J CHEN'S PROJECT Debuts in NYC

Taiwan's Ministry of Cultural, Asian Cultural Council, Jerome Foundation, and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council have all recently awarded grants to NYC choreographer Jessica Chen with regard to the J CHEN PROJECT's 2016-17 season and debut of The Shadow and The Like. Chen, along with an all-Asian choreography team, will preview the work at Dixon Place from September 29th - October 1st. Through confrontational duets, tangled group interactions, and hidden solos, The Shadow and The Like will unearth feelings below the surface of curated online personas, bringing attention to the weight of this generation's quest for digital acceptance. Born from tragedy, redemption and more, J CHEN PROJECT, a NYC-based modern Dance Company founded in 2008, translates the largest of questions about life via sensual, soulful movement and thought-provoking social engagement.

On a personal note: Jessica Chen was inspired to create this dance after learning about the suicide of Madison Holleran, a champion athlete from New Jersey, along with a new study noting the increase of suicide rates among adolescent women in recent years. Chen says, "The Shadow and The Like will use dance to translate unspoken fears in the digital age for a modern audience."

J CHEN PROJECT's Artistic Director, Jessica Chen, is a globetrotter who finds resolution through the healing power of dance and a socially charged choreographic practice. Chen has been commissioned as a Dance Curator and Choreographer for the 2017 International Human Rights Arts Festival and directed the 2015 Sino-American Friendship Association's float for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. She's also been featured recently in Dance Magazine and the Huffington Post. Jessica Chen's choreography has been presented throughout NYC including NY Live Arts, Brooklyn Museum, HERE, Dixon Place, Ailey Theater, DUMBO Dance Festival and Ars Nova, as well as the World Expo Pavilion in Shanghai, China and the Amnesty International Arts Festival in Washington D.C. Chen was also the Keynote Speaker for Cornell University's 2011 Celebration of Asian American Women and presented "If I Can Dance It, Then It's Possible" at TEDx in 2014. Chen holds a B.A. in Global Studies from the University of California Santa Barbara and continued her dance training at NYC's Ailey School and under full scholarship at the Early Mosley Institute of the Arts. Jessica Chen will also be choreographing for the Orange County School of the Arts in the coming year. To learn more, visit jchenproject.com.

The Shadow and The Like will feature an all-Asian team of choreographers, including Dance Captain of Broadway's Lion King, Kellen Stancil, and Chien-Hao Chang of the Taiwanese groups Cloud Gate 2 and CHANG Dance Theater. Besides Lion King, Stancil has been featured in Broadway Bares, Victoria Secret runway shows, and FOX TV's So You Think You Can Dance, among other things. Chang, a long time collaborator of Jessica Chen, was the recipient of a travel grant from China's Ministry of Culture to create work for J CHEN PROJECT's The Shadow and The Like. Due to additional funding, Chang and Chen will continue their collaborations in the coming year, by visiting each other in Taiwan and New York City.

Photo Credit: Paul Dimalanta.

WHO: J CHEN PROJECT
WHAT: The Shadow and The Like
WHEN: September 29th - October 1st, 7:30pm
WHERE: Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie Street, New York NY, 10002