Program for NJPAC weekend
shows- “Year of the Rooster”
Artistic Director/Choreographer: Nai-Ni Chen
Lighting Designer/Production Manager: A.C. Hickox, Barry Steele
Lighting and Production Coordinator:
Judith
Daitsman
Associate Lighting Designer/Stage Manager: Susan Summers
Dancers: Daniella
Bloch, Michele Chung, Kelly Hamlin, Gabriel Hernan, Tao Liu, Heather MacNeill, Eddie Stockton,
Brandon Tyler, Hong-Wu Yang, Tai Zhang,Yao-Zhong Zhang, Min Zhou
Musicians: Tao Chen, Sisi Chen, Liu
Li, Bao-Li Zhang
Arranged
by: Nai-Ni Chen, Xio-Di Young, Chien-Hui Shen
Dancers: Eddie Stockton, Brandon Tyler, Yao-Zhong
Zhang
Music: Chinese Folk
One of the most popular
dances performed in the Chinese New Year Celebration. The Lion Dance was
said to have originated in the Tang Dynasty three thousand years ago when the
emperor held a festival and people dressed in costumes of one hundred different
kinds of animals. Over time the Lion Dance evolved into a prayer for
peace, in it a powerful beast is led by
a playful child, the child and beast playing together symbolizes harmony on
earth. To bring such a prayer renewal
and hope the Lion Dance is performed in the beginning of each year. In this dance, acrobatic skills, coordination
and concentration are critical.
Peacock Dance
Arranged by: Nai-Ni Chen,
Min Zhou
Dancer: Min Zhou
Music:Dai Minority folk
Music
In China, there are over 55
ethnic groups. Each group has its
unique dance and music. The peacock is
considered sacred bird among the Dai people in the Yunnan province. The Peacock Dance is one the most
beautiful dances from this origin. Many
movements are derived from the imitation of the peacock drinking water,
walking, running and grooming its feathers.
Chinese Music
Performed by: Melody of Dragon Chinese Music Ensemble
1. Step by Step
(Cantonese Music)
Performed by: Ensemble
This piece is drawn from the
Cantonese School of Music, a regional style of Chinese folk music. It is highly
descriptive, characterized by vitality and inventiveness. Usually, Cantonese
music is played by a small group, each player extemporizes on the same tune and
the leader, playing the Gaohu, sets
the pace.
2. Phoenix Tail Bamboo Beneath the Moon (U.S. Premiere)
Arranged by: Tao Chen
Instruments: Bawu and
ensemble mix
Bawu Solo Performed by: Tao
Chen
In 1991, Tao Chen created
this composition for Bawu, which is a special bamboo flute with metal reed on
its blowing hole. It is a special instrument of the Yi and Dai minority groups
in the Yun Nan province. The melody of
the Phoenix Tail Bamboo Beneath the Moon
is taken from a famous folk song popular in the Yun Nan region.
Major support for live
Chinese music in the Year of the Rooster Festival comes from the National Endowment
for the Arts.
Walking into the Snow Mountain
Arranged
by: Wei Chen
Dancers:
Tai Zhang, Min Zhou
Music: Tibetan Folk Song
In Western China, on the
beautiful Himalayan Mountains live the Tibetan people. Because of the high altitude, Tibetan dance movements
have a sense of heaviness. In daily
life, Tibetans do a lot of hiking, carrying their belongs on their back so
their dance movements usually are performed with the torso leaning forward. Tibetan people also love to show their
wealth and social status by decorating their waists and headdress with
jewelry. In this dance, the song
describes the beauty of Tibetan Snow Mountain and the hike up the mountain,
which leads you to Paradise.
Raindrops
Choreographed by: Nai-Ni
Chen
Dancers: Heather MacNeill,
Kelly Hamlin, Daniella Bloch, Michele Chung
Music: Henry Wolff, Robert
Rich, Sainkho Namtchylak
Costume: Olu-Orondava
This dance draws inspiration
from the choreographer’s childhood memory of the city where she was born,
Keelong, also known as “Rain Harbour” in Taiwan.
