CrossCurrent AAPI Arts Festival

The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company and Flushing Town Hall reflect on the years past and pay tribute to the festival founder, Nai-Ni Chen. The event celebrates the vibrant AAPI arts community of Flushing, Queens, and since its inception, the festival has featured many emerging talents. This year, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company will present the dances of Keerati Jinakunwiphat, Lenora Lee and the music of New Asia Chamber Music Society alongside Nai-Ni Chen’s work.

Keerati Jinakunwiphat, hailing from Chicago, IL., earned her BFA from SUNY Purchase's Conservatory of Dance with the Adopt-A-Dancer Scholarship. Her training includes stints at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and Springboard Danse Montreal. Notable collaborations include works with artists like Kyle Abraham, Nicole von Arx, Trisha Brown, and Doug Varone. Joining A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham in 2016, Keerati's freelance choreography has graced stages from the American Dance Guild Festival to Lincoln Center. In 2023, she made history as the first Asian American woman commissioned to choreograph for the New York City Ballet. Awards include the Jadin Wong Fellowship Artist of Exceptional Merit and the 2023 Princess Grace Award in choreography.

Lenora Lee Dance (LLD) has pushed boundaries for 15 years, blending multimedia, dance, film, and music with culture, history, and human rights. Led by San Francisco's Lenora Lee, an Artist Fellow at the deYoung Museum and a 2019 United States Artists Fellow, LLD's works span intimate to large-scale, site-responsive performances. Collaborations locally and nationally have expanded their reach, encompassing films, museum installations, and educational programming as vehicles for social change.

New Asia Chamber Music Society (NACMS), founded in 2010 in NYC, features young Asian-American virtuosi. NACMS's innovative approach melds traditional chamber music with contemporary compositions reflecting Western and Eastern cultures. Performances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center showcase their dedication to exceptional chamber music, with tours across Taiwan and collaborations with major art organizations. Their engaging social media presence aims to create interactive chamber music experiences worldwide.

Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, led by Nai-Ni Chen, a visionary in Asian American dance, emphasizes the immigrant experience through multicultural performances. Founded in the early 1990s, the company's diverse repertory bridges Asian and American arts, collaborating with musicians like the Ahn Trio and artists such as Myung Hee Cho. Their global presence includes performances in Mexico, Canada, Russia, and China, supported by esteemed institutions and foundations. Recent works like "A Quest for Freedom," developed with the Ahn Trio, exemplify the Company's commitment to innovative, cross-cultural productions.

Tickets:
$20 $15 for FTH members, students and seniors and are available at https://www.flushingtownhall.org/event-detail.php?id=608.