(FORT LEE, NJ) -- In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company established a new dance institute through Zoom, The Bridge. Now, classes are also being offered in person. The Institute's aim is to bring together dancers, choreographers and directors around the world to experience the master teachers of color whose practices are embedded in the community and are focused on advancing the art of dance that transforms the personal, environmental and metaphysical spaces.
Dancers interested in attending the virtual session can join the class by registering here.
The Bridge is now hybrid, with special classes being offered simultaneously in-person and online. These classes are aimed at professional dancers, and interested participants can register here for the live, in-person experience.
As a dance institute, The Bridge will invite world renowned as well as up and coming dancers and choreographers to come to guest teach the class. Advanced/Intermediate level professional or pre-professional dancers who are looking to explore beyond their own boundaries and looking for new dance experiences are encouraged to participate.
The core program is based on Nai-Ni Chen’s Kinetic Spiral, which is a cross-cultural dance vocabulary that integrates the Chinese martial arts philosophy in TaiChi with contemporary dance practices she studied in America. Guest artists will cover a wide range of folk and classical dance styles.
The Bridge Class schedule:
Monday, January 9, 2023 | Andy Chiang (Tai Chi and Qi Gong) at 10:00am ET. Embrace the Yin and Yang through Tai Chi, a gentle exercise that helps you to move with focus and purpose. We will begin the class with a Qi Gong exercise called the 8 Section Brocade which is one of the most ancient forms of Qi Gong known in China. After that we will do the simplified 8 movement Tai Chi. No experience needed.
Wednesday, January 11, 2023 | Greta Campo (Ballet) at 10:00am ET. Tapping into the creative energy of the universe through Kinetic Spiral. Nai-Ni Chen's signature technique is based on the principle of ever-changing universal forces of Yin and Yang to cultivate the dancer’s vital energy Chi (Qi) allowing the dancer to achieve higher performance with less effort. By focusing on breathing and images, Kinetic Spiral also balances the spiritual, mental and physical energy of the dancer. The Kinetic Spiral Technique forms the foundation of Nai-Ni Chen’s style of cross-cultural movement and embodies her efforts to work at the intersection of culture and race, advocating for equity with grace and power.
Monday, January 16, 2023 | Seyong Kim (Ballet) at 10:00am ET. Join ABT Certified Professor Seyong Kim for an amazing ballet experience.
Wednesday, January 18, 2023 | Rio Kikuchi (Gyrokinesis) at 10:00am ET. Gyrokinesis® is a slow, fluid, exercise practice based on the natural elements of spinal movement. By gently working the joints and muscles through rhythmic and undulating movements, coupled with calming breathing patterns, the exercises stimulate the body's internal organs while corresponding breathing patterns stimulate the nervous system, open up energy pathways, and oxygenate the blood.
Monday, January 23, 2023 | Katy Alaniz Barnhill (World Dance Fusion) at 10:00am ET. Katy's full body warm-up utilizes techniques from multiple cultural dance genres. The focus is placed on isolation and circular movement- giving dancers the best tools to get into their body for any dance. With great consideration for alignment and safety Katy teaches strength and stretch exercises. In the second element of the class we focus on rhythm, or warming up the brain. The exercises pull rhythms from Cuban, Kathak, Flamenco, Turkish Roman and Morrocan Guedra. The dancer makes polyrhythms using claps, stomps and your voice to better embody different rhythms. Katy will then teach her choreography containing moves from specific styles of dance. The technique of each respective cultural dance form is explained and how to transition from one to another.
Wednesday, January 25, 2023 | Yuri Ogasawara (Layla) (Belly Dance) at 10:00am ET. This class will combine yoga and strengthening exercises, followed by isolation and belly dance combinations.
