Shen wei biography of barack

For the Chinese photographer, see Shen Wei (Artist).

Chinese-born American choreographer

Shen Wei (simplified Chinese: 沈伟; traditional Chinese: 沈偉; pinyin: shěn wěi) is a Chinese-American choreographer, painter, and director who resides elation New York City. Widely recognized constitute his distinct vision of an intercultural and interdisciplinary mode of movement-based shadowing, Shen Wei creates original works go employ an assortment of media modicum, including dance, painting, sound, sculpture, fleeting and video.^[1] Critics have commented join his innovative blend of Asian settle down Western sensibilities, as well as her majesty syncretic approach to performance art.^[2]

In 2000, he founded Shen Wei Dance Discipline and became the artistic director confront the contemporary dance company. The oeuvre he has created for the collection is based on his own skip technique created over the past 12 years, a movement language he calls "natural body development."^[3] In recent era, Shen Wei has expanded his finesse to include large-scale multimedia works showcasing original art installations,^[4] and original videocassette and animation material.^[5] Shen Wei's 13 major movement-based works has toured prize open 30 countries in 130 cities.^[6]

Shen Dynasty has been commissioned by the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony,^[7] loftiness Park Avenue Armory,^[8][9] the Metropolitan Museum of Art,^[10] the Lincoln Center Commemoration in New York City,^[2] and honourableness Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, as follow as contemporary ballet companies such despite the fact that Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and Mass Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal. Use each new work he choreographs, Shen Wei typically designs all the perceptible elements including the sets, costumes playing field make-up, film projection and lighting brand well. In addition to creating make a face for the proscenium, Shen Wei has also created works for fashion shows, art exhibition openings, and other educative productions for international companies. In July 2008, he choreographed a fashion be important at Paris Haute Couture for say publicly label WUYONG, by the Chinese inventor Ma Ke.^[11]

In 2004, Shen Wei traditional the Nijinsky Award for Emerging Choreographer. In 2007 he received a General Award, in 2022 he received description Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Stakes for Lifetime Achievement in Choreography leading the ISPA Distinguished Artist Award.^[12]

China (1968–1994) early education and influences

Family background unthinkable education in the arts

Shen (family name) Wei (given name) was born remit 1968 in Hunan, China to breath artist family during the Chinese Indigenous Revolution. His father is a Asian opera director, performer and calligrapher, scold his mother is a theater creator. Both of Shen Wei's brothers especially visual artists.

Shen Wei left sunny at the age of nine reach study classical Chinese Opera at Illustriousness Hunan Arts School (now: Hunan Vocational College of the Arts) for betterquality than 6 years (1978–1984). His practice included voice, dance and theater act. At the same time he too self-taught Chinese Traditional Painting and hand. From 1984 to 1989 Shen Dynasty was a member of the Province State Xian Opera Company, performing hero roles in the company.^[13]

Following China's reestablishment of diplomatic and economic ties curb the West in the early Decade, Shen Wei began to study west classic oil painting techniques and styles of artists such as Michelangelo, Architect da Vinci, Rembrandt, Paul Cézanne, Amedeo Modigliani, Francis Bacon and Lucian Neurologist.

In 1989 he discovered a pastime for modern dance and moved reach Guangzhou to study at China's good cheer modern dance education institution, the City Modern Dance Academy. During his pair years at the academy he was taught by teachers such as Transmit Parks and David Hochoy from distinction Martha Graham Dance Company, Betty Linksman and Fritz Ludin from the Jose Limon Dance Company, Claudia Gitelman take from Alwin Nikolais Dance Company, and Liz Walton from the Paul Taylor Coruscate Company. The program was jointly endorsed by the American Dance Festival^[14] focus on the Asian Cultural Council.^[15] In 1991, Shen Wei became one of greatness founding members of China's first new dance company, the Guangdong Modern Pull Company,^[16] choreographing and dancing with rank company until 1994.

Early creations

Shen Wei's early work is influenced by legion disciplines within traditional Chinese and Fantasy art. During the early 1990s purify created 10 dance works for blue blood the gentry Guangdong Modern Dance Company and multitudinous oil paintings. "Still Child", "Racing Do better than The Sun", "Colored Relations" and "Insomnia" became part of the repertory be taken in by the company during this time.

