In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company is keeping its dancers in shape by conducting regular Company Classes and rehearsals online from Nai-Ni and Company dancer's living rooms using Zoom while inviting intermediate/advanced level dancers around the world to join the class at no cost.  These classes have received overwhelmingly positive reception with more than 300 registrants.  The Company took 3 weeks off in July.  On July 20th,  Nai-Ni Chen relaunched the classes and renamed the program: The Bridge.  

The new title signifies the Company's focus on supporting artists of color whose practices are embed-ded in the community and are focused on advancing the art of dance. The mission is, through cyber-space, to provide the physical experience in the boundary-breaking dances from the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous & People of Color) Community.

Interested dancers can join the class by registering on Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company's website.

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. 

The Bridge Classes are as follows:

Week of 8/24/2020

Monday         Greta Campo (Kinetic Spiral)

Tuesday        Rei Akazawa-Smith (Taylor - Modern)

Wednesday   Nai-Ni Chen  (Kinetic Spiral)

Thursday       Andrew Pacho (Flow)

Friday            Yuka Notsuka (Kinetic Spiral)

Rei Akazawa-Smith was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, where she began her ballet training in the technique of Royal Academy of Dance under the direction of Yuko Kojima. She graduated cum laude with a B.F.A. in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College, receiving the Gold Key for Excellence in 2009. While a student there, she assisted in teaching and demonstrating Graham Technique Master Classes for Miki Orihara and Alessandra Prosperi. She has danced with H.T. Chen and Dancers, Douglas Dunn and Dancers, and played the role of Eliza in The King and I at Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia. She participated in The Taylor School Summer Intensive in 2012 and was asked to join Taylor 2 immediately afterward. Since joining the company, she has also appeared with Paul Taylor Dance Company.

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.

Andrew Pacho was teaching Staff with the Nai-Ni Chen company in China 2015.  He started his career as USA National level competitor in Gymnastics then trained to become a professional dancer.  Highlights include working with Mark Morris, Donald Byrd Company, Philodanco, Doug Elkins, Lar Lubovich, Micheal Swain, Graciella Daniele, Bill Irwin, Gillian Lynne, Peter Sellars, Graham Murphy, Harold Prince, Jerry Mitchel, Robert Lepage as well as several productions on Broadway, Metropolitan Opera, NYCO,  Radio City Music Hall. He was also in the Woody Allen film Everyone says I love you  and many TV Commercials. Mr. Pacho co-founded the Gymnastics dance company ANTI-GRAVITY, working as co-director and choreographer.  Mr. Pacho also has a long-standing working relationship with Lios Greenfield, Renowned Dance photographer.

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 Chinese artistic traditions.

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 America. 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 youth. The Company is currently in-residence at New Jersey City University and assisting

NJCU in the development of a new BFA in Dance.