art

Gin Presents Legend of The White Snake at Capital One Hall

August 16, 2024 By shuchen

When:

November 9, 2024
Doors open: 6:30 PM
Performance: 7:30 PM
What:

This production features two original pieces, each with distinct meanings, cultural influences, and styles. The title work, Legend of The White Snake, is a brand-new original piece with live music accompaniment by Chinese dulcimer musician Chao Tian. This work reimagines the classic Chinese folktale, which dates back to the Tang Dynasty. Although set during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor in the Qing Dynasty, the story has been retold in various forms over the centuries, including novels, operas, shadow plays, and movies. Our production puts a modern twist on this timeless love story, which follows an ordinary boy who falls in love with a beautiful woman who becomes his devoted wife. There’s only one catch: the beautiful and devoted wife is not human. She is, in fact, a thousand-year-old snake that has acquired the ability to transform into a human through centuries of Taoist training. With rich Chinese cultural influences and a touch of modern dance, our choreographer, Shu-Chen, brings this romantic story to life.

The second piece, Insight, is an original work inspired by the quote, “When an old

person dies, a library burns down.” This powerful statement reminds us of the

immense wealth of knowledge and experience that older generations possess.

Through her choreography, Shu-Chen expresses the awakening message that we

should respect and care more for our seniors, appreciating all they have done to

shape the world that younger generations will inherit. We need to hear their stories

and learn their lessons so that we can benefit and grow from the wisdom they have

to share.

This production is supported by Virginia Commission for the Arts, ArtsFairfax, and National Endowment for the Arts.

Tickets:
Click Here for Tickets

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GDC Presents “Insight” at Capital One Hall on November 11

August 22, 2023 By shuchen

“Insight” is comprised of three pieces each with very different meanings, cultural influences, and styles. The first piece, “Insight”, a brand new original work that was inspired by the quote “When an old person dies, a library burns down.” This powerful quote reminds us of the immense wealth of knowledge and experience that older generations possess. Shu-Chen, through her choreography and dance, expresses the awakening message that we should respect more and care more for our seniors and appreciate all they have done to give younger generations the world they will inherent from them. We need to hear their stories and learn their lessons so we can benefit and grow from the wisdom they have to share. Second, a collaboration with kinetic sculpture artist, Kevin Reese. This work is called “I Am Here” in which GDC’s Artistic Director Shu-Chen Cuff, as a 1st generation immigrant to the U.S., delves into her experience of the desire, dreams, struggles, opportunities, and celebration of immigrating to this country. Using the kinetic sculpture design and dance, the audience will get to see and understand how the immigrants life experience come together with the community. Third, “A Cup of Tea”, an Asian culturally influenced work with live music accompaniment by Chinese Dulcimer musician, Chao Tian. In this work, Shu-Chen, through dance, delves into the culture and philosophy of the Chinese tea ceremony and reveals that the tea ceremonies and rituals contain an adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday life, as well as a sense of refinement, an inner spiritual content, humility, restraint and simplicity. By sharing this work with the community, we hope to give the audience an experience that will inspire them to look first inwardly as they explore the introspective nature of the production, then outwardly to appreciate and connect with the people and possibilities that surround us all. Get your tickets: http://gindance.org/GinDance/eventstickets/
This production is supported by Virginia Commission for the Arts, ArtsFairfax, and National Endowment for the Arts.

Gin Dance Company is the recipient of the 2023 Dolly Vogt Community Arts Award on behalf of ArtsFairfax and Capital One Hall. This award recognizes artistic merit, percentage of facility capacity and programmatic growth.

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Filed Under: Gin Dance General Tagged With: art, Ballet, contemporary dance, Dance, gdcinsight, Gin Dance, Gin Dance Company, Gin dancers, Performance, Shu-Chen Cuff

Audition!! Searching for Senior Performers!

March 8, 2023 By shuchen

ATTENTION!! Searching for Senior Performers!!

