H.T. Chen & Dancers

H.T. Chen & Dancers, the nation’s foremost Asian American modern dance company at the State Theater on Friday and Saturday, September 10 and 11 at 8:00 PM. This performance honors resilience and community as the company celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary year and the nation marks the third anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001.

The first piece on the concert program, 39 Chinese Attitudes, celebrates life in dance and music and commemorates Chinatown's resilience and cultural adaptability. The program continues with excerpts from a documentary film by Don Quinn Kelley on the twenty-five-year history of H.T. Chen & Dancers. H.T. Chen & Dancers will also perform excerpts from Transparent Hinges, a piece documenting the immigration of Chinese to the United States through the Angel Island immigration Station from 1910-1940 and the development of a Chinese American community and identity in the 1960's. The performance will conclude with Opening the Gate, a meditation on violence, community, hope, and enlightenment.

"Shanghai-born artistic director, Chen Hsueh-Tung studied ballet and modern dance as well as traditional Chinese dance, all of which he has synthesized into a remarkably fresh and arresting style." Dance Magazine

This is H.T. Chen & Dancers' first tour to Austin, Texas. Based in New York City, the Company is touring to Austin for a special one-week residency, September 6-12, 2004. This touring program will continue to Dallas, TX; Mass MOCA in N. Adams, MA; and then to Sun Valley, Idaho where the Company will close an art exhibit exploring Chinese migration and history in the American West

Artistic Director and Choreographer H.T. Chen is the preeminent Asian American contemporary choreographer in the United States. His work has been recognized by many prestigious national foundations including the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Multi-Arts Production program, Lila Wallace Arts Partners Program, the Jerome Foundation, Surdna Foundation and the MetLife Foundation. H.T. Chen has also been honored by the Asian American community. In 2003, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Organization of Chinese Americans - Long Island Chapter, was made an honorary citizen of the City of Houston in 2004, received the 2004 City University of New York Asian Alumni Award for Community Service.

This presentation of H.T. CHEN & DANCERS is one of a series of programs designed by the National Performance Network (NPN). NPN is an independent organization begun by Dance Theater Workshop and is comprised of arts organizations in 37 cities and 26 states. NPN is made possible through major funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For further information, visit the NPN website at www.npnweb.org or write: National Performance Network, PO Box 70435, New Orleans, LA 70172. Additional funding has also been provided by the City of Austin under the auspices of the Austin Arts Commission, Texas Commission on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and private contributions.