The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company is pleased to announce a new resident choreographer program that will become part of the artistic anchor of the Company. In the upcoming year, the Company has invited two prominent Asian American choreographers to create new works as well as providing public and private workshops as part of the residency.

Zhongmei Li, one of the most prominent Chinese American dancer/choreographers in the US will be developing a new work, ULTIMATE JOURNEY, which will premiere in New York in the Spring of 2026. Zhongmei Li is basing this work on a journey on the Silk Road with her late husband, the renowned writer/journalist Richard Bernstein and their exploration of one of China’s most prominent cultural treasures, Duanhuang Caves. She is starting this new work in the Fall of 2025, and the Company is planning several work-in-progress showcases and public workshops before the premiere. Zhongmei will be working with Grammy Nominated Composer Angel Lam and Costume/stage designer Han ChunXi. Please check our website for announcements. https://nainichen.org

Besides working with Zhongmei Li in the Fall/Winter, the Company will also be working with world-renowned choreographer Peter Chu in the Spring/Summer season of 2026. Peter is commissioned by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center for a dance to the music from The Miraculous Mandarin, a ballet by Bela Bartok, tentatively titled the same. Beginning in March of 2026 as a Resident Choreographer for Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Peter Chu will utilize an abbreviated four-minute percussion section – based on the original ballet music by Bartok – as the starting point of his choreography. He will eventually expand and adapt the piece to the 33-minute length of the original ballet. The first phase of the commission will premiere in May 2026 and the entire dance will be completed by 2027.