CHI Awareness Technique - Modern Dance with Kun-Yang Lin

Taught by Kun-Yang Lin, founder Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers

Dancing CHI: In Lin's class, dancers will be invited and challenged to experience contemporary dance through the lens of world culture, in a way that has been described by critics as "post-postmodernist" (NY Times Radio) and "visionary." (Inquirer) In exploring the collective qualities of Eastern and Western contemporary movement, Kun-Yang has been developing his own "CHI Awareness Technique" since 1998, derived from his world-wide performance, choreographic and teaching experiences. The class focuses on how, through modulation of breath, weight and weightlessness can co-exist simultaneously and energy can seamlessly transition among explosive bursts of rapid, expansive phrase work, and absolute stillness. Lin's vocabulary is dynamic, contemporary and global, drawing on Eastern philosophy to explore dance as the ultimate integration of "body, mind and spirit." Class begins quietly and gradually builds in complexity, culminating in a dynamic phrase.

Kun-Yang Lin is acknowledged as one of Taiwan's finest choreographers. He has received numerous awards in Taiwan, including the Taipei National Theater's Modern Dance Award, National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Award, the Domestic Prize from the Taipei International Community Cultural Foundation, and the Taiwan Outstanding Artist Award. At the age of 12, Lin organized the first all-male dance troupe to perform in his native village of Hsin Chu after having spent the previous 7 years directing his three sisters in numerous performances in his bedroom. His early training in calligraphy, painting, figure skating and martial arts came to play a significant role in his development as a performer and choreographer. Since moving to the United States in 1994, Mr. Lin has been widely recognized including, in 2002, by Lisa Jo Sagolla of Back Stage, who selected Mr. Lin as "the year's most promising choreographer." Mr. Lin has performed as a principal dancer with Doris Humphrey Repertory Dance Company and the Mary Anthony Dance Theatre, where he also served as associate artistic director. In addition, Kun-Yang has performed with Martha Graham Dance Company, Anna Sokolow's Players Project, Jennifer Muller/The Works, Kevin Wynn Collection, Paula Josa-Jones and Janis Brenner & Dancers. He also has collaborated with musicians such as John Zorn, Ranjit Arapurakal and Animus Music Group on improvisation projects.

Mr. Lin's choreography has been presented throughout the United States as well as in Asia, Southeast Asia, London, Vienna and Mexico. His work has been performed by the Martha Graham Dance Company in Union Square, Dance Compass, Dance Fusion, Blue Muse Dance, Pick of the Crop Dance, Elizabeth Higgins Dance Theater, Moving Art project, Janis Brenner & Dancers and Dance Ensemble of Singapore. In addition, his work has been presented in New York by Lincoln Center Out-Of-Doors Festival, DanceNow/NYC, Summer in the Square, Downtown Dance Festival, Dancers Responding to AIDS, Claudia Boettcher Theatre, The Taipei Theater, Dixon Place, SUNY Brockport, New York University, The New York Theater Festival, The Festival of Creative Communities at the World Trade Center, LongHouse Reserve, SPOOL MFG Gallery, Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church, the 92nd Street Y, American Theatre of Actors, and Joyce SoHo.

Highly sought as a teacher, Mr. Lin has taught master classes and workshops throughout the U.S., as well as in Asia, Southeast Asia and England. In addition, he has been on the faculty of The Yard, Mary Anthony Dance Studio, H.B. Actor's Studio, Limon Institute and Peridance. Mr. Lin recently served as Guest Artist at Bryn Mawr College, where he set a piece on Bryn Mawr's students, and since 2003 has been an Assistant Professor of Dance at Temple University in Philadelphia. Mr. Lin was awarded a 2006 grant from Dance Advance, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by the University of the Arts, for the creation of a new work on Philadelphia-based dancers.