Stephen F. Austin State University

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts will close its 2007-2008 University Series with a performance by the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 26, in W.M. Turner Auditorium, located in SFA's Griffith Fine Arts Building.

The company, which was formed in 1988 by artistic director and choreographer Nai-Ni Chen, is recognized for its fusion of the dynamic freedom of American modern dance with the elegant splendor of Asian art. The Taiwan-born choreographer, who was trained in traditional Chinese dance, creates wide-ranging choreography that includes both dances that originated thousands of years ago and highly abstract, modern creations.

As Paul Ben-Itzak of "Dance Insider" wrote, "This is the dance company to which to take your non-dance friends, the ones you've been trying to turn on to all the potential power and beauty of dance."

Included on the Nacogdoches program are two dances featuring the entire company; two featuring four to five dancers; a duet, "The River of Dreams"; a solo performance of "The Legend of Double Spear Warrior, Lu Wen-Long" by Yao-Zhong Zhang and a solo performance of "Passage to the Silk River" by Nai-Ni Chen.

The 10-member company reaches more than 100,000 audience members a year. Its 40-week season of touring includes stops at major performing arts centers throughout the United States, Central America, Korea, China, Germany, Poland and Mexico.

Based in New York, the dance troupe has been the resident company at the Harlem School of the Arts in New York City for the past 10 years. It has received numerous grant awards from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the Department of State, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Hyde and Watson Foundation, the Lillian Pitkin Schenck Fund and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

More information about the company is available at www.nainichen.org.

Prior to the concert, Elizabeth Rhodes, SFA professor of dance, will give a 7 p.m. informative talk in Griffith Gallery, across the hall from Turner Auditorium. The audience is invited back to the gallery after the performance for a reception honoring the event's corporate sponsor, Regions Bank of Nacogdoches, and an opportunity to meet the dancers. The Griffith Fine Arts Building is located at 2222 Alumni Drive.

Tickets to the concert range from $35 to $17.50, depending upon seating preferences. Students receive a 50 percent discount in all sections. For tickets or more information, please visit www.sfasu.edu/finearts or call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS.