WHEN: Wednesday, January 29, 2025 at 5:30pm WHERE: Dimenna Center for
Classical Music, 450 West 37th Street, New York, NY. TICKETS: limited. RSVP to reserve your seat
and join in the celebration honoring the Year of the Snake, https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSernL0DjFiJJ5G6lTc3R7NLK5p1NShpOzZALFCMr8H-kkR9Og/viewform.
Now is your chance to Save the Date for this extraordinary night of Music and Dance featuring Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company and the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York.
The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, a renowned pioneer in
Chinese dance, is excited to present its stunning Lunar New Year
Gala. The evening will include performances, cocktails, cuisine, and
festivities all in celebration of the Year of the Snake!
Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to witness the
magic and beauty of Lunar New Year traditions, interpreted through
the extraordinary talent of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.
Celebrating over 30 years of dance-making, the Nai-Ni
Chen Dance Company is a rare Asian American female-created
touring company that honors and advances the dynamic spirit of
Chinese American cultural tradition. Led by Nai-Ni Chen, a visionary
in Asian American dance, the company emphasizes the immigrant
experience through multicultural performances. Founded in the early
1990s, the company's diverse repertory bridges Asian and American
arts, collaborating with musicians like the Ahn Trio and artists such
as Myung Hee Cho. Recent works like "A Quest for Freedom,"
developed with the Ahn Trio, exemplify the Company's commitment to
innovative, cross-cultural productions. Nai-Ni Chen’s unique
choreographic styles reflect the grace and splendor of the Chinese
cultural traditions she studied in Taiwan and the dynamic spirit of
modern and contemporary dance she acquired in New York. The Company’s
contribution to the community has been honored by OCA, the leading
national Asian American advocacy organization, New Jersey Chinese
American Chamber of Commerce and the International Institute in
Jersey City. The Company has toured extensively in the United States
and at international festivals around the world . Their global
presence includes performances in Mexico, Canada, Russia, and China,
supported by esteemed institutions and foundations. Nai-Ni Chen has
been honored with over 20 awards from the National Endowment for the
Arts, and prominent institutions – including the Lincoln Center
Institute, the Joyce Theater, Dancing in the Streets, New Jersey
Ballet, Ballet Met, Dancing Wheels and Baraka Sele at NJPAC – all
have commissioned notable works.
Founded in 1961 by its late Director, Mr. Tsuan-nien
Chang (1917-1997), the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York (CMENY)
has grown from a few music lovers presenting Cantonese traditional
music to becoming the oldest and largest Chinese orchestra in the
United States. Its present membership of almost fifty musicians plays
practically every type of Chinese musical instrument.
Recognized as the only full-scale non-youth Chinese
orchestra in the Americas, the Ensemble maintains its standard of
excellence through a program of musical exchange with professional
musicians from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Many of its award-winning
musicians come from state conservatories of music in Shanghai,
Beijing, Sichuan, Tianjin, Shenyang, Guangzhou, and Taipei and have
worked in renowned orchestras across Asia.
Ensemble performances range from small chamber groups to
a full orchestra using a wide range of Chinese bowed and plucked
strings, wind, and percussion instruments. Its repertoire ranges from
ancient classical to modern compositions, spanning over fifteen
hundred years of history. The CMENY also presents folk music of
various regions and ethnic groups in China.
One of the main objectives of the CMENY is to introduce
the music of China to broad audiences--both the concert-going public
and professional musicians, so as to enrich the public, strengthen
cross-cultural ties, and to help give Chinese music a new voice in
the West. To this end, the Ensemble has performed at Lincoln Center
Out-of-Doors, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Town Hall, Asia
Society, Carnegie Hall, Newport Music Festival, and Musikfest. It has
appeared at numerous museums, libraries, colleges, and schools
throughout the Eastern seaboard.
We place great importance on preserving and promoting
Chinese musical heritage, and so the Ensemble offers Chinese music
lecture-demonstration services to schools and colleges, and gives
free musical instrument lessons to schoolchildren during the summer.
The Ensemble has worked in the past with Carnegie Hall Weill Music
Institute to provide educational programs, including CarnegieKids,
Global Encounters, Neighborhood Concert, and Family Concerts at
Carnegie Hall.
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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