Monday, January 30, 2023 | Katy Alaniz Barnhill (World Dance Fusion) at 10:00am ET. Katy's full body warm-up utilizes techniques from multiple cultural dance genres. The focus is placed on isolation and circular movement- giving dancers the best tools to get into their body for any dance. With great consideration for alignment and safety Katy teaches strength and stretch exercises. In the second element of the class we focus on rhythm, or warming up the brain. The exercises pull rhythms from Cuban, Kathak, Flamenco, Turkish Roman and Morrocan Guedra. The dancer makes polyrhythms using claps, stomps and your voice to better embody different rhythms. Katy will then teach her choreography containing moves from specific styles of dance. The technique of each respective cultural dance form is explained and how to transition from one to another.
In this trying time of change and uncertainty, the arts are a source of healing and unity, we would like to encourage everyone to support dance as dance is an essential medicine for the society to recover from the pandemic that has caused injury to our bodies and our hearts. Support for The Bridge can be sent through nainichen.org/donate.
About the Artists:
Katy Alaniz Barnhill is a San Francisco native who, over the last quarter century, has studied over 30 forms of cultural dance in addition to ballet, contemporary, jazz, and hip-hop. She received a scholarship to San Francisco Ballet for 10 years then attended high schools of the arts in San Francisco and Los Angeles. She expanded her study of cultural dance with Pdt. Chitresh Das (Kathak of India), Vladimir Riasantsev (Russian Character), El Farruquito (Flamenco), and received her BA in World Arts and Cultures from UCLA. Katy has danced with Deli Ritmo (Flamenco), Mora Reyna (Belly Dance), Ballet Afsaneh (Central Asian), Nai-Ni Chen (Chinese), Simorgh (Farima Berenji/ Persian), FAL Danse (Laure Fleurentin/ Haitian) As a Pasista in Rio Carnaval (Samba), Ballet Casquelourd (Congolese), Siete Potencias (Cuban), and a pre- covid DanceHall intensive in Kingston Jamaica (Belleh23ja).
Greta Campo is the Artistic Director of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. She began her dance training in her native Milan at the Carcano Theater, where she was first introduced to Martha Graham’s work. She performed with the Martha Graham Dance Company in their 2012 New York Season and later on their international tour. Greta is a recipient of the 2016 Rising Star Award from the Fini Dance Festival.
Andy Chiang has been a lifelong practiioner of martial arts, he had a black belt in Karate when he was 18, then joined the Wu Tang organization based in Taiwan to study Shaolin and Tai Chi. He is Nai-Ni Chen's partner and the Executive Director of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.
Born in Tokyo, Japan. At age of 3, Rio Kikuchi began ballet training at Studio Benus in Japan and later she was introduced to Tap and Jazz. She studied in the Summer Intensive at Kirov Academy of Ballet of Washington, DC in 2015. She also studied Ballet technique and Point work privately with Luis Villanueva. In 2017, Rio moved to New York and was granted a Scholarship to study at The School of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In addition, she received a Scholarship to Alonzo King Lines Ballet's Summer Program in 2019. She performed with Alvin Ailey Dance Theater at New York City Center in 2018. A member of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Rio is also a certified Gyrokinesis® instructor.
Seyong Kim, Assistant Professor at Western Michigan University, holds an MA in Dance Education from NYU. He is a Certified Movement Analyst, a Registered Somatic Movement Educator, and an ABT® Certified Teacher. He has taught in Rutgers University, Kent State University, Randolph College, Peridance, and Charlottesville Ballet. He has professionally worked with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Albania National Ballet Theatre, Baltimore Ballet, Neglia Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Traverse City Dance Project, TAKE Dance, and Landestheater Coburg Germany.
Yuri Ogasawara (Layla) moved to US at the age of 18, received MA in Art Administration in State University of NY. Former training in classical piano since age of 5, music was always main source of inspiration. She has traveled around the world on her own and enchanted into the world of ancient Orient / Middle East and started to study dance with Elena Lentini and Andrea Beeman at Fazil’s. Currently she has been the original member of Dancing Rubies under Andrea Beeman’s Oriental / Middle Eastern dancing ensemble, which has performed various festivals throughout NYC areas. She also create her own dance works corroborating with various artists presenting in art events.
Choreographer/Dancer, Nai-Ni Chen, was a unique artist whose work crosses 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, and the members of the New Asia Chamber Music Society.
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.
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.
