Asian American Arts Alliance (A4) and Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company are pleased to present the AAPI Dance Festival, featuring three compelling sets of performances by AAPI choreographers and dancers staged across two days. Day 1 will feature dynamic performances from Jiva Dance, Vivake Khamsingsavath, KAŌS (directed by 2026 Jadin Wong Fellow Nikaio Bulan Sahar Thomashow), and Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.

The AAPI dance festival is an annual celebration of dance and choreography that highlights the artistry and innovation of choreographers of Asian descent, presented as part of the Dance Managers Collective’s Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) showcase.

The AAPI Dance Festival is made possible with support from the CJ Huang Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New Jersey Cultural Trust, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, and individual donors like you.

This event is ticketed and open to the public. Admission to one performance is $25. Receive a discount when you attend all three performances with a full-festival pass for $50.

Opening remarks by Lisa Gold and Andy Chiang

“The Four Horsemen” by Jiva Dance
The apocalypse, reimagined as the lives of women. “The Four Horsemen” maps conquest, war, famine, and death onto four female protagonists, their stories moving from despair toward defiant hope. Blending Bharatanatyam, Sanskrit poetry, and a commissioned score, Jiva Dance brings Indian classical dance thrillingly into the present.

“Portal” by Vivake Khamsingsavath
Vivake debuted in 2013, with a cast of 10, and reviews that read “Darkly Alluring”, “Sensuous energy”, “Super smooth Gotham-movers”. Returning to stage 14 years later, Vive and an ensemble of 9 new dancers aspire to capture a world that revisits the past and ventures upon the aftermath of the lived-in human experience.

“On Your Sleeve” by KAŌS
Embodying the quiet tenderness of Filipino family histories, this work lingers in the space where love and grief fold into one another. It listens for memories held in the body, passed hand to hand, generation to generation, until they no longer belong to one person but to all of us.

“Song of the Phoenix” by Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
Experience a dynamic journey across diverse cultural landscapes, from the bustling modern metropolis to the ancient tribal lands. This showcase program celebrates tradition, innovation, and the enduring human spirit through four signature works from the Nai-Ni Chen Dance:
“Whirlwind,” “Reflection of a Ripple,” “Shadow Force,” and “Dance of the Golden Snake.”