Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
& Guest Artists
Celebration of the
Chinese New Year of the Ox
Friday, February 12, 2021
at 6:30 p.m. CST
Saturday, February 13, 2021
at 2:30 p.m. CST
Pre-Recorded Livestream Performance
Friday, February 12, 2021
6:30 p.m. CST
Double Lion Welcome the New Year
Kuaiban – Bamboo Rap
Guze Yungge
Golden Phoenix – Sheng Solo
Mountain Rain in the Tea Garden
The Exodus of Wang Zhao Jun
Coinstick Dance
Dream of Peacocks – Umbrella Acrobatics
Whirlwind
A live Artist Panel discussion immediately follows the performance:
Artistic Panel
Nai-Ni Chen; YongHong Jia, Evan Stewart
Moderator
Peiju Chien-Pott
Year of the Golden Ox
Saturday, February 13, 2021
2:30 p.m. CST
Double Lion Welcome the New Year
Dream of Peacocks, Umbrella Acrobatics
Bai Ethnic Coinstick Dance
The Exodus of Wang Zhaojun
Mountain Rain in the Tea Garden
Ten Miles a Day
Dragon Dance
A live Artist Panel discussion -- with sign language interpretation --
immediately follows the performance:
Artistic Panel
Nai-Ni Chen, Chen-Yue Tsuei, Zongme Li
Moderator
Kerry Lee
CLICK HERE for additional program information
Welcome to the James Lumber Center for the Performing Arts!
A MESSAGE FROM OUR DIRECTOR
While we cannot be together in person quite yet, the James Lumber Center is glad you are joining us for Nai-Ni Dance Company's family-friendly Celebration of the Chinese New Year of the Ox. Honoring the arrival of the 4719th Chinese Lunar New Year, the performance features incredible acrobatic dance, vibrant costumes and gorgeous music -- perfect fare for young and old to enjoy!
The arts serve an important, vital purpose in bringing people together in a shared experience. During this transformational time, the James Lumber Center will continue its mission to present diverse, high-quality, professional entertainment experiences that celebrate and showcase the power and value of the performing arts.
The JLC continues to add events to our ever-evolving season. To this end, we are offering additional online pre-recorded performances including The Red Hot Chilli Pipers and So Good: The Neil Diamond Experience. Additional information on these wonderful virtual shows appears later in the playbill.
We look forward to welcoming you back into the JLC soon.
Gwethalyn J. Bronner
Executive Director
James Lumber Center for the Performing Arts
College of Lake County
Nai-Ni Chen is the founder, choreographer and Artistic Director of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. Coming from a rich dance tradition, she was a renowned traditional dancer in Taiwan where she was born and served on several ambassadorial culture missions to nineteen countries around the world. An early member of the Cloud Gate Dance Theater in Taiwan, she graduated from the Chinese Cultural University and came to America to seek her own voice in the world of contemporary dance. Since the inception of her Company in 1988, Ms. Chen has created a wide-ranging repertory, from dances that originated thousands of years ago to highly abstract, modern works. Touring over 25 years around the United States, her company has been presented in major performing art centers and colleges covering the continental United States.
In addition to domestic touring, her company has also performed at international festivals in Mexico, Canada, BVI, Guatemala, Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, South Korea and China with support from 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 Art Center.
Besides creating dances for her own Company, she has choreographed the opera Turandot for several productions and was commissioned to create work for New Jersey Ballet, Dancing Wheels Company and Ballet Met in Ohio. She has taught master classes at colleges and universities throughout the United States and at dance festivals in Russia, Poland, Germany, Taiwan, China, and Mongolia. She was invited to set her work on students in professional schools and colleges including the Ailey School in New York, Case Western Reserve University in Ohio and Long Island University in New York. Her other teaching credits include Mary Anthony Dance Studio, Peridance, Rutgers University, New York University and New Jersey City University. She has been a principal affiliate artist of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center since its inception. On television, Ms. Chen is an often-featured artist on PBS/NJN’s “State of the Arts.”
