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GRACE by Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Freespace Dance, and LaneCo Arts, Jan. 21

by Michelle Tabnick
December 20, 2017
White Eagle Hall
337 Newark Ave.
Jersey City, NJ 07302
(201) 885-5166
GRACE by Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Freespace Dance, and LaneCo Arts will be presented at White Eagle Hall - Jersey City Theater Center, 337 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ, 07302 on Sunday, January 21 at 2pm. Tickets are $15-$20 and are available at www.jctcenter.org/event/1604444-grace-by-nai-ni-chen-dance-jersey-city.
 
GRACE is an afternoon of dance that celebrates femininity by three women choreographers. The show features Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, one of the few professional Asian American touring dance companies led by a woman, Nai-Ni Chen, in the United States; her pieces draw inspiration from Taiwan, Chinese Kuaiban music, and the ancient Chinese cycles of creation and destruction. Freespace Dance, headed by Donna Scro Samori, will present excerpts from their evening length work of "A Women's Movement," a piece about the essence of femininity, the strength of being a woman in today's world, and the universal connection of women throughout. Finally, LaneCo Arts, led by Lane Gifford, will offer their unique blend of dance, theater, and visual arts as they perform. Their work, "And Now There are None" explores the significance of The Constitution of the United States in our complex current environment and then translates that to a broader global landscape in this dance theater work.
 
About Nai-Ni Chen Dance Compnay

Choreographer Nai-Ni Chen and her dancers fuse the dynamic freedom of American modern dance with the grace and splendor of Asian art. Their spectacular productions take audiences beyond cultural boundaries, to a place where tradition meets innovation and freedom arise from discipline. The company has received more than 15 awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, and numerous Citations of Excellence from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. 
 
Chen and company specialize in "a remarkably smooth blend of the new and the old, as well as a confident, intensely personal approach to nature," says The New York Times, which has described Chen's dancers as "endlessly proliferating forces of cosmic energy."
 
"With their intriguing choreography of traditional and modern Chinese dance, elaborate costuming, and a variety of music, this company succeeds in delighting persons of all ages." 
- Broadway World

Bringing the dynamic freedom of American modern dance together with the elegant splendor of Asian art, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company is one of the most visible Asian American dance companies in America.  Ms. Chen's unique choreography transports audiences beyond cultural boundaries to the common ground between tradition and innovation, rising beyond form into the  spirit. 
 
One of the few Asian American professional dance company with an extensive season of touring and performing around the world.  Nai-Ni Chen has also developed Arts in Education residency programs in school districts to bring culture and arts into educational settings. It's colorful and engaging programs and workshops has reached over one million young audience in NY/NJ area. The Company is currently in-residence at New Jersey City University and has been a Principle Affiliate of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center since its inception.

The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company has the honor of having received more than fifteen awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous Citations of Excellence and grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.  Other funders include the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation; the Hyde and Watson Foundation; Horizon Foundation, The Irving and Laurie Blanchard Foundation; the E.J. Grassman Trust; PSE&G; the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council; Verizon; Sony; New Music/USA; Chase Manhattan Bank; the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation and others. 
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