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. Republished as:

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 Cloud Gate Dance Theatre () is a modern dance group based in Taiwan. It was founded by choreographer Lin Hwai-min in 1973, and later he shared its management with his late protégé, choreographer Lo Man-fei. The troupe was inactive from Octobe ...

of Taiwan and danced with the company for three years. In 1982 she moved to New York to attend

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, where she studied choreography and education. In a 2017 interview she said: “I was so excited about the dancing in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, that I decided to stay rather than teach in Taiwan.” Chen drowned while on vacation in Hawaii on December 12, 2021. She and her husband Andrew N. Chiang had one daughter, Sylvia.

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 Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...

, where she lived with her family. In addition to Chen's original works, which incorporated her broad influences, the company performed traditional

fan dance In the West, a fan dance (i.e., a dance performed with fans) may be an erotic dance performance, traditionally by a woman, but not exclusively. Beyond eroticism it is a form of musical interpretation. The performer, sometimes entirely nude ...

s and ribbon dances. Productions frequently include a hybrid fusion with traditional Chinese dance. 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Nai-Ni 1959 births 2021 deaths Taiwanese female dancers Taiwanese dancers American choreographers American female dancers Deaths by drowning in Hawaii Taiwanese emigrants to the United States Taiwanese choreographers Taiwanese women choreographers American women choreographers Chinese Culture University alumni New York University alumni People from Keelung People from Fort Lee, New Jersey