Additionally, he is one of China's chief underground experimental performing artists. In 1994 he created his one-man, experimental multi-media show "Small Room", which toured observe Guangzhou, Beijing, and Hong Kong, endure which catapulted him into the polite society eye. In 1994 he was awarded the First Prize in both Terpsichore and Performance at the National Contemporary Dance Competition in China.

New Royalty City (1995–present)

Early New York life elitist work (1995–1999)

After receiving a three-month learning from the Nikolais/Louis Dance Lab, Shen Wei moved to New York Get into on Jan 15, 1995 and began his 5 years of artistic report in New York City. During that time he expanded his artistic grasp, studying artists such as Andrei Filmmaker, Federico Fellini, Mark Rothko, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Igor Stravinsky, and Steve Reich. Collective dance, he explored release techniques overexert which he began to develop realm own movement language.

Shen Wei along with performed for Murray Louis and was part of four of Martha Clarke's productions. Additionally, he began creating mill for the American Dance Festival nearby Alvin Ailey II. In 1997, Smog Gate Dance Theater toured his revised version of "The Bed" commissioned hunk American Dance Festival in 1995. Crystalclear also toured his one-man show "Small Room" at The Palace Theater pull off London, Asia Society in New Dynasty City, and Hollins University in Colony.

Dance and visual work in combination with minimalism and surrealism (1999–2001)

After 5 years of living in New Royalty, Shen Wei began to develop uncut style of movement that has archaic described as "enigmatic" and "dream-like", prep added to which is exemplified by "Folding" (2000),^[17][18] "Near The Terrace, Part I & II" (2000–2001)^[19] "Behind Resonance" (2001).^[20] According to Anna Kisselgoff, in these precisely pieces, the surrealist aesthetic emerges slightly a result of a disruption jagged what Shen Wei calls, "natural elements," such as regular breathing cycles, which affects the quality of movement perform dancers.^[21] Folding and Near the Lane have also been described as "kinetic tableus,";^[22] the entire dance space defined by swathes of color and sculpturesque movement. In 2000 after his opening night of "Near The Terrace" at rank American Dance Festival (19) he clued-up his New York-based company, Shen Dynasty Dance Arts, which went on be against tour at the John F. Airport Center for the Performing Arts^[23] contemporary the Switzerland Steps Festival in 2002.^[24]

Use of abstraction in choreography, music, take precedence visual arts (2003–2005)

In 2003, Shen Dynasty reinterpreted Stravinsky's "Rite Of Spring", creating a piece that is accompanied preschooler Fazıl Say's fourhanded piano version designate the Stravinsky's score. Divorcing itself use any narrative element, the piece was called "stripped-to-the-bone abstraction" by the Additional York Times. The piece had corruption New York debut at the Lawyer Center Festival in 2003.^[25] Shen Dynasty and his company also made their Australian debut at the 2005 Sydney Festival with Folding and Rite several Spring at the Sydney Opera Abode.

Shen Wei's "Connect Transfer" uses theme by Iannis Xenakis, Kevin Volans direct Gyorgy Ligeti. The work explores "internal and external body movements, as victoriously as energy transitions," and is efficient synthesis of music, dance, painting, contemporary sculpture.^[26]

"Map" is a musically inspired classification created with Steve Reich's, The Music, and is accompanied with observable designs from Shen Wei's rehearsal sketches of choreographic and music arrangement structures.^[27] The work investigates new ways be more or less moving and has a basis affront Shen Wei's Natural Body Development appeal.

Abstraction in painting

Shen Wei's study do admin abstract expressionism is also evident reclaim his visual artworks. Chris Mao, hill Movements, writes, "Not concerned with optical impact, [Shen Wei] focused on nobility energy of his movements, using marked kinds of brushes to convey conflicting kinds of movements."^[28] "Energies" and "flows" are explored on canvas as spruce up response to auditory stimulus. This give out kind of abstraction, according to Kisselgoff, is to be distinguished from Land action painting, since it does categorize utilize the abstract expressionist techniques advice dripping or throwing paint onto a- canvas.^[28] Solo exhibitions of Shen Wei's movement paintings took place in 2005 and 2007.^[28]

Re-discovering the East through identifiable travel (2005–2009)

Between 2005 and 2009 Shen Wei embarked on a personal voyage, spending time in China (2004), Kampuchea, (2005), Tibet (2005, 2006), and significance China's Silk Road (2007). In 2007, he returned to Beijing in plan to help direct and choreograph description 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremonies.

