Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company Celebrates The Lunar New Year: Year Of The Rabbit At The Kupferberg Center For The Arts

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company will begin its NY celebration of the Lunar New Year: Year of the Water Rabbit on Sunday February 5, 2023 at 3pm at the Kupferberg Center of Queens College in NYC, followed by two days of performances for K-12 schools in Queens on the following Monday and Tuesday, February 6 and 7, 2023 (sold out).

The celebration will begin at Colden Auditorium in Queens College on Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 3pm. Tickets are $15, and are available for purchase at https://kupferbergcenter.org/event/lunar-new-year-of-the-water-rabbit/.

A Queens tradition for more than a decade, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company returns to Kupferberg Center to welcome the coming of the Spring of 2023, the Year of the 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 a new Lion dance to the Chinese Drum, Cymbal integrated Hip Hop rhythm. The steps of the lion have also been choreographed to include Hip-Hop dance movement with a contemporary attitude. The new work is a collaborative effort from 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.

The Company will also be performing one of its most festive dances in its repertory, YungGe (Harvest Song) from northern China, a beautiful and elegant Peacock Dance from the Southern Yunnan Province, a powerful martial art solo Spear Dance and the perennial favorite, the majestic Dragon Dance. The Chinese Music Ensemble of New York will also present 2 instrumental pieces, a Pipa Solo and an ensemble featuring Erhu (two string violin), Pipa (Lute) and Dizi (bamboo flute).

Besides these traditional dance and music favorites, a Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company presentation will not be complete without new and innovative contemporary works. This year, the Company will present MOvable Figures, a dance inspired by Southeast Asian Shadow Puppetry that was originally commissioned by the Morningside Dance Festival and Mirage, a dance inspired by the unique dance style of the Uyhgur people residing in the XingJiang region of China.

The Company dancers, acrobats and musicians will be performing 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.