For her contribution to the community, she has won numerous awards as “Culture Ambassador” from New Jersey International Institute, NJ Organization of Chinese American and NJ Chinese American Chamber of Commerce, etc. With her dedication to dance education for children K-12, she received the “Distinguished Artist to the Field” award from Association of Teaching Artists in 2020.
“Like visual poetry, Chen’s phrases… embodied an epic dignity.” (Village Voice)
The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company creates innovative dances that reflect the hope and energy that propels the immigrant’s journey. Our dances bridge the power and splendor of Asian elegance and American dynamism for over thirty years. Nai-Ni Chen has built a dazzling repertoire of 80 original works in collaboration with a diverse array of dancers, musicians, and visual artists. The Company’s dances cover a wide range, from Dragons on the Wall with Poet Bei Dao and Composer Joan La Barbara on the subject of Tiananmen Square, Space Oddity, with music by David Bowie adapted for the Ahn Trio which celebrates the boundless dynamism of the immigrant spirit, to Lion Dance, a traditional work created in collaboration with master acrobat XiaoDi Yang who now lives in Flushing.
Choreography is developed with dancers from diverse backgrounds working collaboratively with Nai-Ni Chen. Each rehearsal is an immersive, boundary-crossing journey that contributes to the creative process. The experience places an indelible mark on the dance and naturally brings forth issues of identity, authenticity, and equality.
Virtual Streaming EVENTS
THE RED HOT CHILLI PIPERS
Friday, March 12, 2021 at 7:30 p.m.
The most famous bagpipe band on the planet, a groundbreaking fusion of traditional Scottish music and rock/pop anthems proudly dubbed “bagrock,” featuring pipers, guitarists, keyboardists and drummers.
SO GOOD: THE NEIL DIAMOND EXPERIENCE
Friday, April 16, 2021 at 7:30 p.m.
Robert Neary, Broadway, television and motion picture actor – captures the nuances of Neil Diamond’s signature vocals in this unforgettable tribute to one of the most popular and successful recording artists of all times, sharing Diamond’s life stories and classic songs.
To register & receive your Virtual Event Link:
Call the JLC Box Office: (847) 543-2300
or
Email: clcboxoffice@clcillinois.edu
Phone lines are open Monday – Friday, Noon to 5 p.m.
Voice and email messages may be left any time and will be answered at the earliest opportunity.
On the day before each show, you will receive an email with a link to online access to the performance.
MISSION
In support of CLC strategic goals, the James Lumber Center’s mission is to present high-quality, professional entertainment experiences, celebrate and showcase the variety and value of the performing arts and provide support to college and community programs, activities and educational events held in our facility.
VISION
The James Lumber Center is a multi-functional, premier performing arts venue, committed to the principles of access, inclusion, diversity and equity in our center partnerships, department staffing, facility scheduling, artistic programming and presentational use.
College of Lake County
Board of Trustees
William M. Griffin, Ed.D., Chair
Amanda D. Howland, J.D., Vice Chair
Richard A. Anderson, J.D., Secretary
Vaseem Iftekhar, M.B.A.
Torrie Mark Newsome, J.D.
Julie B. Shroka, M.A.
Matthew J. Stanton, J.D.
Victoria Thomas, Student Trustee
Lori Suddick, Ed.D., President
STAFF
Gwethalyn J. Bronner
Executive Director
Kendell McBride
Office Manager
Judie Katz
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
Leslie Baraboo
Marketing and Communications Analyst
Jeremy Eiden
Technical Coordinator
Brian Scocchera
Technical Production Assistant
Matt McNabb
Patron Services Coordinator
Chrissy Flores
Accounting Associate
Jianni Newsome
Box Office Assistant
JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
To receive postcards, brochure and special forms,
call the JLC Box Office:
(847) 543-2300
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST
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Text: JLCEMAIL to 22828