Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company - Dancers

Chen Dance Co.

Dancers & Collaborators

Dancers
JulieAnna Judlova Dancer was born in the Czech Republic and began her dance training at the age of seven at the dance studio of the National Theatre in Prague. She started to study ballet, jazz, and modern dance professionally in conservatory under director Vlasta Schneiderova. As a member of Ballet Prague Junior, Ms. Judlova worked with Attila Egerhazi, Jo Stromgren, and Michael Popper and participated in festivals in the United Kingdom and Italy. She moved to New York in 2005, where she has studied at the Mark Morris repertory workshop and toured with Ballet for Young Audiences. Having joined in 2006, she is very excited to be part of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.
Chu-Ying Ku Dancer is originally from Taiwan. Ms. Ku holds a BFA and an MFA in dance from Taipei National University of the Arts. During her studies, she worked with such renowned choreographers as Lo Men-Fei, Lin Huai Ming, Ross Parkes, and Zheng Xiou Shong. Ms. Ku has since danced with ACME Physical Theater and Body Expression Dance Theatre in Taipei and performed in many dance festivals in France, Germany, and Malaysia. She has also taught traditional Chinese dance and modern dance at many senior high schools and dance studios throughout Taiwan. She has choreographed many of her own works and coached many students for the Taiwanese National Students Dance Competition. Ms. Ku is honored to be part of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company for her second season.
Noibis Licea Dancer is a native of Bayamo, Cuba, and a graduate of the National School of Arts in Havana with a degree in modern dance and training in modern, Afro-Cuban, ballet, jazz, acrobatics, and Latin rhythms. After graduating, Mr. Licea danced professionally with various companies throughout Cuba and also taught modern dance. In 1998, he performed and choreographed musical shows in Mexico. Later, in Miami, he worked with the Florida Grand Opera and the Florida Dance Festival. In 2001, Mr. Licea was named Best Local Dancer by the Miami Herald; in 2002, the SunPost named him Best Male Dancer. He later worked in Montreal with Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal and the Royal City Ballet of Canada and in Toronto with Danny Grossman. Since moving to New York City in 2003, he has danced for Jamie Bishton, Lydia Johnson, and Ballet Builders. Mr. Licea has been teaching for the Silesian Dance Theatre in Poland since 2005 and, throughout the summer of 2007, he taught at the Alvin Ailey Extension. Currently, he participates in the Master Classes Series at Dance New Amsterdam in New York City. This is his fifth season with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.
Chun-Yu Lin Dancer, originally from Taiwan, received a BFA in dance performance and choreography from California Institute of the Arts in 2007. She is trained in a wide variety of dance styles, including ballet, contemporary, and traditional Chinese dance. Her own choreography has been performed in various venues in the United States as well as in London, while she was an exchange student at London Contemporary Dance School, and at the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim in Spain. Ms. Lin has performed works by Nacho Duato, Jiri Kylian, Doug Varone, Elisa Monte, Robert Battle, Colin Conner, and many others. She is very excited about performing her first season with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.
Teri Miller Dancer/Assistant to the Artistic Director graduated with high honors from California’s Chapman University, earning a BFA in Dance Performance. She has trained at the Mark Morris, Lou Conte, and Gus Giordano studios, as well as on scholarship at Alvin Ailey and River North Dance Chicago. While on the west coast, Ms. Miller won the title of Miss Dance in Action and continued to dance professionally with Ballet Unlimited, Disneyland, and the NBA Clippers. Since moving to New York, she has been a company member of Ballet Hispanico, Infinity Dance Theater, Michael Mao Dance, Darrah Carr Dance, and Synthesis Dance Project. Ms. Miller has toured throughout the United States and in Mexico, the United Kingdom, eastern Europe, and China. She has had the opportunity of teaching for various dance festivals in Poland and has served as Ballet Mistress at Cambridge University in England. Happy to be returning, Ms. Miller is performing her fifth season with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.
Susie Payne Dancer, from Dayton, Ohio, attended California's Idyllwild Arts Academy, and Interlochen Arts in Michigan, where she was named the Maddy Summer Artist for Modern Dance. Shortly thereafter she joined Dayton Contemporary Dance Company's professional repertory touring company, performing works by Eleo Pomare, Donald Byrd, Rennie Harris, Ronald K. Brown, Donald McKayle, and Talley Beatty. Ms. Payne received her BFA in Dance (with a minor in Psychology) from Ohio's Wright State University. She has set several choreographic works for DCDC2, and for the Northern Cincinnati Youth Ballet, which has won several consecutive dance competitions. Ms. Payne is an inspired teacher and an NASM certified personal trainer. When she isn't dancing, she enjoys reading, singing, and playing the piano.
Wei Yao Dancer graduated from the Central College of Chinese Ethnic Culture in Beijing with a major in Chinese folk dance. He danced with Goundong Song and Dance Company and Gounzou Dance Company and also taught at Goundong Dance School before moving to Hong Kong, where he danced in musical productions at Disneyland. Mr. Yao joined the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in January 2008.
Qiao Zeng Dancer was born in Hu Bei, China. He received professional training in Chinese dance at Wuhan School of the Arts. In 1993, he joined the Wuhan Theater of Song and Dance as one of its principal dancers and performed and toured in Japan and Hong Kong in many productions such as Dance Poetry – Chu Yun and Celebration of the Return of Hong Kong. Mr. Zeng also won the first prize for his solo dance The Son of Yellow River and the Wen Hua prize for his dance drama The Myth of River and Mountain. In 2000, he left Wuhan and studied for four years at the Beijing Dance Academy, majoring in Classical Chinese Dance. During those years he performed and toured with the Youth Dance Group of Beijing Dance Academy to France, Italy, and Germany. Before moving to New York, Mr. Zeng taught in the Music Education Department of the Central Conservatory of Music and the Dance Department of Beijing Dance Academy and also acted as the dance coordinator, artistic advisor, and choreographer in many dance productions.
Yao Zhong Zhang Dancer came from Shanghai, China, where he graduated from the Shanghai Kuan Opera School with a major in the male warrior role. Mr. Zhang performed with the Shanghai Kuan Opera Theater for ten years before moving to New York, where he also performs with the Tong-Ching Chinese Opera Company. He joined the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in 2000.
Min Zhou Dancer graduated from the dance department at the Hubei Arts Academy and later joined the Hubei Province Song and Dance Troupe, becoming a renowned principal performer. In China, Ms. Zhou joined several other performing arts groups and toured to Switzerland, Japan, Canada, and France. An elected member of the Chinese Dancers' Association, her wide repertoire ranges from exquisite Chinese classical dances to gracious and playful folk dances. In New York, Ms. Zhou has danced with the Chinese Cultural Center. This is her third year with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.