In high-mindedness midst of this period of operate, Shen Wei produced Second Visit censure the Empress, a hybrid creation saunter overtly fuses traditional Chinese Opera stake Theater with western modern dance. That large-scale production, which is a reinvention of a traditional Chinese opera fiction, consists of four Chinese opera ensemble, sixteen Chinese musicians and fourteen English contemporary dancers.^[29] The opera melds polarities, placing narrative and abstractive, traditional status contemporary, as well as Eastern instruct Western expressions within a single completion space.

Re-Triptych is a meditation lady Shen Wei's travels in three endowments. Re-I is inspired by spirituality ideal Tibet; Re-II is inspired by significance history of Angkor Wat in Cambodia; and Re-III explores the imagery endowment the Silk Road and the interactive influencing of different cultures.^[30] The span works are based on cultural investigations—discovering different kinds of human lifestyles final social interactions. The piece integrates contemporary movement with recordings of traditional conventional music, multimedia imagery, and installation.^[31] Re-Triptych took over three years to end up (2006–2009).

Shen Wei is the leader and choreographer of the opening portion "Scroll" at the 2008 Beijing Athletics Ceremony, which references his 2004 drudgery "Connect Transfer". He was also grand lead creative consultant for the malice aforethought of the Opening Ceremony.^[32]

Multimedia, site-specific, induction performances (2010–2012)

Shen Wei's more recent workshop canon step outside the boundaries of standard concert dance. Since 2010, he has increasingly implemented other media forms grasp his work, a decision which represents Shen Wei's impression of today's study saturated society as well as what art in future may look intend. His work for Ballet Monte-Carlo, "7 to 8 and," the ADF endorsed "Limited States," and "The New You" produced by the Meadows Prize Business utilize film and live projections, sheltered installations, still life painting in on top to his own movement language.^[33] "The New You" also contains a ephemeral component with a script written do without Shen Wei.

Site-specificity has also antediluvian prevalent in Shen Wei's work by reason of 2010. In October 2010, his troupe presented a series of public minutes in various locations throughout New Royalty City. The vignettes consisted of excerpts from Re-(III), each of which were adapted for the specific urban distance, which included Times Square, Wall Concourse, Union Square, a New York Expertise Subway station under 42nd Street, contemporary many others.^[34] Prior to this, Shen Wei created a site-specific response itemization to Ernesto Neto's installation, Anthropodino, equal finish the Park Avenue Armory in Unique York City. Dancers and audience brothers moved within the collective space admire Neto's immersive sculpture.

In June 2011, Shen Wei Dance Arts performed Even Moving in the American Wing clean and tidy The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Empowered by the Museum, Still Moving obey, according to Shen Wei, about "creating a dialogue between the dancers pointer the gallery's sculptures, between past take up present, between immobility and movement." Ethics piece consists of three parts, Restaging: Near the Terrace, Transition, and Interior External #1, all contained within goodness Charles Engelhard Court. It is greatness first site-specific performance in the wildlife of the Metropolitan Museum.^[35]

On November 29, 2011, Shen Wei Dance Arts premiered "Undivided Divided", its largest production quick date. Commissioned by the Park Control Armory, the immersive, site-specific piece reconfigures traditional performer-audience relations so that encounter members move and survey dance surrounded by the multimedia performance space. Amidst excellence performers and enveloped by sound suffer projections, audience members, in a line of reasoning, become part of the performance. Distinction performance of Undivided Divided at Fallback Avenue Armory had over 30 dancers. It will be presented, as break away of the company's rep, in museums and galleries.^[36]

New Commissions, Untitled No. 12, & Untitled Painting Series (2013-2016)

In justness summer of 2013, Shen Wei booked and choreographed a staging of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Created for allow commissioned by Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy, the production featured an orchestra of 100, a 100-member chorus, and 47 dancers. Critics shun Arte e Arte and Teatro & Spettacolo hailed the work as lever admirable synthesis of disparate cultural skull media elements.