Triple
Cross Road
Arranged and performed by:
Tao Liu, Hong-Wu Yang
Music:
Chinese Peking Opera
The most well known novel in
Chinese history, The Water Margin, contains stories of martial art
heroes who struggle against corrupt government bureaucrats. The scene opens as the young martial arts
expert, Ren, sleeps on a bed at an inn.
The innkeeper, Liu, has seen the gold nuggets Ren is carrying and
decides to steal them during the night.
But Ren is alert, and a fierce fight begins in the darkness…But wait,
how can an audience see a fight that happens in the dark?
Wake
Up Call
Choreographed by: Nai-Ni
Chen
Dancers:
Daniella Bloch, Michele Chung, Kelly Hamlin, Heather MacNeill, Eddie Stockton,
Brandon Tyler, Tai Zhang
Music: Composer- Jason Kao
Hwang/ Mixing Engineer: John Gurrin /Violinist in Recording- Jason Kao Hwang/ Percussionist in Recording-
Ravish Momin
Costume: Beba Shamash
Lighting Design: Barry
Steele
In
ancient Chinese agricultural society, the Rooster is the animal that wakes up
the village to begin a day of work. It
is a glorious animal that reminds us of the soaring beauty of birds on
earth. In this dance, the dancers
struggle in an unnatural urban environment seeking to find rituals and
relationships for spiritual survival.
Much like the birds forced to live among human urban development. Music for this dance was commissioned by the
Company from Jason with major support from the New Jersey State Council on the
Art’s Project Serving Artists grant.
Chinese Music
Performed by Melody of the Dragon Chinese Music Ensemble
1. Peacock Spreading its
Tail (Sheng Solo)
Performed by: Yuan Hai-Deng
Arranged by: Zhang Zhi-Sheng
Instrument: The Sheng, the
Chinese mouth organ, equipped with 13 or 17 reed pipes, is one of the oldest
Chinese wind instruments with a history of over 2500 years.
2. Running on the Great
Grasslands (Erhu Solo)
Arranged by: Liu Chang-Fu
Performed by: Zhang Bao-Li
with ensemble
Instrument: The Erhu, a
double stringed Chinese lap violin was introduced to China through the Silk
Road.
The happy and festive
spirits of a harvest celebration are captured in this simple folk tune. Various
techniques for the Erhu such
as bowing and plucking are used to describe the nomadic people during the
celebration.
Dragon Dance
Choreographed by: Nai-Ni
Chen
Dancers: Daniella Bloch, Michele
Chung, Kelly Hamlin, Gabriel Hernan, Heather MacNeill, Eddie Stockton, Brandon
Tyler, Tai Zhang, Yao-Zhong Zhang, Min Zhou
Music: Chinese Folk
As the most spectacular
folk dance performed in the Chinese New Year Celebration, the Dragon Dance
depicts the mythical animal that symbolizes imperial power and nature’s
grace. For those fortunate to see it in
the Chinese New Year, prosperity and good fortune is ensured for the coming
year.
Nai-Ni Chen
Choreographer Artistic
Director comes from a rich dance
tradition. A renowned traditional
dancer in Taiwan, she served in several ambassadorial culture missions to
nineteen countries around the world.
She graduated from the Chinese Cultural University in 1982 and was an
early member of the Cloud Gate Dance Theater in Taiwan. After graduation, she came to America to seek
her own voice in the world of contemporary dance studying at NYU and performing
with companies in New York. Since the
inception of her Company in 1988, Ms. Chen has created a wide-ranging repertory
that includes dances that originated thousands of years ago to highly abstract,
modern creations. The inspiration of
her dances often comes from the poetic motion of the Chinese painting brush,
folk rituals and ceremonies as well as the phenomena of nature. Winning critical acclaim everywhere, Ms.
