The 2025 Lunar New Year of the
Snake WHEN: Saturday & Sunday, January 25 & 26, at 3pm WHERE: Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College, 53-49 Reeves Ave, Flushing, NY. TICKETS: $20 with no fees and can be purchased online at http://kupferbergcenter.org/lny-tickets
or by phone at (718) 793-8080.
The Lunar New Year Celebration at the Kupferberg Center
for the Arts honors the Year of the Snake, symbolizing wisdom,
transformation, and resilience. The program blends ancient Chinese
traditions with contemporary movement, celebrating themes of harmony
and renewal. Opening with "Lion in the City," a fusion of
traditional Lion Dance and hip-hop, the piece symbolizes peace and
cultural collaboration. A duet inspired by the Legend of the White
Snake highlights empowerment, especially for women, while "Tiger
and Water Lilies" contrasts strength and beauty, blending
contemporary ballet with Asian dance forms. "Unfolding," a
collaboration of Nai-Ni Chen with a Korean Janggu performer in the
early 2000s, explores life’s continuous change, echoing the I-Ching’s
philosophy of transformation and reflecting on the symbolism of the
Snake. The evening culminates in "Dragon Festival," where
the dragon—symbolizing prosperity and balance—descends from the
heavens, blessing the community with good fortune for the coming year.
The Snake, revered in Chinese culture for its agility and wisdom,
reminds us to embrace personal growth and adaptability, making this
celebration a reflection on transformation, unity, and cultural
heritage.
Music with authentic Chinese musical instruments will be
played in the program, performed by the Chinese Music Ensemble of New
York (CMENY). The Company will premiere a new dance for the Year of
the Snake with a collaboration using the music, Dances of the
Golden Snake. The new dance will be created by Nai-Ni Chen
Dance Company’s Director of Traditional Dance and Preservation, Ying
Shi. This unique live-music/dance using Chinese instruments provides
an experience that can only be seen in this program in the United
States.
Lion in the City is based on the
traditional Chinese Lion Dance, which is the most popular dance
performed in the Chinese New Year Celebration. The Lion Dance is a
prayer for peace on earth as a child is able to play with a ferocious
beast in harmony. There are many styles of the Lion Dance in China.
Last year, the Company was celebrating the 50th Anniversary of
Hip-Hop and memorializing the pioneering spirit of Nai-Ni Chen, who
began working with Rokafella and Kwikstep in 2017, developing a
dialogue between her contemporary/Chinese movement style and hip-hop.
This dance was originally commissioned by the New Jersey Performing
Arts Center in 2023. It is being repeated by popular demand.
Snake Duet (working title) is a new
dance based on one of the most important legends about the snake in
the Chinese tradition, the Legend of the White Snake. It is a love
story about a powerful magical White Snake and her best friend the
Green Snake coming to seek eternal love on earth but their journey
suffered oppression and rejection for their identity. Long believed
to be a story that advocates for women’s status in the traditionally
male-dominated, ancient Chinese society, this dance shows the
solidarity between the two snake women and their bond of sisterhood.
Tiger and Water Lilies
was originally commissioned by Ballet Met in Cleveland. Nai-Ni Chen
created Tiger and Water Lilies for ballet dancers, with
movements that are within the range of contemporary ballet and yet
emphasize some of the key aspects of Asian dance movements. The male
and female dancers represent contrasting ideas of motion vs.
stillness, animal vs. plant and strength vs. beauty.
Unfolding is a dance based on the
common heritage of the Chinese and Korean people. On the Korean flag
is the symbol from I-Ching, the Book of Changes, which
describes the laws of the changing universe in ancient China. I-Ching
says, “The Tao is ever changing, alternating, moving without rest.”
As nature unfolds at a vibrant pace, so does our life’s journey. This
dance was originally commissioned by Dancing in the Streets in New
York and premiered in the gardens of Wave Hill in the Bronx.
Dragon Festival is based on the
traditional Chinese Dragon Dance. The Dragon Dance is the most
spectacular folk dance performed in the Chinese New Year Celebration.
The Dragon carries auspicious powers and nature’s grace. The Chinese
Dragon is a spiritual and cultural symbol that represents prosperity
and good luck, as well as a water deity that nurtures harmony. It
controls rainfall, rivers, and ocean. Dragon favors pearls and
usually chases after them. In this dance, Dragon descends from
heaven, blesses the earth, swims down the ocean, and is offered a
pearl by the pearl goddess. Blue flags symbolize water to bless for
enough rainfall for the coming year, and colorful ribbons are a
prayer for the prosperity of the community. For those fortunate to
see this dance in the Chinese New Year, their coming year will be
filled with peace, harmony, and good fortune.
