Acclaimed Chinese dancer/choreographer Nuo An will present Nuo An Spiritual Dance and Arts Foundation’s debut performance with her international company of dancers in a new, full-evening work on Friday, May 11 at 8pm at Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, in New York City.

Live and recorded music using the traditional Chinese “Zither” will accompany the performance, which explores Spiritual Dance in two segments: Universal Emotions and Spirit of Tea. VIDEO

Nuo An is the founder of “Spiritual Dance,” a dance form which integrates the principles of ballet, modern dance, contemporary, folk dance and dance therapy. Launched in China and incubated in the U.S., Spiritual Dance is dedicated to connect all life in pursuit of a dialogue between body and mind, creating intensive collaboration among artists, communion between performer and audience, and a fusion of cultural traditions from around the world. Spiritual Dance is imbued with a global perspective.

According to Ms. An, “Spiritual art gives rise to an experience that is both aesthetic, authentic and transcendent. Participants describe it as feeling, sensation and emotion, a greater sense of unity both within themselves and between themselves and the outside world.

“At the Nuo Spiritual Art Foundation we focus primarily on Spiritual Dance. In keeping with Spiritual Art’s quest to form connections, we also intend to further the development of other art forms, including painting, sculpture and theater. We work closely with members of our community with the goal of expanding the scope and reach of spiritual art,” she said.

PROGRAM:
Universal Emotions will represent the four basic human emotions – ANXIETY, LOVE, SADNESS AND JOY, explored in shadow and light. Though her background in dance therapy, Nuo An uses “Spiritual Dance,” to connect these emotions to our humanity through self-understanding and self-acceptance, with the goal of universal empathy. Audiences will have a chance to see their humanity as an observer. New elements of this work will promote thought, utilizing “Authentic Movement” to enhance the artistic realm.

Moving Through Tea will represent the “Spirit of Tea” by moving through senses of sight, smell, taste and feeling though body and mind. This work will explore China’s famed Green Tea, Black Tea, and Pu’er Tea, and their elements of peace, maturity and power. In development since 2014, Nuo An views this work as both a duty and mission of a dance artist from China. Through visits to tea production sites in the Si chuang, An Hui and Yu Nan provinces of China, meetings with Tea Scholar Dr. Dongmei Shen, and visits to black tea “Heritage,” Xuanwen Ming (tea) and the Pu’er Tea Plantation of the Fei Yan family, Nuo An has enhanced her combination of Authentic Movement, Zen and Taoist Meditation with impressions from those visits.

Nuo An Dance and Spiritual Arts Foundation is using their dancer training and rehearsal process as an experimental incubation period in the art of Spiritual Dance, encouraging the dancer’s personal growth as artists. Moving Through Tea was developed in a multi-step process and is being produced through the Foundation’s fundraising efforts specific to this event. *Read more about the properties of Green, Black and Pu’er Tea, below.