Blue Willow Chinese Dance

With 4,000 years of recorded history, China has developed a rich and varied tradition of artistic and folk dance. Joy Chen moved to the United States two decades ago after years of studying traditional Chinese dance. She has choreographed a number of these works to make them more accessible to Western audiences of all ages.

Joy’s dance repertoire includes traditional Chinese court and folk dances. The classical dances include a warrior sword dance and a spectacular “Rainbow Ribbon’ dance, performed with two 30-foot ribbons. Folk dances celebrate the harvest season and the Chinese New Year.

Her husband, Don, has blended these dances with a multimedia presentation, including photos and images from the couple’s travels in China, that relate the dances back to the cultures that created them. The multimedia presentation explores Chinese history, family life, and holidays. The result is a lively, artistic, educational program of Chinese dance, culture and history, told through both Chinese and Western eyes.

They specialize in educational/cultural dance presentations for schools and cultural groups.

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