Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company Announces Upcoming Classes for The Bridge

NAI-NI CHEN DANCE COMPANY has announced classes for The Bridge, featuring Guest Artists Juana Cala and Amalia Suryani December 7-11, 2020. Interested dancers can join the class by registering on Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company's website: https://www.nainichen.org/thebridge.

The Bridge Class schedule is as follows:

Week of 12/7/2020

Monday Juana Cala (Flamenco) at 11am

Tuesday Yuka Notsuka (Kinetic Spiral) at 11am

Wednesday Nai-Ni Chen (Kinetic Spiral) at 11am

Thursday Amalia Suryani (West Sumatra Indonesian Dance) at 11am

Friday Greta Campo (Kinetic Spiral) at 11am

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company has established a new dance institute through Zoom, The Bridge. 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 transform the personal, environmental and metaphysical spaces.

As a virtual dance institute, The Bridge will invite world renowned as well as up and coming dancers and choreographer 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. For the week of 12/7, The Bridge will feature two new experiences for the participants: Flamenco and West Sumatra Indonesian Dance.

Join them for an Indonesian style warm-up to loosen your joints and muscles. They will then dive into the West Sumatran Dance Style! Starting with the basic body bend posture (kudakuda), hand movements, steps and head movements. Followed by basic choreography from West Sumatran dances

Juana Cala, Flamenco dancer, and choreographer has been performing and teaching Flamenco in the United States and Europe for more than 20 years. She performed as a soloist in the María Benitez Dance Company under the direction of Mario Maya, and then went on to form her own company, "Ensemble Flamenco Juana Cala", touring some of Europe's most prestigious theatres for 16 years, with much critical acclaim. In 1999 Juana was a professor of Flamenco in a Professional Arts Program for the European Union (a European equivalent to "The High School of Performing Arts"). She has been a resident Spanish Dance Professor in various universities across the United States. Juana has been a lead teaching artist for Flamenco Vivo for 10 years.

Greta Campo is the Associate 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.

Yuka Notsuka was born in Fukuoka, Japan, is a member of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. She began her Ballet training in her hometown at age four. Later she broadened her training to include Jazz and Tap. Later Yuka moved to New York City to further pursue her career as a dancer. In 2015 she entered the Ailey School as a scholarship student. She performed in Ailey Spirit Gala Concert at Lincoln Center choreographed by Tracy Inman (Co-Director, The Ailey School) and Robert Battle (Artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater). Yuka joined the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in 2017. She also has been in training and served as Teaching Assistant at the Luigi Jazz Dance Center under Francis J. Roach.

Amalia Suryani and Indonesian folk dance are inseparable. In 2006, she founded Saung Budaya, a New York based dance group composed of Indonesian diaspora students and young professionals that have a mission to educate young Indonesian diaspora about their roots through culture. Over the last 15 years, they have performed in numerous festivals and events, from Lincoln Center to inside/out at Jacob Pillow.Under the direction from Amalia, Saung Budaya begin to develop the troupe not only to educate but also have shared their passion for Indonesian culture with our global community through dance, music, language and storytelling.