Chen has received a Choreographer’s Fellowship from the National Endowment for
the Arts and 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 as well as the Mid
Atlantic Arts Foundation. She has taught
master classes at colleges and universities throughout the United States,
Taiwan, and China. In addition she has
served on the faculty at Rutgers University in New Jersey and New York
University in New York where she received her MA in Dance and Dance Education.
She earned numerous awards from the Chinese American community for her
substantial contribution to the preservation and advancement of traditional
dance. She has also received Arts
Achievement Award from the International Institute of New Jersey in 2001.
Jason Kao Hwang Composer
started his collaboration with Nai-Ni Chen in 1988. His music for Ms. Chen include “Journey of a Lonely Soul”, “Peach
flower Landscape”, “Instinct”, and the original score for “Unbroken Thread”. Mr. Hwang has received support from the
National Endowment for the Arts, New Jersey State Council on the Arts,
Rockefeller Foundation, the Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals and
Exhibitions, and others. The Floating
Box, A Story in Chinatown was presented in 2001 at the Asia Society in New
York City, which was commissioned by Asia Society, the Museum of Chinese in the
Americas, Music From China, Meet the Composer and the Mary Flagler Cary
Charitable Trust. His
composition Flight of Whispers was
released on eXchange: China, a
compilation CD of Chinese American composers.
He
has two other well-received recordings, Unfolding
Stone (Sound Aspects) and Commitment
(Flying Panda). As violinist, he has recorded with Anthony Braxton, Henry
Threadgill, Butch Morris and performed with many others
Mr.
Hwang’s ensemble (1990-2004), The Far
East Side Band, has released two CDs, Urban
Archaeology (Victo Records) and Caverns
(New World Records). The Far East Side Band has performed both here and abroad,
at the World Music Institute (NYC), the Beijing International Jazz Festival,
the Freer Gallery (Washington, D.C.), Jazzgalerie Nickelsdorf Konfrontationen
(Austria) and many other stages. Mr. Hwang will premiere a new quartet at the
Visions Club on February 26th.
AC Hickox Lighting Designer / Production Manager has
served as the lighting designer and production manager for the Nai-Ni Chen
Dance Co.'s New York seasons and national tours since 1991. A member of USA Local 829, she has designed
the lighting for many productions and events Off- and Off-Off Broadway, and for
regional dance, opera and theatre companies; served as production manager for
the Bronx Opera company and numerous dance festivals, and taught at Columbia
University Teachers' College and the University of Illinois at Urbana. In addition to her work in theatre she is a
Senior Associate at Domingo Gonzalez Associates, an architectural lighting
design firm. Recent projects include
the lighting of the temporary PATH station at the World Trade Center and
ongoing work on the long-awaited Second Avenue Subway in NYC.
Susan Summers Associate Lighting Designer / Stage Manager has been lighting
dance and theatre performances for over thirty years. Previously, she taught lighting design and production management
at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro. Her
professional credits cover a wide range of prominent dance companies including
the Saitama International Dance Festival in Tokyo; the Russian Ballet Theatre
of Delaware; as well as 12 seasons for the Virginia School of the Arts Dance
Division. Theatrically, she served as
Lighting Designer for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Summerfest
in 1993, 1995, 2002 and 2003. She also
serves as a consultant on new and renovated theatre installations. She has toured with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance
Company for over six years.
Beba Shamash
Costume Designer has designed costumes for Merrily We Roll Along, and A
Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum for the York Theatre, Most Happy
Fella for New York City Opera, Arthur; the Musical at Goodspeed Opera House,
and a national tour of The Rocky Horror Show.
She also designed the critically acclaimed revival production of Sweeney
Todd on Broadway as well as many other productions in film, TV and corporate
shows. Ms. Shamash holds an MFA from NYU and is a faculty member of Ramapo
College. The Company would like to
thank Jane Stein and Steve Perry of Ramapo College for introducing Beba to us.
Daniella Bloch Dancer was
born in New York but was raised in Israel.
At the age of 14 she started studying at the “Bat-Dor School of Dance
and in 1997 was asked to join the company.
