A MOVING PERFORMANCE

Chinese troupe fuses modern dance with ancient traditions

 

When Nai-Ni Chen dances, she dreams of old Chinese legends, bamboo forests, and swordsmen-but also of cars and modern geopolitics. With each movement, she reaches into the past to bring the traditions of Chinese art into the modern dance world. East meets West in the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, scheduled to perform at Blackman Auditorium on February 6.

A master choreographer, Chen carefully blends the two forms using colorful arrangements that capture ancient Chinese dances with modern movements. "It's like yin and yang," she says. "These are two extremes. Somehow we learn to work with those extremes and find balance. We learn how to work with the two and create harmony."

Her performances couple the freedom and space of Western modern dance with the intricate and tightly woven movements of the hands, eyes, head, and feet in Chinese traditional dances. The result is a unique amalgam. "My work is very different from other American choreographers," she says. "It is my own personal voice. Plus my background in Chinese and Western dance creates a natural blending in my choreography."

Born in Taiwan, Chen grew up near the ocean, where she spent long hours watching sunsets and the shapes of clouds in the sky. These natural rhythms inspire her choreography today, she says. "When I was a little girl, I was very sensitive to my surroundings. Whenever I saw clouds floating in the sky, I saw movement. And I feel that movement. Even when I'm in traffic, I watch the cars go at different speeds and motion. It creates interesting lines and rhythms for me."

Chen was only four when her mother noticed her dance talent and enrolled her in folk-dance lessons. As a teenager, Chen trained at the Chinese Culture College, where she studied Peking Opera martial arts. As she toured the world from 1976 to 1980 performing traditional Chinese dance, she was exposed to Western ballet, modern dance, and jazz. She joined the Cloud Fate Theater, the first professional modern dance troupe in Taipei, where she began her modern dance career.

Chen traveled to the United States in 1982 to study modern dance with Martha Graham. She later earned a master's degree in dance at New York University. She established her own dance company in 1988, which has since been awarded numerous grants, including one from the National Endowment for the Arts to create a dance based on Chinese calligraphy.

Chen's repertoire includes "Sword Dance of the Chu Dynasty," "When Doves Cry," "Du," and the popular "Peach Flower Landscape," which combines a puppet dance, a bamboo dance, and a ribbon dance. Above all, she wants her audiences "to leave feeling harmony," she says. "There'll be dances that are new to them. At the same time, they won't feel that all of this is foreign to them."

Tickets to the show, which starts at 7:30 p.m., range from $7.50 to $22.50. Call the Northeastern ticket center at 617-373-2247 (617-373-2184 TTY) for more information.

- Meghan Irons





N.U. Play/Project Reading Series January 23­25, 30­31, and February 1, Itty Bitty Theater, 334 Ryder Hall, 7:30 p.m. Readings of scripts by Northeastern students and Boston-area playwrights. Discussion follows. Free. 373-2247.

Fool for Love and The Lover February 20­22, 27­28, and March 1, Studio Theater, 8 p.m. Student performances of plays by Sam Shepard and Harold Pinter. Directed by Nancy Kindelan. $10; N.U. students $8. 373-2247.



Vision­Spirit Works of Ife Franklin, through February 26, African-American Master Artists-in-Residency Program gallery, Jamaica Plain. Features fabric art, drawings, and creative constructions. By appointment. 373-3139.



Freeze Fracturing Malaria (Fossil Malaria) January 8, 90 Snell Library, noon. With N.U. biology professor Charles Meszoely. Free. 373-4495.

Databases January 15, 107 Cullinane, 3 to 4 p.m. With Krithi Ramamrithan, professor of computer science, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 373-2229.

The Computer and the Library January 22, 107 Cullinane, 3 to 4 p.m. With Carol Chamberlain, associate dean of technical services and systems, university libraries. 373-2229.

Population, Territory, and State: Latin America in the 20th Century January 24, 420 Classroom Building, 3 to 4 p.m. With Northeastern Latino studies lecturer Hector Melo. 373-4060.

Gender and State Formation February 7, 420 Classroom Building, 3 p.m. With N.U. women's studies coordinator Christine Ward Gailey. 373-4060.

The Intersection of World History and Environmental History February 21, 420 Classroom Building, 3 p.m. With William Green, College of Holy Cross professor. Free. 373-4060.

Postcolonial Feminism February 13, Frost Lounge, 8 p.m. With Ohio State professor Poonam Pillai. Part of Boston-Area Colloquium on Feminist Theory in celebration of Women's History Month. 373-4991.

Multimedia and High-Performance Networking Protocols March 5, 107 Cullinane, 3 p.m. With Jim Kurose, professor of computer science, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Health Status and Needs of Lesbians March 6, Frost Lounge, 8 p.m. With Susan Roberts, associate professor of nursing at Northeastern, and Lina Sorenson, nursing professor at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. Part of Boston Area Colloquium on Feminist Theory in celebration of Women's History Month. 373-4991.

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation January 9, Blackman Auditorium, 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. 373-4919.

The President's First Night January 16, Curry Student Center, 7:30 p.m. Cultural and musical celebration hosted by President Richard M. Freeland and his wife, Elsa Nuñez. 373-1997.

Presidential Inauguration January 17, Matthews Arena, 3 p.m. Richard M. Freeland will be installed as Northeastern's sixth president. Reception to follow in Curry Student Center. 373-1997.

Wellness Week February 10­14, various locations. Events include lectures, presentations, exhibits, health fairs, a concert, and a hidden talent fair. 373-3173.

14th Annual Dean Roland E. Latham Oratory Competition February 11, Curry Student Center Ballroom, 7 p.m. 373-4919.

Black History Quiz Bowl February 25 and 27, African-American Institute, 7 p.m. 373-4919.

Third Annual Alumni Club Art Auction March 2, Henderson House, Weston, preview at 1:30 p.m., fine art auction by Roff Galleries at 2:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Greater Boston Alumni Club and the Alumnae Club, the auction benefits student scholarships. 373-3186.



Call Joanne Murphy or Maureen Feeley, 373-3186.

January: Business, lunch, January 16, 450 Dodge, noon. Pharmacy, career and drug expo, January 27, Curry Student Center, tba. Los Angeles, meeting, January 29, University of California, Los Angeles, Westwood, 6:30 p.m. Greater Boston, lunch, January 31, FleetCenter, noon.

February: Business, lunch, February 13, 450 Dodge, noon. Greater Boston, champagne and chocolate, February 13, Ritz Carlton, 6 p.m. Civil Engineering, lunch, 11:30 a.m., location to be announced.