A tale of dragons and Chinese culture

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company to perform at the Richard P. Marasco Center for the Performing Arts.

By: Leon Tovey
   MONROE — Residents will get a blast of Chinese culture Sunday, when the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company presents "A Dragon’s Tale" at the Richard P. Marasco Center for the Performing Arts at Monroe Township High School.
   The performance, which will roar to life at 2 p.m., will feature traditional dance forms from China, such as the "Lion Dance" and the "Mongolian Chopstick Dance." It will also feature original dances inspired by regional customs like "Walking Into Tibet" and "Raindrops," which draws its inspiration from dance company founder Nai-Ni Chen’s memories of her birth city, Keelong.
   Cultural Arts Commissioner Nancie Gunkelman called the company’s style of dance a "rich, colorful combination of Eastern dance and Western choreography."
   Ms. Gunkelman said the Cultural Arts Commission, which is sponsoring the performance in conjunction with the Middlesex County Cultural & Heritage Commission and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, was inspired to bring the company to town by the success of similar events she has coordinated in the past at area schools.
   "We haven’t had this company in before, but children always enjoy these kinds of shows," she said.
   Ms. Gunkelman said that authentic ethnic dance companies have been popular in the past with older residents as well.
   "Our community is very diverse — not only in terms of its ethnicity, but in the experiences people have had," she said. "And it’s interesting that after these types of shows, people often comment that they’ve been to those places and could see the place in the performance."
   Andrew Chiang, a spokesman for the company, said the Monroe audience was in for an extensive program, featuring eight dancers and four musicians — playing a lute (a guitar-like instrument with four strings), a dulcimer, an erhu (a two-stringed, violin-like instrument) and a bamboo flute.
   "Having live musicians is very rare for a touring performance," Mr. Chiang said. "And it really makes the whole dance come alive. Chinese music can seem very foreign to Western audiences and a lot of people don’t get it — having the musicians there makes it more accessible."
   Tickets for the event are $12 for the general public and $10 for Cultural Arts Commission Patrons.