Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company Celebrates the Lunar New Year:

Year of the Black Water Rabbit with the World Premiere of Lion in the City Featuring Hip-Hop Legends Kwikstep and Rokafella, and More sponsored by M&T Bank

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company will begin its NY/NJ celebration of the Lunar New Year: Year of the Black Water Rabbit beginning at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday, January 21, and Sunday, January 22, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. at the Victoria Theater on the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Stage. Tickets are $27-$35, and are available for purchase at njpac.org/event/nai-ni-chen-year-of-the-black-water-rabbit/.

A Newark tradition for over two decades, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company returns to NJPAC to welcome the coming of the Spring of 2023, the Year of the Black Water Rabbit. It’s a spectacular experience for all ages, combining traditional Chinese celebration with modern flair. This year, to honor the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop, the Company will present the New Jersey Premiere of Dragon Cypher, a work developed by Nai-Ni Chen, Rokafella and Kwikstep collaboratively, integrating Chinese dance, contemporary choreography and Hip-Hop Dance.

In addition, NJPAC has commissioned the Company to create Lion in the City, a new lion dance to incorporate ideas from Hip-Hop culture. In response, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company has assembled a cross-cultural team, consisting of the Company’s Director of New and Contemporary Dance, PeiJu Chien-Pott, assisted by H+ | The Hip-Hop Dance Conservatory’s Yvonne H. Chow, Lion Dance Master Henry Lee, and Hip-Hop legends Kwikstep and Rokafella. DJ Kwikstep will develop new music incorporating the unique rhythms of Chinese Lion Dance drumming and Hip-Hop, while Rokafella works with the team to uniquely translate Hip-Hop Dance vocabulary onto the body of the lion. As Yvonne and PeiJu oversee the integration of all elements, we look forward to welcoming a Red Lion dancing to a mix of Chinese drums and Hip-Hop rhythms.

Besides these two new cross-cultural works, the Company will also present the Yungge (Harvest Song) and Peacock Dance from its traditional dance repertory and one of Nai-Ni Chen’s signature work, Movable Figures from the Company’s contemporary dance repertoire.

The Lunar New Year of the Rabbit performance would not be complete without authentic Chinese Classical music performance by the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York and the spectacular Dragon Dance. The audience will be blessed by the visitation of the Dragon, bringing good luck and fortune to each and every attendee of this celebration.

The Company will also showcase a contemporary dance work, Ashes of A Dead Frog, choreographed by legendary Polish Choreographer, Jacek Luminski, that was commissioned by Nai-Ni Chen almost a decade ago. Guest artists from the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York will provide traditional and contemporary music on classical and folk Chinese instruments.

The Company Dancers, acrobats and musicians perform in festive costumes in red, gold, blue and purple colors symbolizing their prayer for a peaceful and harmonious New Year with plenty of prosperity and good fortune for everyone to enjoy and share.

Dates and Time:

Saturday, January 21, 2023 at 2 pm

Sunday, January 22, 2023 at 2 pm

Location: Victoria Theater on the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Stage

Tickets are $27-$35, and are available for purchase at njpac.org/event/nai-ni-chen-year-of-the-black-water-rabbit/.

Please RSVP to Michelle Tabnick: [email protected], 646-765-4773

Click Here for more information.