Hulon Willis Association (HWA)

Location

Veteran Chinese dancer and choreographer Shen Pei will discuss her 70-year career in dance spanning the 1940s to the present in China and the United States.

Shen Pei was born in 1936 and began studying dance professionally in Shanghai at the age of 14. As a member of the first generation of professional dancers trained in the People's Republic of China, Shen studied with leading Chinese dance pioneers such as Wu Xiaobang and Dai Ailian and performed in many well-known early Chinese dance works. During the 1950s, Shen danced at the Shanghai Opera Theater and represented China on tours abroad to Eastern Europe and Latin America. Later, she became a leading choreographer at the Zhejiang Provincial Song and Dance Company. In 1993, after retiring in China as a nationally recognized choreographer, Shen emigrated to Minneapolis, Minnesota at the invitation of the Chinese American Association of Minnesota Chinese Dance Theater (CAAM CDT) to assume the role of its artistic director. In this role, Shen launched a second career promoting Chinese dance and theater in the United States, which she has done now for nearly thirty years and still continues actively at the age of 85.

During her career in the US, Shen Pei has placed a special focus on connecting Chinese performing arts to local social issues, including racism, intercultural relations, international adoption, and other themes relevant to the Chinese diaspora community. During the guest lecture, Shen will speak about her life experiences as a dancer, choreographer, and leader in China and Chinese American communities over the past seventy years.

This event will be conducted in Chinese and English with translation.

Contact

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This Event Appears On

• W&M Featured Events
• William & Mary Crim Dell Association
• Hulon Willis Association (HWA)
• LatinX Alumni of William & Mary (LatinX)
• Asian, Pacific Islander and Middle Eastern Alumni