While dancing with the Bat-Dor Dance Company, she worked with
international and Israeli choreographers such as Lar Lubovitch, Luciano Cannito,
Philippe Trehet, Igal Perry and Ido Tadmor.
She also toured extensively throughout Europe as well as Russia. In addition, Daniella performed in several
productions with the New Israeli opera such as Turandot and Samson
and Delilah. In 2002 she returned
to New York where she worked with several companies such as Contrast Dance
Theatre and Adams Company Dance. This is Daniella’s first season
with the Nai Ni Chen Dance Company and she is excited to perform with them.
Michele Chung Dancer is a native of Malaysia, where she
performed with the Crossroads Dance Ensemble, KreArt Dance Theatre and Kuala
Lumpur Dance Theatre. She recently received her BFA in Dance from the
University of the Arts in Philadelphia, with honors. During the course of her
training at UARTS, Michele had the privilege of performing with the White Oak
Dance Project. She was also a participant at the 10th Saitama
International Creative Dance Contest in Japan. She is honored to have the
opportunity to dance with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in this her first
season.
Kelly Hamlin
Dancer is a native of Richmond, Virginia. From age eight to seventeen,
she participated in numerous dance competitions on both a regional and national
level. Dance Educators of America Inc. provided her with her first trip to New
York for summer study through a scholarship at The Jofferey Ballet. During
subsequent summers, Kelly also studied intensively at The Richmond Ballet, The
Dance Theatre of Harlem and Ballet Hispanico. Shortly afterwards, she attended
The Ailey School's Certificate Program. Since then, she has performed with
Genesis Dance Company, S.Danse Contreras (L.A.), M'bewe Escobar and many
others. This is Kelly's first season with The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.
Gabriel Hernan Dancer studied dance at the Arts School of Theater General San Martin of Buenos
Aires in Argentina and worked with numerous Argentinean dance companies,
theaters and festivals. In 1997, he was awarded a special fellowship to come to
the United States given jointly by Julio Bocca, United Airlines and The Alvin
Ailey American Dance Center. In New York, Gabriel danced with Dzul Dance
Company in the Danny Kaye Playhouse. This is his sixth season with the Nai-Ni
Chen Dance Company.
Tao Liu Dancer graduated from Beijing Opera Academy with
a major in the male warrior role. He
was a principal performer with the Beijing Opera Company and toured Japan,
Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
He won the first prize in Beijing Young Actor’s Competition and National
TV Actor’s Competition. He came to the
United States in 2000 and performed with the Philadelphia Chinese Opera
Company. He has been working with
Nai-Ni Chen since 2002.
Heather MacNeill Dancer began
her dance training at the age of five at the Ithaca Ballet with teacher Cindy Reid. She became a member of the Corps de Ballet
at the Ballet Theater of Boston working under director Jose Mateo. Moving away from classical ballet, she
studied modern dance at Alvin Ailey and performed with the company in such
pieces as “Memoria.” Her diverse
background includes work with an Indian dance company run by B.R. Murali and
Naga Laxmi. With them she toured
Southern India performing traditional, jazz and Indian film style dance. She is very excited to return to the Nai-Ni
Chen Dance Company for a second year.
Eddie Stockton Dancer began
dancing with a neighborhood group called New Experience Dance Ensemble (NEDE)
and later went on to study at the High School of Performing Arts (LaGuardia) in
New York. He received additional training at the Alvin Ailey School, the Martha
Graham Studio, 92nd Street Y, and with Kevin Jeff and Bernice Johnson. While
still a junior in high school, he joined New Jersey Center Dance
Collective. Since then, he has danced
globally, working with many different artists and companies. These include
Mafata, Creative Outlet, Philadanco, Avila/Weeks Dance, Fred Benjamin Dance
Company, Nathan Trice/Rituals, M'bewe Escobar and Sharon Wong. Eddie continues
to work with Creative Outlet and has been on faculty at the Alvin Ailey School
since 2000. This is his second season with Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.