About Nai-Ni Chen
Nai-Ni Chen (1959-2021) was a legendary choreographer
who worked in the NJ/NY area professionally for over thirty years
since coming to the US in 1982. She built a diverse repertoire of
over 80 original works and toured to major venues in the US and international
festivals in 12 countries around the world. A cross-cultural
choreographer who aims to bring audience across the cultural
boundaries, she has developed unique movement and choreographic
styles that reflect the grace and splendor of the Chinese cultural
traditions she studied in Taiwan since youth and the dynamic spirit
of modern dance that she acquired in New York from luminaries such as
Mary Anthony, Bertram Ross, Doris Rudko and Patricia Rowe. She
received multiple Choreographer Fellowships from the National
Endowment for the Arts and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
She has been a principal affiliate of the New Jersey Performing Arts
Center and was a resident artist of the Harlem School of the Arts.
Her contribution to the immigrant cultural experience has been
honored by OCA and the International Institute. Commissions have come
from the Joyce Theater Foundation, the Lincoln Center Institute, the
New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Towson University, Dancing in the
Streets, New Jersey Ballet, Ballet Met, and the Cleveland Dancing
Wheels. Nai-Ni is currently in residence in New Jersey City
University creating a new dance program for the university in
collaboration with the Joffrey Ballet School as well as pioneering a
program with the University’s Laboratory School for children with
multiple disabilities.
Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company is a rare
Asian-American-woman-led, professional touring company with programs
for educational settings, community organizations and mainstage
venues. The Company’s mission is to be a premier provider of
innovative cultural experiences that reflect the inspiring hope and
energy of the immigrant’s journey. It was founded with the vision
that the immigrant’s journey of crossing cultures and adapting to a
new home provides endless inspirations and opportunities for creative
expressions that can enrich the human experience. Each one of the
company’s works is aimed to increase the visibility of the struggle,
triumph, despair and joy of this experience. The Company’s
productions provide cross-cultural experiences and bring forth issues
of identity, authenticity, and equality. The Company’s worldwide
touring is represented by Red Shell Management, led by Edward
Schoelwer. Prior to 2021, the Company led the roster of renowned
artist manager Joanne Rile, who has since retired.
Choreography is developed with
dancers from diverse backgrounds, and each rehearsal is an immersive,
boundary-crossing journey that contributes to the creative process
under the direction of the choreographers. Our diverse repertory of
Nai-Ni Chen’s original works bridges the grace and power of Asian
arts and American dynamism which incorporates her broad influences.
The company also preserves a variety of festive dances from different
regions of China, choreographed by guest immigrant artists bearing the
tradition.
The Company began to tour in the early 1990s, originally
on the East Coast, and later internationally. The dance company is
multi-racial and multi-national and has collaborated with a wide
range of artists from different disciplines and cultures. Musical
collaborators range in genre from new music to jazz to classical;
they include Joan La Barbara, The Chinese Music Ensemble of NY, Jason
Kao Hwang, Huang Ruo, Kenji Bunch, Tan Dun, Glen Velez, and most
recently, the Ahn Trio. Award-winning designers and visual artists
such as Myung Hee Cho, Jay Moorthy, AC Hickox, and costume designer
Karen Young have also collaborated with the Company. These
collaborations provided us the opportunity to develop innovative
productions that carry the timeless essence of the tradition,
crossing cultural boundaries without compromising the integrity of
the art.
In addition to domestic touring, the company has also
performed at international festivals in Mexico, Canada, BVI,
Guatemala, Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, South Korea and China
with support from: Fund for Mutual Understanding, The President’s
Committee for the Arts, Arts International and the State Department
of the United States. Ms. Chen has received multiple Choreographer’s
Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and from the New
Jersey State Council on the Arts. Her work has also been commissioned
by the Joyce Theater Foundation, the Lincoln Center Institute, the
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Dancing in the Streets, the Mid
Atlantic Arts Foundation, and New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Our most recent tour, “A Quest for Freedom,” developed
with the Ahn Trio, premiered at the Philadelphia NextMove Festival.
The Company is currently in residence at New Jersey City University,
the A. Harry Moore School for students with disabilities, and in
Elizabeth School #26, a school of mostly immigrant children. https://www.nainichen.org/
About Kupferberg Center for the Arts
Kupferberg Center for the Arts (KCA) is the largest
multi-disciplinary arts complex in Queens. They present world-class
artists in their on-campus venues, showcase regional talents in their
off-site neighborhood performances, and produce professional shows by
Queens College students and faculty.
The mission of Kupferberg Center for the Arts (KCA) is
to provide high quality accessible and affordable cultural
attractions to the Queens College community and the borough’s 2.4
million residents. The largest indoor year-round multi-disciplinary
arts entity in the borough, KCA features world class artists and
performances at its main stage campus venues and showcases the
talents of emerging and regional artists in off-site, neighborhood
settings. A leader in the cultural landscape of Queens, KCA connects residents
of the most ethnically diverse region of the nation to their unique
cultural heritages, showcasing these arts to a broader audience and
highlighting the contributions each makes to the distinct nature of
our campus and community. https://kupferbergcenter.org/about/
Acknowledgement
Programs of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company have been made
possible by 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 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 Geraldine R. Dodge
Foundation, DanceNYC Dance Advancement Fund, the Hyde and Watson
Foundation, E.J. Grassman Trust, The Horizon Foundation for New
Jersey, New Music USA, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation,
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. WQXR is a
media partner of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.
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