Nai-Ni Chen
Chinese-American dancer and choreographer (1959–2021)
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Nai-Ni Chen (October 31, 1959 – December 12, 2021) was a Taiwanese-American dancer and choreographer. Trained in traditional Chinese and Taiwanese dance before immigrating to the United States in the early 1980s, she was the founder of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, a dance company which blends traditional and contemporary dance.[1][2]
Nai-Ni Chen | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 31, 1959 Keelung, Taiwan |
| Died | December 12, 2021 (aged 62) Kailua Beach, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Education | Chinese Culture University New York University |
| Occupations | Founder and artistic director, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company |
| Years active | 1988–2021 |
| Spouse | Andrew N. Chiang |
| Children | 1 |
Biography
Chen was born in Keelung, Taiwan, on October 31, 1959, and started dancing when she was four. She studied modern dance, jazz, and Chinese martial arts at a secondary school for the performing arts; as a student, she joined the Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan and danced with the company for three years.[3]
In 1982 she moved to New York to attend New York University, where she studied choreography and education. In a 2017 interview she said: “I was so excited about the dancing in New York, that I decided to stay rather than teach in Taiwan.”[4]
Chen drowned while on vacation in Hawaii on December 12, 2021.[3][5] She and her husband Andrew N. Chiang had one daughter, Sylvia.[1]
Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
Chen and her husband, Andrew N. Chiang, founded Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in 1988 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where she lived with her family.[6][4][3] In addition to Chen's original works, which incorporated her broad influences, the company performed traditional fan dances and ribbon dances. Productions frequently include a hybrid fusion with traditional Chinese dance.[7][8] They began to tour in the early 1990s, originally on the East Coast, and later internationally. The dance company was multi-racial and multi-national. Her dances were inspired by nature, which she described as the "Chinese way and philosophy," stating that her choreography emphasized the relationship and harmony between people and nature.[1]