Brandon Tyler Dancer began his dance training in his
hometown of Cleveland, Ohio at Spotlight Dance Center. Shortly afterwards, he
moved to Los Angeles, California where he was an apprentice at The Performing
Arts Center. While at the P.A.C., he had the opportunity to work with excellent
teachers and choreographers. Among those were Joseph Malone, Louise Mandel and
Jackie Sleight. He also appeared on Ally McBeal, the 2004 Gypsy awards
and worked with Disney. Brandon then went on to become a member of Ballet
Austin’s second company and performed with the main company in their production
of Hamlet starring Desmond Richardson. This is Brandon’s first season
with Nai Ni Chen.
Hong Wu Yang
Dancer studied in the Beijing Drama School 1972-1976 majoring in Chinese
Opera and has since worked at the Beijing Chinese Opera School. Considered a first level artist, he has been
awarded top honors in national competitions throughout his career. In his
studies, he specialized in the Lao Sheng role-type and then changed to the
martial art clown role-type. Mr. Yang
has appeared with numerous Peking Opera stars and has toured the world
extensively.
Tai Zhang Dancer is a graduate of the Sichuan
Conservatory of Dance and Music with a major in Chinese Folk Dance. He was a member of the Chung-Ching City
Dance and Music troupe. In U.S. He
danced in the Splendid China production in Orlando Florida and for the
Chinese Folk Dance Company of the Chinese Cultural Center in New York. He
worked with Nai-Ni Chen from 1996 to 1998, and is very happy to return for this
season.
Yao-Zhong Zhang Dancer came from
Shanghai, China. He graduated from the
Shanhai Kun Opera School with a major in the male warrior role. He performed with the Shanhai Kun Opera
Theater for ten years before he moved to the US. In New York, he also
performs with the Tong-Ching Chinese Opera Company. Mr. Zhang joined Nai-Ni
Chen in year 2000.
Min Zhou Dancer graduated from the dance department at
the Hubei Arts Academy. She later went
on to join the Hubei Province Song and Dance Troupe where she became a renowned
principal performer. Min is an elected
member of the Chinese Dancers’ Association.
Her wide-ranging repertoire includes exquisite Chinese classical dance
to gracious and playful folk dances.
While in China, she joined several performing arts groups and toured to
Switzerland, Japan, Canada and France.
Ms. Zhou moved to New York four years ago, and has danced with the Chinese
Cultural Center in New York.
Tao Chen Bamboo Flute Player is the founder and
director of the Melody of Dragon Players, the artistic director and conductor
of the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York. Before coming to the US, Tao Chen
was an Associate Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music, a member of
the Chinese Musicians Association and a member of the Chinese Folk Wind and
String Instrument Association. Tao Chen graduated from the Central Conservatory
of Music in 1986. His performing style combines the refined elegance of
the Southern school and the robust liveliness of the Northern school. In 1989 he entered the National Folk
Instrument competition and won first place. His playing can be heard on
several soundtracks of Hollywood movies including Seven Years in Tibet,
Corrupter (with the New York Philharmonic) and on the PBS
documentary Under the Red Flag. In the US, The New York Times called him
a "poet in music" and his playing "a miracle of the oriental
flute." While on tour in Germany the maestro Herbert von Karajan praises
him as an artist whom "performed with his soul." Tao Chen is not only a virtuoso performer of
Chinese folk music. He has also performed and recorded modern compositions
by such well known composers as Zhou Long , Chen Yi, Tan Dun, Joan La
Barbara, Carter Burwell, Bun-Ching Lam and Qu Xiao-song. He is acclaimed as a
pioneer performer in the world of new music
Li Liu Gu Qin Player is currently a soloist for Melody of Dragon Players. and for the
Chinese Music Ensemble of New York. Before coming to the US, she was Associate
Professor at the Chinese Conservatory of Music, as well as a soloist in their
Experimental Orchestra. Since she moved
to America in 1994, Li Liu has been invited frequently to perform and lecture
throughout the country. Her
collaboration with the New Music Consort of the Manhattan School of Music's
Chamber Orchestra received high praise from the critics. She has also performed at Lincoln Center,
New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Japan Society, La Mama Theater, the
Metropolitan Museum of Arts and other New York venues. She was featured on a cable TV program in
New Jersey and New York (channel 31) titled "The Chinese Guqin--Liu Li's
Artistry." In February 1996, invited by Taiwan's National Music Ensemble
in Taipei, Li Liu held a concerto performance in the National Hall of Music as
well as a lecture on guqin music, both of which were critically acclaimed. In 2002, she collaborated on the movie music
recording of “Hero” composed by Oscar
winner Tan Dun with world famous Violin master Itzhak Perlman.
