Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company Celebrates Asia and the Dragon Boat Festival

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company will be performing in celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival at the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture on Sunday, June 12, 2022 at 3pm in the Repertory Theater. The family friendly performance is FREE with ticket registration required. For more information and to register, click here or call the Hostos Box Office at (718) 518-4455, open Monday-Friday, 10am – 5pm.

Celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival and more with the world-renowned Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. Experience spectacular dances, dazzling props, and vibrant costumes in this fantastic performance for the entire family. Dancers will bring you to the rain harbor of Taiwan where children play joyously in the rain, a beautiful southern China tea Garden where the flowers are blooming, and butterflies are floating among the fragrant tea trees. You will also visit the powerful warriors in China’s Forbidden Palace and witness an exciting and colorful Dragon Boat Festival.

“…a thrilling display of artistry…succeeded in delighting persons of all ages.”

– Broadway World

“…like endlessly proliferating forces of cosmic energy…”

– The New York Times

About Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company:

“Chen‘s phrases, part exoskeletal rigidity, part boneless grace, embodied an epic dignity.” – Village Voice

Choreographer/Dancer Nai-Ni Chen (1958-2021) was a unique artist whose work crosses many cultural boundaries. Each of her dances reflect her personal vision as an immigrant and an American female artist with deep roots in the Asian culture. From this very personal perspective, she created new works that reflect current issues with global influences. Some of her works were developed in collaboration with renowned artists such as the Ahn Trio, Glen Velez, Joan La Barbara, Jason Kao Hwang, Tao Chen, Tan Dun and the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York.

Bridging the grace of Asian elegance and American dynamism, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company is a premier provider of innovative cultural experiences that reflect the inspiring hope and energy of the immigrant’s journey. The company’s ground-breaking works have focused on themes from ancient legends that reflect issues of the present time to purely abstract, contemporary dances influenced by a mix of cultures Nai-Ni Chen experienced in New York. An Asian American company that celebrates cross-cultural experience, the Company’s productions naturally bring forth issues of identity, authenticity, and equality.

The Company has presented at some of the most prestigious concert halls such as the Joyce Theater, Lincoln Center in New York, and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in Florida. The Company appears annually at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Queens College, the College of Staten Island and on Ellis Island. Internationally, the Company has presented at international festivals including Open Look Festival in Russia, the Silesian International Contemporary Dance Festival, the Konfrontations International Festival in Poland, the Chang Mu International Dance Festival in Korea, the Meet in Beijing International Arts Festival in China, and the Tamaulipas International Arts Festival in Mexico.

The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company has received more than 20 awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous Citations of Excellence and grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Advancing Dance Education, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company is currently in residence in New Jersey City University pioneering a program with the University’s A Harry Moore Laboratory School teaching dance to urban children with disabilities. For additional Company information, visit their website, www.nainichen.org; write to Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, P.O. Box 1121, Fort Lee, NJ 07024; or call (800) 650- 0246.

Programs of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company are made possible by the generous support of our Board members, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, The Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF), the New Jersey Cultural Trust, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, The New Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund administered by the Princeton Area Community Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Hyde and Watson Foundation, E.J. Grassman Trust, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, New Music USA, the Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Dance/NYC Dance Advancement Fund, the Rapid Response Program of American Dance Abroad, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters’ Cultural Exchange Fund, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, PSEG, Proskauer, WAC Lighting, and the Glow Foundation and the Dragon and Phoenix Foundation.

About The Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture:

The Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture is celebrating their 34th year of showcasing artists and companies that define excellence in theater, dance and music and embody our mission to be a cultural force in the Bronx and throughout the New York metropolitan area. Their Spring 2022 Season features over 20 performances through June from Hip Hop, Latin Jazz, Salsa, Chamber Music, Theater, to Dance and more.

As a dynamic force dedicated to the cultural and artistic life of the Bronx and New York City, Hostos plays a central role in providing accessible programs that reflect and celebrate the artistic richness and diversity of our communities. Named the “the powerful locus of Latino Art” by The New York Times, Hostos Center is recognized nationally as a leader in Latino/a/x and African-based programming.

The Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture consists of a museum-grade art gallery, a 367-seat Repertory Theater, and a 900-seat Main Theater, presenting artists of national and international renown. It is easily accessible from Manhattan, Queens and New Jersey and is a mere 15 minutes by subway from midtown Manhattan.

Hostos Center events are sponsored by the Hostos Community College Foundation with funds from the: National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the Coalition of Theaters of Color, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathleen Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the Office of New York State Assemblyman José Rivera, and the Office of New York City Councilmember Rafael Salamanca, Jr.