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, announces a fifth anniversary tribute to the life of Nai-Ni Chen, set for Saturday, December 12, 2026 at 4PM at White Eagle Hall, 337 Newark Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07302. General admission tickets are $100, with $30 tickets available for artists and collaborators. Tickets are available at https://wl.eventim.us/event/Celebrating-the-Life-and-Legacy-of-Nai-Ni-Chen/709074?afflky=JerseyCityTheaterCenter.

Join the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company and Jersey City Theater Center for a special celebration honoring the life, artistry, and enduring legacy of visionary choreographer Nai-Ni Chen (1959–2021). This commemorative event features live performances of her iconic works Incense, Shadow Force, and Raindrops, a screening of the PBS documentary Unity: Choreographer Nai-Ni Chen Remembered, and heartfelt remembrances from dancers, collaborators, and friends. The afternoon will also celebrate her deep connections to Jersey City, her groundbreaking contributions to Asian American contemporary dance, and her commitment to inclusive arts education.

The celebration will pay special tribute to Nai-Ni’s connections with Jersey City, including her work with New Jersey City University, Jersey City Theater Center and her commitment to bringing dance to students with disabilities at the A. Harry Moore School. These relationships exemplified her belief that dance is a universal language capable of connecting people across cultures, generations, and abilities.

“The first time I saw Nai-Ni working with her dancers in rehearsal at NJCU, I became so emotional that tears simply fell from my eyes,” said Olga Levina, Exec Director of JCTC. “I couldn’t explain why, but I knew I was witnessing a great artist at work, creating something truly special. Work that comes from such a deep place endures because it is rooted in love for life, humanity, and all diverse people.”

Born in Taiwan, Nai-Ni Chen founded her dance company in 1988 and became a pioneering voice in Asian American contemporary dance. Through her unique movement language, blending the elegance of Chinese dance traditions with the freedom and dynamism of American modern dance, she created a body of work that expressed the beauty, complexity, and resilience of the immigrant experience.

Nai-Ni Chen’s artistic legacy extended far beyond the concert stage. A passionate educator and advocate for the transformative power of dance, she served as an adjunct professor at New Jersey City University (NJCU), where she helped establish a Bachelor of Arts program in Dance in collaboration with the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City.

In 2015, while teaching at NJCU as an adjunct professor, Nai-Ni initiated a groundbreaking dance education program at the A. Harry Moore School in Jersey City, bringing creative movement and artistic expression to students with multiple disabilities. Through this initiative, she demonstrated her deeply held belief that dance belongs to everyone, regardless of physical or cognitive abilities. The program became an important part of her legacy and continues to inspire the Company’s commitment to inclusive arts education.

Nai-Ni also developed meaningful artistic relationships within the Jersey City community, including her collaboration with Jersey City Theater Center. These connections reflect her dedication to nurturing creativity, supporting emerging artists, and making dance an essential part of community life.

The fifth anniversary celebration, co-produced by the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company and Jersey City Theater Center, will honor these achievements alongside her extraordinary contributions as a choreographer, performer, mentor, and friend.

This commemorative gathering will feature:

Live performances of Nai-Ni Chen’s iconic works: Incense, Shadow Force, and Raindrops—three distinctive works that reveal the depth, originality, and expressive power of her choreography.

A special screening of Unity: Choreographer Nai-Ni Chen Remembered: A moving documentary produced for NJ PBS’s State of the Arts, directed and produced by Eric Schultz, tracing Nai-Ni’s extraordinary artistic journey and the legacy she left behind.

Personal stories and remembrances: Dancers, artistic collaborators, students, and friends will share memories of Nai-Ni as an artist, mentor, teacher, and friend, offering intimate glimpses into the remarkable woman behind the choreography.

More than a memorial, this afternoon is a celebration of the creative spirit that Nai-Ni Chen shared so generously with the world. Her work continues to inspire new generations of dancers and audiences, carrying forward her lifelong belief in the power of art to connect people across differences.

We invite everyone whose life has been touched by Nai-Ni Chen—whether through her performances, teaching, friendship, or artistic vision—to join us in celebrating a life devoted to dance, creativity, and humanity.

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 inspirations 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 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 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.

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