In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company is keeping its dancers in shape by conducting regular Company Classes and rehearsals online from Nai-Ni and Company dancer's living rooms using Zoom. At the same time, company dancers translated their newly acquired remote teaching skills to serve K-12 students in Elizabeth, New Jersey and students with disabilities in the A Harry Moore School of Jersey City, most of whom living in underserved communities and suffering from isolation and missing the usual support from the school. Dance has brought them rays of hope and joy in their confined environment. Nai-Ni Chen continue to create new works through remote rehearsals, structured group and solo improvisations and she has added the video editor as her choreographic tool in this process. See her latest work on youtube.com using #nainichendancecompany or by following this link. As a Company rooted deeply in diversity and committed to the dancer's artistic journey, Nai-Ni Chen began inviting her friends who are world renowned as well as up and coming dancers and choreographer to come teach the Company class. The response has been extremely positive, especially in this time when Asian Americans community is facing rising hate crime across the country. The number of registered have risen to over 350. Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company invites dancers from around the world to join the Company at noon for a free one-hour Company Class every weekday. Interested dancers can join the class by registering on Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company's website: http://nainichen.org/company-class. Classes are as follows: Week of 6/22/2020 Monday Greta Campo (Ballet) Tuesday Eun-Kyung (Gyrotonics) Wednesday Greta Campo (Kinetic Spiral) Thursday Miki Orihara (Graham) Friday Yuka Notsuka (Kinetic Spiral) PLEASE NOTE: Company Classes will be on hiatus starting June 28 and will return on July 17, 2020. Greta Campo is the Associate Artistic Director of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, She began her dance training in her native Milan at the Carcano Theater, where she was first introduced to Martha Graham's work. She performed with the Martha Graham Dance Company in their 2012 New York Season and later on their international tour. Greta is a recipient of the 2016 Rising Star Award from the Fini Dance Festival. Eun-Kyung Chung holds a BFA and an MA in Dance from Ehwa University om Seoul. Mrs. Chung is an SBT Certified Teacher, and a certified Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis trainer. Ms. Chung was a principal dancer at Seoul Ballet Theatre. She moved to Germany in 2010 and joined Mainfranken Theater Würzburg and Landestheater Coburg as a principal dancer and choreographer. Ms. Chung moved to the United States in 2016 and worked with Charlottesville Ballet Company, Traverse City Dance Project, Neglia Ballet, and TAKE Dance. She is currently a visiting professor at Randolph College, an adjunct faculty at Western Michigan University, and faculty at Ballet Kalamazoo. Yuka Notsuka was born in Fukuoka, Japan, is a member of the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. She began her Ballet training in her hometown at age four. Later she broadened her training to include Jazz and Tap. Later Yuka moved to New York City to further pursue her career as a dancer. In 2015 she entered the Ailey School as a scholarship student. She performed in Ailey Spirit Gala Concert at Lincoln Center choreographed by Tracy Inman (Co-Director, The Ailey School) and Robert Battle (Artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater). Yuka joined the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in 2017. She also has been in training and served as Teaching Assistant at the Luigi Jazz Dance Center under Francis J. Roach. Miki Orihara is known for her Bessie Award-winning career with the Martha Graham Dance Company. She has performed on Broadway, and with Elisa Monte, SITI Company, PierGroupDance, Lotuslotus and in productions by Rioult Dance, Twyla Tharp, Anne Bogart and Robert Wilson. She is a sought after teacher and coach working with the Kirov Ballet, Japan's New National Theater Ballet School, the Ailey School, New York University, The Hartt School, L'ete de la Danse (Paris) and is Dance Director for Mishmash*Miki Orihara and Martha Graham Dance technique DVD(2018). Orihara is currently the curator /director of NuVu Festival.
