine
yoga and strengthening exercises. Followed by isolation and belly dance
combinations.
In this trying time
of change and uncertainty, the arts are a source of healing and unity, we
would like to encourage everyone to support dance as dance is an essential
medicine for the society to recover from the pandemic that has caused
injury to our bodies and our hearts. Support for The Bridge can be sent
through https://www.nainichen.org/donate.
About Nai-Ni Chen
Dance Company:
“Chen's phrases,
part exoskeletal rigidity, part boneless grace, embodied an epic dignity.”
- Village Voice
Choreographer/Dancer,
Nai-Ni Chen, was a unique artist whose work crosses cultural
boundaries. Each of her dances reflect her personal vision as an
immigrant and an American female artist with deep roots in the Asian
culture. From this very personal perspective, she created new works
that reflect current issues with global influences. Some of her works
were developed in collaboration with renowned artists such as the Ahn Trio,
Glen Velez, Joan La Barbara, and the members of the New Asia Chamber
Music Society.
Bridging the grace
of Asian elegance and American dynamism, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
is a premier provider of innovative cultural experiences that reflect the
inspiring hope and energy of the immigrant's journey. The company's
ground-breaking works have focused on themes from ancient legends that
reflect issues of the present time to purely abstract, contemporary dances
influenced by a mix of cultures Nai-Ni Chen experienced in New
York. An Asian American company that celebrates cross-cultural
experience, the Company's productions naturally bring forth issues of identity,
authenticity, and equality.
The Company has
presented at some of the most prestigious concert halls such as the Joyce
Theater, Lincoln Center in New York, and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts
Center in Florida. The Company appears annually at the New Jersey
Performing Arts Center, Queens College, the College of Staten Island and on
Ellis Island. Internationally, the Company has presented at international
festivals including Open Look Festival in Russia, the Silesian
International Contemporary Dance Festival, the Konfrontations International
Festival in Poland, the Chang Mu International Dance Festival in Korea, the
Meet in Beijing International Arts Festival in China, and the Tamaulipas
International Arts Festival in Mexico.
The Nai-Ni Chen
Dance Company has received more than 20 awards from the National
Endowment for the Arts and numerous Citations of Excellence and grants from
the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Advancing Dance Education, the Nai-Ni
Chen Dance Company is currently in residence in New Jersey City
University pioneering a program with the University's A Harry Moore
Laboratory School teaching dance to urban children with disabilities.
For additional Company information, visit their website, www.nainichen.org; write to Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, P.O.
Box 1121, Fort Lee, NJ 07024; or call (800) 650- 0246.
Programs of the Nai-Ni
Chen Dance Company are made possible by the generous support of our
Board members, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Jersey State
Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National
Endowment for the Arts, The Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF), the New
Jersey Cultural Trust, the New York State Council on the Arts with the
support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, The
New Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund administered by the Princeton
Area Community Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Hyde and
Watson Foundation, E.J. Grassman Trust, The Horizon Foundation for New
Jersey, New Music USA, the Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation,
Dance/NYC Dance Advancement Fund, the Rapid Response Program of American
Dance Abroad, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters’ Cultural
Exchange Fund, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, PSEG,
Proskauer, WAC Lighting, and the Glow Foundation and the Dragon and Phoenix
Foundation. |