Sisi Chen Yangqin Player
was born in Guangdong, China. She began
studying yangqin with master Yuan Yioh when she was ten years old. She later studied at the Sichuan
Conservatory with master Pan Guangde.
During her studies and after graduating from the conservatory, she
performed in concerts all over China.
In 1982, she received the High Achievement Award in the Summer of the
Flower Stream music competition in China.
In 1989, she was one of the artists from China to join the International
Folk Festival in Montreal and Quebec of Canada; then to Salt Lake City of the
United States. Sisi later settled in
New York City and performed as a soloist with the Chinese Music Ensemble of New
York and Melody of Dragon. Joining the
two ensembles, Sisi has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Lincoln Center,
and in concerts throughout the eastern United States. Sisi has coordinated
contemporary works with Joan La Barbara, Alvin Curran, Joel Goodman and Jin
Xiang and has several recordings to her credit. Her solo CD Tides and Sands was selected in the Significant
Recordings of Entertainment, 1997.
Bao-Li Zhang Erhu Palyer is a member of Melody of Dragon
and Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, was born in Beijing and began studying
under Master Shao Zhang at the age of nine. In 1977, he entered the Oriental
Song and Dance Company as first erhu player. He has performed in over a dozen
countries, and has also made many recordings.
A blossom of color,
energy and motion, “like endlessly proliferating forces of cosmic energy” says
the New York Times. The dances of
Nai-Ni Chen successfully combine the dynamic freedom of American Modern Dance
with the elegant splendor of Asian Art.
The Company’s production takes the audience on an extraordinary artistic
journey to places beyond cultural boundaries where tradition meets innovation
and freedom arises from discipline.
Celebrating the diversity of ideas shaped by the immigrant experience,
the Company bridges the gap of understanding between cultures.
Since its inception in 1988,
the Company has earned a broad base of public support, and has toured
extensively to major Performing Arts Centers throughout the United States,
Central America and Asia. Today, it is
one of the most widely toured professional Asian American companies in the
United States and the only Asian American company that preserves tradition and
advances innovation under a single artistic vision.
To date, the Nai-Ni Chen
Dance Company has received ten grant awards from the National Endowment for the
Arts. The New Jersey State Council on the Arts has awarded the company numerous
Citations of Excellence. It also receives support Geraldine R. Dodge
Foundation, the Turell Fund, Arts
International, Hyde and Watson Foundation, Connelly Foundation, E.J. Grassmann
Trust, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council,
Trust for Mutual Understanding, Verizon, Sony, Lillian Pitkin Schenck Fund and
others.
In addition to its nearly 40
weeks of touring and performing season, the Company has developed Arts in
Education residency programs in two urban school districts to bring culture and
arts into educational settings. Its residency program for Chinese American heritage
has been selected by the Chinese Language Teacher’s Association for Primary and
Secondary Schools as a new model for collaborative language and arts education
in primary and secondary schools.
Additional Company Information can be found on our web-site at www.nainichen.org or
write: Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, P.O. Box 1121, Fort Lee, NJ 07024, (800)
650-0246.
For Booking Information, contact Joanne Rile Artists Management, 801 Old
York Road Noble Plaza, Suite 212 Jenkintown, PA 19046-1611
call (215)885-6400 or visit
www.rilearts.com on the Internet.