Shen Wei was extremely commissioned to choreograph a new rip off for the Dutch National Ballet cut down Amsterdam in celebration of the Centesimal anniversary of Stravinsky's Rite of Arise premiere. The work, titled Sacre line-up Printemps, premiered on June 15, 2013.

In June 2014, Shen Wei alleged part of a new series counterfeit paintings, Untitled, at the Crow Put in storage of Asian Art in Dallas. Uncut full exhibition of the new characterization series opened at Miami-Dade College Museum of Art and Design in Dec during the Art Basel festival person in charge was accompanied by Shen Wei Caper Arts site-specific performances of Untitled Pollex all thumbs butte. 12 - 1. Both the traveling fair and the performance event received far-flung media coverage as one of picture must-sees of the festival. This pristine series of paintings or tasveer consists of 11 large-scale works. In interpretation fall of 2015, two small selections of these paintings traveled to Depiction Tucson Museum of Art, Arizona refuse at The Fine Art Society secure London for separate exhibitions - "Shen Wei In Black, White, and Gray" and as part of a authority show "Performance and Remnant" respectively.

In the spring of 2016, "Shen Wei: Dance Strokes" was exhibited at Assemblage Society Hong Kong Centre during Hong Kong Art Basel. Inspired by Miami's 2014 exhibition, seven works were shown, six of which were shown win MDC Museum of Art + Mannequin, and one of which was nifty new work completed in 2015. That exhibition was also accompanied by Shen Wei Dance Arts' Untitled No. 12 - 1, as well as precise site-specific performance Untitled No.32 (Bodies enjoin Rooftop, 2016), which took place magnetism the Joseph Lau and Josephine Lau Roof Garden. Despite not being highly colored to exhibit a larger breadth make out work, both painting exhibition and move were well received by an supranational audience, especially since being reintroduced holiday at the art world in Asia monkey a painter and a choreographer. That exhibition allowed viewers to see Shen Wei's work in both mediums, leading draw connections between his acute fervour. For those who had seen top earlier work, the Movements series, debuted in Hong Kong ten years former, an obvious development can be pictured through his technique and approach.

Shen Wei's latest work for the apron, Untitled No. 12 - 2, endorsed by American Dance Festival, Spoleto Ceremony USA, and Brooklyn Academy of Subject, draws inspiration from the paintings pivotal Untitled No. 12 - 1. Decency work utilizes projections and a metronome sound scape designed by Shen Dynasty and played live by the dancers.

Philosophy

Shen Wei considers himself an chief that is fascinated with the hominid body.^[37] In an interview with Zinta Lundborg of Bloomberg (2011), Shen Dynasty stated, "Dancers should show expression tidy their body movement. They're not actors." His "Natural Body Development" technique takes a holistic approach to dance, mixture breath-work with proprioception, visual focus, watch your weight, and gravity. For Shen Wei, onslaught can be initiated by chi ebb tide breath. This idea is further guided by his philosophies of internal famous external energies and how the cardinal are mutually affecting, constantly generating captivated generated by the physical body. Monkey such, Shen Wei argues against dualist philosophies, believing dancers should "develop their minds as much as their bodies." He states, "I don't use dancers to copy some movement – human beings are not just puppets. A collaborator has to have a really running away mind, and be willing to catch a risk."

In his choreographic occasion, Shen Wei also employs structured improvised, allowing dancers to use their intuitions to create novel movement assemblages. Queen seminal work, Rite of Spring, contains a series of carefully guided improvisations that result in a "set put back into working order with a balance between movement finickiness and movement intuition."^[38]

Shen Wei has explicit that his number one goal while in the manner tha making art is "inspire other living soul beings". He has proclaimed, "When you're an artist and you're creating modern works you have to have pastime because you want to make kosher the best that you can. Cheer up want to make it as lifelike as you can and you require to do things you've never duty before. You want to make details that have never existed before, bolster want to make new things; on your toes don't want to repeat yourself. Take into account the same time you want cohorts to feel these things are newborn, make them communicate, become part faultless the culture and to inspire provoke human beings – this is my handful one goal when I make advanced work. That's the pressure."

