Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company to Present Lunar New Year Gala

The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company will present their 2026 Lunar New Year Gala: Year of the Horse Celebration on Thursday, February 26, 2026 from 5:30-8:30PM at DiMenna Center for Classical Music, 450 W. 37th Street, NYC. Tickets start at $250 and can be purchased here.

Join for an intimate evening bridging legacy and future, featuring cocktails, modern Asian cuisine by the chefs of Saffron59, festive conversation with artists and friends, and a vibrant Lunar New Year of the Red Fire Horse with emphasis on the horse in Chinese culture and history. The night includes performances of festive traditional dances such as the Lion Dance and Mongolian dance, as well as instrumental music. There will also be a silent auction of traditional and contemporary arts and crafts. Space is limited; celebrate with us and help sustain Nai-Ni Chen's legacy of community and educational programs, the creation of new works, as well as support for emerging Asian American artists. The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Inc. is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization; $100 of each guest ticket is tax-deductible.

About the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company

The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company is a rare Asian American woman led professional touring company with programs for educational settings, community organizations and mainstage venues. The Company's mission is to be a premier provider of innovative cultural experiences that reflect the inspiring hope and energy of the immigrant's journey. It was founded with the vision that the journey of crossing cultures and adapting to a new home provides endless inspirations and opportunities for creative expressions that can enrich the human experience. Each one of the company's work is aimed to increase the visibility of the struggle, triumph, despair and joy of this experience. The Company's productions provide authentic experiences and bring forth issues of identity, authenticity, and equality. The Company's worldwide touring is represented by Red Shell Management led by Edward Schoelwer.

​Choreography is developed with dancers from diverse backgrounds, and each rehearsal is an immersive, boundary-crossing journey that contributes to the creative process under the direction of the choreographers. Our repertory of Nai-Ni Chen's original works bridge the grace and power of Asian arts and American dynamism which incorporated her broad influences. The company also preserves a variety of festive dances from different regions of China choreographed by guest immigrant artists bearing their tradition.

The Company began to tour in the early 1990s, originally on the East Coast, and later internationally. The dance company is multi-racial and multi-national and has collaborated with a wide range of artists from different disciplines and cultures. Musical collaborators range from New Music, jazz to classical, they include Joan La Barbara, The Chinese Music Ensemble of NY, Jason Kao Hwang, Huang Ruo, Kenji Bunch, Tan Dun, Glen Velez and most recently, the Ahn Trio. Award-winning designers and visual artists such as Myung Hee Cho, Jay Moorthy, AC Hickox and Costume Designer Karen Young. These collaborations provided us the opportunity to develop innovative productions that carry the timeless essence of the tradition.

In addition to domestic touring, the company has also performed at international festivals in Mexico, Canada, British Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, South Korea and China with support from Fund for Mutual Understanding, The President's Committee for the Arts, Arts International and the State Department of the United States. Ms. Chen has received multiple Choreographer's Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and from New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Her work has also been commissioned by the Joyce Theater Foundation, the Lincoln Center Institute, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Dancing in the Streets, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and New Jersey Performing Art Center.