Jin Xing Returns To The Joyce Beginning Today

The Joyce Theater Foundation will present the long-awaited, highly anticipated New York return of choreographer and artist Jin Xing, with her company Jin Xing Dance Theatre Shanghai – after a 20-year absence and for the first time as a woman – from January 31 – February 5, 2012. For this engagement, the company will perform Shanghai Tango, a collection of ten works created by Jin Xing over the last 25 years.

Tickets for Jin Xing Dance Theatre Shanghai range in price from $10-$39 ($10 - $29 for Joyce Members) and are available through JoyceCharge at www.Joyce.org or by calling 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street, in Chelsea.

One of the most fascinating choreographers and artists performing today, the beautiful "prima ballerina" Jin Xing, who was born a boy, discovered a passion for dance when he was 6. After many years of ballet school (without the support or encouragement of his family), he joined the People's Liberation Army and danced in the army's ballet company. Although suffering from continuous confusion about his identity and discomfort during the aggressive military training, he successfully advanced to the rank of Colonel while also dancing in many of the nation's top ballets.

In 1995, while in his mid-twenties, he began the process of becoming a woman, which included three surgeries, several months spent wheelchair-bound, a strong regiment of hormones and very little public support. After regaining her strength, she began performing again with the surprising support of some journalists and Communist Party officials. Her dance pieces became more extravagant and technically challenging and featured different dance styles. Although initially supportive of her ballets, the Chinese government did not approve of her desire to create modern dance works. After a bitter battle with the government over a new production of her "Carmina Burana," she was allowed to present only one performance. The production next went to Paris, where it played for several sold-out months.

Now, almost 20 years later, married and with three adopted children, Jin Xing returns to New York with Shanghai Tango, ten works that she created over the last 25 years. Set to an eclectic collage of music from Astor Piazzolla to Johann Strauss, the piece uses the sometimes sleazy, sometimes playful, but always sensuous, rhythmic, and passionate components of the tango as a conceptual framework to explore contemporary Shanghai culture. This wondrous movement landscape is striking in its visual melding of Eastern and Western artistic threads.

The Joyce Theater Foundation presents Jin Xing Dance Theatre Shanghai from January 31 – February 5. Performances are Tuesday – Wednesday at 7:30pm; Thursday – Friday at 8pm; Saturday at 2pm & 8pm; Sunday at 2pm. Tickets range in price from $10-$39 ($26 - $29 for Joyce Members) and are available through JoyceCharge at www.Joyce.org or by calling 212-242-0800. Please note: Tickets prices are subject to change. Dance Chat, a free post-performance discussion, will take place on Wednesday, February 1. This free discussion is open to all patrons attending that evening's performance. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street, in Chelsea.