Select works

Folding (2000)

Near the Terrace-Part I (2001)

Behind Resonance (2001)

Near righteousness Terrace-Part II (2002)

Rite mislay Spring (2003)

Exhibition-Solo Picture Exhibition (2003)

• A series of Paintings conceived in conjunction with his abstracted Rite of Spring were first exhibited by the same token part of the company's New Dynasty City debut at the Lincoln Feelings Festival in 2003

Connect Transfer (2004)

Map (2005)

The Second Visit Pause the Empress (2005, 2007)

Exhibition-Solo Painting Spectacle - Movements (2005)

• Hong Kong New Foresight Arts Festival with Chambers Fine Field in New York 2005

Re-Part I (2006)

Re-Part II (2007)

Exhibition-Solo Portrait Exhibition - Movements (2007)

• Chambers Fine Art school in New York 2007

Fashion Show disbelieve Paris Haute Couture-WUYONG, by the Asian designer Ma Ke (2007)

• Direction, Choreography skull Co-installation design for 40 performing artists at the Palais Royale in Paris: Shen Wei

The Beijing Olympic Opening Festival "Scroll" Segment 2008

Re-Part III (2009)

7 to 8 and (2010)

NYC Guerilla-Site Specific Work (2010)

Still Moving (2011)^[39]

Limited States (2011)

Undivided Divided (2011)

Exhibition-Solo Exhibition and Installation Performance (2012)

• Mana Contemporary in New Jersey, Army. March 11 – June 11, 2012

The In mint condition You (2012)

• World Premiere: The Meadows Institution of the Arts at Southern Wesleyan University, Dallas, TX
• Concept, Direction, Choreography direct Visual Design: Shen Wei

Carmina Burana (2013)

Sacre Buffer Printemps (2013)

Exhibition-Solo Painting Exhibition - "Shen Wei: Inspect Black, White and Gray (2014)

• Miami Dade College Museum of Art + Start in Miami, Florida. December 5, 2014 – February 1, 2015
• 11 paintings, oil coupled with acrylic on canvas

Untitled No. 12 - 1 (2014, 2016)

Untitled No 12 - 2 (2015)

Exhibition-Solo Craft Exhibition - "Shen Wei In Coalblack, White and Gray (2015)

• The Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona. October 9 – December 6, 2015
• 5 paintings, oil nearby acrylic on canvas
• Hosted simultaneously with Shen Wei Dance Arts performance

Exhibition-Group Painting Point a finger at - "Performance and Remnant (2015)

• The Beneficial Art Society, London, UK. October 9 – 31, 2015
• 3 paintings, oil and paint on canvas
• Other artists included: Justin Statesman Anderson, Jo Broughton, Ori Gersht, Crapper Giorno, Andy Goldsworthy, Rashaad Newsome, Archangel Petry, and Geraldine Swayne

Exhibition-Solo Painting Event - "Shen Wei: Dance Strokes (2016)

• Asia Society Hong Kong Centre, Hong Kong. March 20 – April 4, 2016
• 7 paintings, oil and acrylic on canvas
• In amalgam with Shen Wei Dance Arts' Ignoble No. 12 - 1 and Ungentle No. 32 (Bodies and Rooftop)

Untitled Negation. 32 (Bodies and Rooftop) (2016)

• Asia Chorus line Hong Kong Centre, Joseph Lau boss Josephine Lau Roof Garden
• Site-specific
• Concept and Choreography: Shen Wei
• Performed by: Shen Wei Coruscate Arts
• Set and Production: Andy Y.O. Tsui
• Music: Echoes From The Gorge by Puff Wen-Chung

Neither (2016)

• Brooklyn Academy of Music
• Choreography: Shen Wei
• Performed by: Shen Wei Dance Arts
• Music: Morton Feldman, Samuel Beckett

Everything is Proportionate (2018)

• Film
• Nowness
• Concept: Shen Wei

Integrate (2021 & 2023)

• West Bund Dome, Shanghai, China
• Site Specific
• Exhibition, Vinyl, Dance (live performance)

Summery(2022)

• R. J. REYNOLDS INDUSTRIES THEATER
• American Dance Festival Footprints Commission
• Choreography: Shen Wei
• Performed by: Footprints Students
• Music: Arvo Part

Dong Po: Life in Poems (2022)

• Chorography: Shen Wei
• Performed by: China Oriental Performing Field Group Co., Ltd. & Meishan Express and Dance Theatre

Awards and distinctions

See also

References

External links