Shen Wei Dance Arts Comes to Houston, 5/18

Shen Wei Dance Arts will come to Houston for one night only, Saturday, May 18, at 8 p.m. in the Wortham Center's Brown Theater, presented by Society for the Performing Arts (SPA).

The New York City-based Shen Wei Dance Arts is devoted to the creation of innovative dance forms for the 21st century. A seamless fusion of Chinese opera, painting, dance and music with Western performance arts, Shen Wei's works are "visual feasts" (The New York Sun) that transfix audiences.

While in Houston the Company will perform two of its most celebrated works: Rite of Spring (2003), coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Igor Stravinsky's famed musical composition; and Folding (2000), a highly stylized piece performed to the music of John Tavener and Tibetan Buddhist chants.

Chinese-born Shen Wei, who founded his company in 2000, was the lead choreographer for the stunning segment titled Scroll during the 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Beijing - featuring 16,000 performers right in the heart of The Bird's Nest. He has been widely celebrated for his sophisticated choreography, lighting designs and minimalist costumes, recognized for his abstract paintings and, most recently, for his work in film.

The Company first premiered performances of Near the Terrace at the American Dance Festival, before performing in Taiwan, at New York's Asia Society, The Space in London, the Stockholm Dance House, the Brighton Arts Festival, the Festival Theatre Edinburgh and the Millennium Moves Festival in Germany.

Since forming his company, Shen Wei has received 12 commissions from the American Dance Festival, and others from Het Muziektheater Amsterdam, New York City Opera, Lincoln Center Festival, Park Avenue Armory, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Edinburgh International Festival, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, and Teatro dell'Opera di Roma for a restaging of Rossini's Mosè in Egitto, conducted by Riccardo Muti. A MacArthur Fellowship recipient, Shen Wei was the first choreographer ever commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to create a work specifically for one of its galleries. The piece titled Still Moving, was performed by his company and premiered in June 2011.

Tickets range from $35-$70 and can be purchased online at www.spahouston.org, by phone at 713-227-4772 or at the courtyard level ticket office at Jones Hall located at 615 Louisiana St. Hours of operation: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday - Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. For groups of 15 or more call 713-632-8113.

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