"like endlessly proliferating forces of cosmic energy"
The New York Times
A Quest for Freedom
A Quest for Freedom
This immigrant experience is not just one story; it’s a multi-faceted story. A Quest for Freedom is a music and dance collaboration of Nai-Ni Chen and the Ahn Trio.
An adventure driven by hope, A Quest for freedom tells the universal story of the m immigrant experience through The physicality of 8 athletic dancers, the virtuosity of the Ahn Trio and the mesmerizing choreography of Nai-Ni Chen.
It’s about committing to a path, abandoning the familiar and taking chances. It is also about the despir and yearning for what you have left behind.
The production symbolizes courage and bravery; as well as highlights the diverse and manifold world we live in. It is about the continual yearning for what you have left behind, and the constant despair one faces when growing apart from what we have left.
Press Quotes
“…the musicians become immersed in the visual element of the piece along with the dancers.” -The Gainesville Sun
“Chen has her dancers congregate around the musicians onstage – sitting with them, watching them, flirting with them, crawling under a piano, standing on their chairs. The choreographer layers all of these elements in a way that unites the movement with the music.”
“…a stringed prelude by the Ahn Trio…stirred the audience to hoots and applause.”
-China Daily USA
“…dancers move on and off the stage, meet up in tableaus and duets and wind their way between the musicians, taking multiple journeys.”
“Dancers and musicians respond to and interact with each other on stage, sharing the spotlight and creating a whole that’s more than its parts. That doesn’t happen as often with classical music and contemporary dance. But the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company and the Ahn Trio…demonstrated that it can work just as seamlessly.” -The Times Union
“…an adventurous evening of music-making and dancing…”
“…Concrete Stream is a work of poetic allusion…” -The Star-Ledger
Education and Outreach Activities
SCHOOL-TIME PERFORMANCES
In this one-hour program full of excitement, energy and enchantment, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company showcases excerpts from the program A Quest for Freedom. It is performed by 7 dancers and the Choreographer/Artistic Director, Nai-Ni Chen, who greets the audience and introduces elements of theater and the collaborative effort by all involved from different disciplines that create the magic seen on stage. The program is paced wisely with beautiful dancing and demonstration of the creative process. It is exciting, as well as informative. The program is performed to recorded or possibly live music played by the Ahn Trio.
WORKSHOPS/MASTERCLASSES
Workshops and Masterclasses are available for music and dance students on college/university campuses, as well as community dance studios and music schools. For dancers, Nai-Ni Chen introduces her modern technique and repertory, choosing movement phrases from A Quest for Freedom. Students experience her signature style and hear music from the program played by the Ahn Trio on CD. For musicians, the Ahn Trio can perform masterclasses and workshops incorporating standard trio literature, their more contemporary repertoire and examples of the collaborative work in A Quest for Freedom. They can educate students about various aspects of music, as well as career opportunities as a musician, including how music students can learn to collaborate with dance and other art forms.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Includes: Lecture/Demonstrations, Pre- and Post-Performance Talks, Meet & Greets and Q & A Sessions. These activities give the general audience a chance to meet Nai-Ni Chen, the dancers and/or the Ahn Trio, as they discuss the many aspects of this collaboration and the creative process. The discussion can take on a broad range of topics, from cross-genre collaboration to Asian Culture in America, and can take place in a wide array of venues and spaces. Engaging the local communities prior to the performance encourages new audiences to come see the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company and Ahn Trio, and hopefully other artists at your venue.
