New Jersey Dance Company Celebrates Lunar New Year: Year of the Horse with Local Performances
Choreographer and dancer Nai-Ni Chen founded the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company with her husband, Andy Chiang, in 1988. Nai-Ni received many honors through the years. They include a Choreographer’s Fellowship…
Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company performs Dragon Dance
Nai-Ni Chen Dance CompanyChoreographer and dancer Nai-Ni Chen founded the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company with her husband, Andy Chiang, in 1988. Nai-Ni received many honors through the years. They include a Choreographer’s Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She created nearly a hundred new dances throughout her career.
The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company is celebrating the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Horse. They’ve created a lineup of performances in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and other area locations.
In honor of the Year of the Horse, the Company, along with artistic director Greta Campo, will present two world premieres by choreographers Lawrence Jin and Zhongmei Li.
According to their website, “The celebration embodies the passion and energy of the Horse. It’s a spectacular display of Chinese dance, contemporary dance, acrobatics, costumes, and live music. With graceful movements and intricate choreography, the talented performers evoke the spirit of the Chinese New Year.”
Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company Local Shows
Area performances from January 18th to February 26th, 2026, include:
-Jersey City Theatre Center, White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ (Jan 18)
-College of Staten Island, Staten Island, NY – presented by Enrichment Through the Arts (Jan 26-27)
-Kupferberg Center for the Performing Arts, Queens, NY (Feb 1)
-Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts, Toms River, NJ (Feb 4-5)
-Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture, Bronx, NY (Feb 7-8)
-New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ (Feb 14–15)
-McLean Community Center, McLean, VA (Feb 18)
-Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA (Feb 25)
The Lunar New Year Celebration Tour: Celebrating the Year of the Horse is a World Premier Program. It “blends traditional symbolism and contemporary vision. Audiences will experience the powerful Lion Dance. It’s a centuries-old ritual invoking good fortune and driving away evil spirits.”
Additional performances include the Dragon Dance, “historically performed to summon rain, prosperity, and good luck.” The program also includes live music on authentic Chinese instruments and a lobby display of Lunar New Year cultural crafts. This features a multi-sensory immersion into Chinese traditions.
Get more information and tickets HERE.
