Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company at American Dance Guild 70th Anniversary Festival

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, one of the nation’s leading contemporary dance ensembles, founded by Chinese-American choreographer Nai-Ni Chen and now led by Artistic Director Greta Campo and Executive Director Andy Chiang, will be part of the American Dance Guild’s 70th Anniversary Festival at Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street, New York, NY 10019, on October 22, 2026, at 7:30pm. Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased at https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/70th-anniversary-festival.

The opening night of the four-day Festival, Thursday, October 22 at 7:30pm, will feature a tribute to choreographer Nai-Ni Chen, whose work was deeply rooted in both Chinese and American dance traditions. The evening will also include works by Mireille Nina Buisson, Beth Jucovy/Dance Visions NY, Lola Rose Jenkins, Dances We Dance/Performing Ensemble, Ishmael Konney, The Bang Group, West Devaney and the Murray Louis Foundation. The evening will be followed by a reception at 9:30pm.

This October, four days of performances will feature 28 festival artists and companies, special guest companies, award recipients, and tributes honoring four luminaries of dance.

Awardees
Pat Catterson (Lifetime Achievement)
Sally Sommer (Excellence in Journalism/ Dance Historian/ Writer)

Guest Companies
Ballet Tech, LaGuardia Performing Arts School/Dance Department, Limón2,
Murray Louis Foundation and Graham 2

Tributes
Paul Sanasardo, Carla Maxwell, Nai Ni Chen, Janet Collins

Choreographers presenting work
Arthur Avilés Typical Theatre, The Bang Group, Mireille Nina Buisson Atelier, H.T. Chen & Dancers, Alex Christie, Janet Collins, Dancefusion, Dances We Dance Performing Ensemble, Alan Danielson, West Devaney, Douglas Dunn + Dancers, EMERGE125, Ara Fitzgerald, Catherine Gallant/ Dances by Isadora, Lola Rose Jenkins, Claude Cj Johnson, Beth Jucovy/ Dance Visions NY, Ishmael Konney, Julia Kopelson, Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama, Lifedance/Gloria McLean & Dancers, Jessica DiMauro Marks/DiMauro Dance, Moving Spirits, Nefelaba Dance Theater, Jody Oberfelder Projects, Racoco Productions, Renversons Dance, Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble

Since 1956, the American Dance Guild has brought together generations of dancers, choreographers, educators, and audiences while supporting the growth and preservation of modern dance. As they celebrate their 70th Anniversary, they continue that tradition by honoring the artists who shaped the field and creating space for the voices carrying it forward.

For more information about the American Dance Guild 70th Anniversary Festival, visit here.

For more than three decades, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company has captivated audiences across the United States and around the world, performing at renowned venues including Lincoln Center, The Joyce Theater, Jacob’s Pillow, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Their work bridges cultures and generations, inviting audiences to engage with stories that are both deeply personal and universally relevant.

In addition to its acclaimed performances, the company is nationally recognized for its commitment to arts education and community engagement. Through school residencies, workshops, and collaborative projects, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company inspires creativity, fosters cross-cultural understanding, and demonstrates the power of the arts to connect people across backgrounds and experiences. This special engagement promises an unforgettable celebration of movement, music, and storytelling.

Key pieces include Lion in the City, a collaboration bridging traditional Chinese movement and Hip-Hop; the graceful Peacock Dance from the Dai ethnic group; and Movable Figures, an exploration of body shape inspired by shadow puppetry. Other featured works like Way of Fire, Raindrop, and the Flowing River Under the Moonlightduet explore elemental themes and natural beauty. The program culminates in Festival, a high-energy finale celebrating community and heritage. Through these pieces, the company continues its mission to enrich the human experience by increasing the visibility of the immigrant journey, bringing forth powerful dialogues on identity, resilience, and cross-cultural unity.

Acknowledgement
Programs of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company have been made possible by 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 New Jersey Cultural Trust, The New Jersey Division of Tourism, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, DanceNYC Dance Advancement Fund, the Hyde and Watson Foundation, E.J. Grassman Trust, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, New Music USA, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, 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. WQXR is a media partner of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.

About Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company is a rare Asian American woman-led professional touring company with programs for educational settings, community organizations, and mainstage venues. The Company’s mission is to be a premier provider of innovative cultural experiences that reflect the inspiring hope and energy of the immigrant’s journey. It was founded with the vision that the journey of crossing cultures and adapting to a new home provides endless inspiration and opportunities for creative expressions that can enrich the human experience. Each one of the company’s works is aimed at increasing the visibility of the struggle, triumph, despair, and joy of this experience. The Company’s productions provide authentic experiences and bring forth issues of identity, authenticity, and equality. The Company’s worldwide touring is represented by General Arts Touring, www.generalartstouring.com.

​Choreography is developed with dancers from diverse backgrounds, and each rehearsal is an immersive, boundary-crossing journey that contributes to the creative process under the direction of the choreographers. Our repertory of Nai-Ni Chen’s original works bridges the grace and power of Asian arts and American dynamism, incorporating her broad influences. The company also preserves a variety of festive dances from different regions of China, choreographed by guest immigrant artists bearing their traditions.

The Company began to tour in the early 1990s, originally on the East Coast, and later internationally. The dance company is multi-racial and multi-national and has collaborated with a wide range of artists from different disciplines and cultures. Musical collaborators range from New Music and jazz to classical; they include Joan La Barbara, The Chinese Music Ensemble of NY, Jason Kao Hwang, Huang Ruo, Kenji Bunch, Tan Dun, Glen Velez, and most recently, the Ahn Trio. Award-winning designers and visual artists such as Myung Hee Cho, Jay Moorthy, AC Hickox, and costume designer Karen Young. These collaborations provided us with the opportunity to develop innovative productions that carry the timeless essence of the tradition.

In addition to domestic touring, the company has also performed at international festivals in Mexico, Canada, the British Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, South Korea, and China with support from the Fund for Mutual Understanding, The President’s Committee for the Arts, Arts International, and the State Department of the United States. Ms. Chen has received multiple Choreographer’s Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and from New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Her work has also been commissioned by the Joyce Theater Foundation, the Lincoln Center Institute, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Dancing in the Streets, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

Prominent Institutions, including the Lincoln Center Institute, the Joyce Theater, Dancing in the Streets, NJ Ballet, Ballet Met, Dancing Wheels, and Baraka Sele at NJPAC, have all commissioned notable works. The most recent tour, “A Quest for Freedom”, developed with the Ahn Trio, premiered at the Philadelphia NextMove Festival. The Company is currently in residence at New Jersey City University’s A. Harry Moore for students with disabilities and in Elizabeth School #26, a school of mostly immigrant children.