Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company The Bridge Classes December 6-9

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company announces The Bridge Virtual Dance Institute of boundary breaking dance experiences free one-hour company Class on Zoom open to all dancers at an intermediate to advanced level December 6-9, 2021.

Classes will now begin at 10am EST and may only be held two or three times a week, depending on teacher availability. 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 are as follows:

Week of 12/6/2021
Monday Juana Cala (Flamenco: Rhythm and Movement)

Tuesday Jainil Mehta (Folk Dance from India)

Wednesday Rio Kikuchi (GyroKinesis)

Thursday Greta Campo (Kinetic Spiral)

About Nai-Ni Chen's Kinetic Spiral
Tap into the creative energy of the universe through Kinetic Spiral. Nai-Ni Chen's signature technique is based on the principle of ever-changing universal forces of Yin and Yang. Dance phrases from Nai-Ni Chen's repertory will be taught.

About Juana Cala's Flamenco: Rhythm and Movement

The class will begin with several brief facts about the origin of Flamenco and then proceed to: Flamenco posture; Warmup; Flamenco arm work (Braceo); Flamenco footwork (Taconeo); Flamenco rhythm (compas); Culminating choreographic sequence

About Jainil Mehta's Folk Dance from India

Bringing you one of the vibrant folk dances of India, company member Jainil Mehta will be teaching an Indian folk dance called "Garba" from the state of Gujarat in India. It is a high-energy folk form typically danced in circles around the subjects of the nine goddesses. Garba includes a lot of clap-snap combinations, twirling in circles, bouncing & heavy rhythmic footwork.

About Rio Kikuchi's GyroKinesis

Gyrokinesis is slow, fluid, exercise practice based on the natural elements of spinal movement. By gently working the joints and muscles through rhythmic and undulating movements coupled with calming breathing patterns, the exercises stimulate the body's internal organs while corresponding breathing patterns stimulate the nervous system, open up energy pathways, and oxygenate the blood.

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.

In this trying time of change and uncertainty, the arts is a source of healing and unity, we would like to encourage everyone to support dance as dance is an essential medicine for the society to recover from the pandemic that has caused injury to our bodies and our hearts. Support for The Bridge can be sent through https://nainichen.org/donate.

About the Artists

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. She has been a resident Spanish Dance Artist in various universities across the United States and a teaching artist for Flamenco Vivo for 10 years in NYC.

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.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, at age of 3, Rio Kikuchi began ballet training at Studio Benus in Japan and later she was introduced to Tap and Jazz. She took Summer Intensive at Kirov Academy of Ballet of Washington DC in 2015. She also studied Ballet technic and Point work privately with Luis Villanueva. In 2017, Rio moved to New York and was offered Scholarship to study at The School of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In addition, she received Scholarship at Alonzo King Lines Ballet Summer Program in 2019. She has performed with Alvin Ailey Dance Theater at New York City Center in 2018. A member of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Rio is also a certified Gyrokinesis instructor.

Originally from Mumbai, India, Jainil Mehta began his dance journey at the age of five,

performing in his living room. Before moving to Los Angeles, he trained at Shiamak Davar International in Mumbai, India for thirteen years. Jainil graduated Summa Cum Laude and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance with a Discovery Scholars Distinction and has acquired a variety of skills including motion picture cinematography. He has performed works by esteemed choreographers: William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Jodie Gates, Barak Marshall, Alejandro Cerrudo, Dwight Rhoden and Matthew Neenan. Jainil's inner movement quality, expressions and love for storytelling come from his strong Indian roots and culture. He has choreographed for Big Wild's music video "6's to 9's" and Falguni Pathak's "Jode Rahejo Raaj."

About Nai-Ni Chen

Hailed as a Spiritual Choreographer by Dance Magazine and recipient of multiple choreographic fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Nai-Ni Chen has been creating dances professionally for over thirty years in the United States. She has built a diverse repertory of over 80 original works and toured to major venues in the US and international contemporary dance festivals in 12 countries. She will be teaching her signature technique KINETIC SPIRAL which is a blend of the dynamic, ever-evolving spirit of contemporary dance and the grace and splendor of the Asian artistic traditions.

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company: A blossom of color, energy and motion, "like endlessly proliferating forces of cosmic energy." - The New York Times

About the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company

Bringing the dynamic freedom of American modern dance together with the elegant splendor of Asian art, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company is one of the most visible Asian American dance companies in the United States. Ms. Chen's unique choreography transports audiences beyond cultural boundaries to the common ground between tradition and innovation, discipline and freedom, and form and spirit. Since its inception in 1988, the company has earned a broad base of public support and has toured extensively to major performing arts centers throughout more than thirty states. Presented by some of the most prestigious concert halls in the United States, from the Joyce Theater in New York to the Ordway Center in Minnesota and the Cerritos Center in California, the Company has mounted more than twenty national tours and nine tours abroad. Ms. Chen's work has been presented by such acclaimed international festivals as the Silesian International Contemporary Dance Festival and the Konfrontations International Dance Festival, both in Poland, the Chang Mu International Arts Festival in Korea and the Meet in Beijing International Arts Festival. The Company was also honored by a distinctive grant award from both the President's Committee on Arts and Humanities and the Department of State to represent the United States in a seven-city tour arranged by the Tamaulipas International Arts Festival in Mexico. Also, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company has the unique honor of having received more than fifteen awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous Citations of Excellence and grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. In addition to its extensive season of touring and performing, the company has developed Arts in Education residency programs in school districts to bring culture and arts into educational settings. It's colorful and engaging in-school assembly program "The Art of Chinese Dance" has been presented in hundreds of schools in NJ, NY, CT and PA, reaching hundreds of thousands of youths. The Company is currently in-residence at New Jersey City University and assisting NJCU in the development of a new BFA in Dance. For additional Company information, visit www.nainichen.org; write to Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, P.O. Box 1121, Fort Lee, NJ 07024; or call (800) 650-0246. Programs of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company are made possible by the generous support of our Board members, 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 Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF), the New Jersey Cultural Trust, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, The New Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund administered by the Princeton Area Community Foundation, the Ger-aldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Hyde and Watson Foundation, E.J. Grassman Trust, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, New Music USA, the Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Dance/NYC Dance Advancement Fund, the Rapid Response Program of American Dance Abroad, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters' Cultural Exchange Fund, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foun-dation, PSEG, Proskauer, WAC Lighting, and the Glow Foundation and the Dragon and Phoenix Foundation.

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