PAO in the World Journal

PAO was recently featured in the World Journal for our performance at newsteps' Choreographers Series at Chen Dance Center! Check out the article below!


Original article can be read here:http://ny.worldjournal.com/view/full_story_ny/18221060/article-陳學同「新舞步」-新生代創意-觀眾激賞?instance=nyevents


English translation by Chenxing Han


H.T. Chen “Newsteps” Exhibits a New Generation of Creativity to an Admiring Audience

Reporter Wang Aixiang, New York report
April 12, 2012 7:36pm

Dancers from “Project Agent Orange” narrating the influence of Agent Orange on Vietnam (Reporter Wang Aixiang/photography)

On the night of [April] 12th, the H.T. Chen Dance Center’s “Newsteps” premiered in Manhattan’s Chinatown with inaugural performance and a wine reception. The evening performance of six original dance pieces lasted nearly an hour, and was met by waves of applause from a full house audience. Each daringly innovative dance piece showcased young choreographers as they burst forth with bold originality, using honest body language to reflect a sense of society’s changes.

Dance troupe Project Agent Orange’s choreographer Natalia Duong is a Stanford University graduate and young female choreographer of Vietnamese descent. To demonstrate the influence of the Vietnam War on Vietnam, she focused on the U.S troops’ use of the highly toxic compound Agent Orange during the war, using common speech and sounds to generate a sense of intimacy and an ease of understanding for the audience. Sonorous, slow-moving electronic music accompanied the dance piece, and the overall effect was of a story being narrated to the audience. Duong stated that her dancers prepared for one-and-a-half months for this performance, and that the dance piece is a story of finding home.

H. T. Chen said that choreographers of “Newsteps” original pieces included Natalia Duong, Jonathan Campbell & Austin Diaz, Ella Rosewood, Timothy Edwards, Toni Renee Johnson. Leigh Atwell & Maya Krishnasastry, and other up-and-coming professional choreographers, all of whom are outstanding artists. This performance provided these young artists an opportunity to practice and perform, and offered them a performance space along with artistic guidance.

“Newsteps” will be performed nightly until the 14th from 7:30pm After the performance on the 13th, the young artists will hold a roundtable discussion with audience members at 70 Mulberry Street, 2nd Floor, Manhattan. Ticket are $12, $10 for seniors and students. To order tickets please call (212) 349-0438.