June 22-24, 2017 7:30pm
Martha Graham Studio Theater
on the penthouse level of 55 Bethune St, New York, NY 10014

The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company Presents
CrossCurrent A New York Premiere
A collection of new works created on her journey as an immigrant artist attempting to reconcile the two cultures inside her, one she was born into, the other she chose to become a part of

Opening CrossCurrent will be Earth, a 2010 work to the commissioned music from Gerald Chenoweth, in which she explores the essence of the Chinese Taoist’s belief that the essential elements of the physical world are made up by five elemental energies symbolized by Wood, Fire, Water, Metal and Earth. These elemental energies both substantiate and annihilate each other. Chinese medicine and Fengshui are both heavily influenced by this idea of the five elements. The central element, Earth, can be used to annihilate the power of water, and substantiate the power of metal. In this dance, Nai-Ni Chen uses the space on stage as her canvas to create a moving landscape that flows like lava in the center of the planet, waiting for an opening to explode. The movement language she created for this dance is based on trance, breathing, and continuous spiral motion that is central to Tai Chi and other forms of Chinese Martial Art.

Calligraffiti Variations (New York Premiere) is a new work to the music of Huang Ruo, based on the common experience of many Chinese artist’s first encounter with New York and its Graffiti art. . The journey of an immigrant adapting to the new homeland is full of struggle and discovery. In this new dance, Ms. Chen attempts to illustrate this by looking at the elegant and graceful line of Chinese calligraphy and the bold, colorful street art she sees on subways and buildings of New York City. This contrast is a parallel of an immigrant’s journey. We strive to honor the tradition and at the same time advance the state of the art towards the future through our unique, everyday cross-cultural experience.

Bamboo Rap (New York Premiere), inspired by the amazing spoken work art form of Kuaiban originated in Beijing over 100 years ago and still practiced today. It is a unique folk art where storytellers accompany their own vocal performance with the rhythmic sound of a pair asymmetrical bamboo clappers. In this dance, Nai-Ni explores the marvelous rhythmic innovations created by the exotic percussion instruments and the spoken Chinese language. The dance is choreographed by using the sound and rhythm as inspiration to create a movement language responding to the flow of spoken words.

Uncharted Destiny (World Premiere), is inspired by the human experience of migration, which is sometimes inspiring, sometimes unsettling but always arresting. In an Untitled work of Nai-Ni Chen’s favorite poet, Bei Dao:
sorrow that comes from afar
is a form of power
that I used to saw tables
some people depart for love
while a palace in pursuit of storms
journeys past many kingdoms