"Spiritual Choreographer" ... Dance Magazine

"A rare modern dance choreographer"...NY Times

Ms. Chen graduated from the Chinese Cultural University in 1982 and then came to America to seek her own voice in the world of contemporary dance.   Since the inception of her Company in 1988, Ms. Chen has created a wide-ranging repertory that includes both dances that originated thousands of years ago and highly abstract, modern creations.  Her works are often inspired by the poetic motion of the Chinese painting brush, by folk rituals and ceremonies, and by phenomena of nature.   

Winning critical acclaim worldwide, Ms. Chen has received a highly unusual and distinctive dual-year Choreographer’s Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her work has been commissioned by the Joyce Theater Foundation, the Lincoln Center Institute, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Dancing in the Streets, and the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.  

She has taught master classes at colleges and universities throughout the United States, Poland, Taiwan, and China and has recently completed a four-week residency at Towson University in Maryland.  In New York, she has taught at the Mary Anthony Dance Studio and Peridance, and at New York University, where she received her MA in Dance and Dance Education. Ms. Chen received an Arts Achievement Award from the International Institute of New Jersey in 2001.  She also has earned numerous awards from the Chinese American community, including a recent one from the Organization of Chinese Americans for her achievement in arts and education and for her substantial contribution to the community.   She has been a principal affiliate artist of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center since its inception.