When:
Sunday, March 26, 2023
– 9:45 a.m. Check In (Pre-Registration Required)
– 10:00 a.m. Audition
What:
GDC is casting male and female roles, ages 60+ to join Shu-Chen’s innovative and meaningful production “Insight” for our 2023 – 2024 season. Performances include our full evening production at Capital One Hall on November 11, 2023, and additional upcoming performances in spring/summer 2024. Some dance and acting experience is preferred. Audition includes learning simple choreography and an improvisation portion. Please wear something comfortable that you can dance in.

Rehearsals are from 10:00 – 11:00 am on Sundays at BalletNova Center for Dance starting May 6 with some additional evening rehearsals on Wednesdays in September, October, and November.
Please note: this is an unpaid performance opportunity.
Where:
BalletNova Center for Dance
3443 Carlin Springs RDFalls Church, VA 22041
Pre-Registration:
Pre-Registration Online Form: http://gindance.org/GinDance/audition_registration
Questions:
Contact us: info@gindance.com

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Special Guest Performer in The Company Project: Higher Ground

March 5, 2023 By shuchen

Shu-Chen will be guest performing in Metropolitan School of the Arts’ (MSA) The Company Project: Higher Ground which features innovative choreography for this one-night-only event. Join MSA pre-professional dance companies, Impulse, MYTE, and dynaMYTE along with special guest performers, as they explore the ways in which we can level up!

Guest Performers also include Malik Dope Drummer (America’s Got Talent) and Luke Spring (The Ellen DeGeneres Show)

Come join us!

When:

March 12, 2023
– 5:00 p.m. Pre-Show Reception Sponsored by Burtons Grill & Bar of Alexandria.

– 6:00 p.m. Performance.
Where:

Ernst Community Cultural Center

8333 Little River Turnpike

Annandale, VA 22003
Tickets:
Click Here for Tickets

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GDC Performing in “Joy to the World” at Capital One Hall

December 1, 2022 By shuchen

Happy December!! We are so excited to be returning to Capital One Hall on December 19 to be part of Grammy Nominated Billboard No. 1 Concert Violinist, Jenny Oaks Baker’s “Joy to the World” Christmas Concert! Come see GDC’s dancers perform in some of wonderful holiday favorites choreographed by GDC Artistic Director, Shu-Chen Cuff. This wonderful show will also feature Celtic Woman Star, Alex Sharpe, New York Times Best Selling Author, Jason F. Wright, The Washington DC Temple Choir, and The Boyle School of Irish Dance. Come join us to share in the holiday joy! 🎉

When:
December 19, 2021 — 7:00 p.m.
Where:
Capital One Hall – Main Hall

7750 Capital One Tower Rd.

Tysons, VA 22102
Tickets: Click Here for Tickets

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Filed Under: Gin Dance General Tagged With: art, Ballet, Ballet Contemporary, Christmas, contemporary ballet, Dance, dancers, dcart, dcdance, Fine arts, GDC, Gin Dance, Gin Dance Company, holidays, Modern Dance, movement, Performance, performing arts, Shu-Chen Cuff

GDC Presents “I Am Here” at the Capital One Hall

November 4, 2022 By shuchen

“I Am Here” will be comprised of three World Premier pieces choreographed by GDC Artistic Director, Shu-Chen Cuff. First, the title piece, “I Am Here” in which Shu-Chen, as a 1st generation immigrant from Taiwan to the U.S., delves into her personal experience of the desire, dreams, struggles, opportunities, and celebration of immigrating to the United States. “For this work, while it tells my story, I also wanted our patrons to have an opportunity to hear the stories of other 1st generation immigrants from different countries. So we included the words and stories of other immigrants and weaved them into a multi-discipline collaboration with renowned and innovative kinetic sculpture artist and educator, Kevin Reese who currently has over 190 sculpture installations in 30 states throughout the country.” says GDC Artistic Director Shu-Chen Cuff. Second, “A Cup of Tea” is an Asian culturally influenced work with live music accompaniment by Chinese Dulcimer musician, Chao Tian in which Shu-Chen delves into the culture and philosophy of the Chinese tea ceremony and reveals that the tea ceremonies and rituals contain an adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday life, as well as refinement, an inner spiritual content, humility, restraint and simplicity through dance. Third, “A New Day”, a contemporary ballet with a fun, light-hearted ode to Mozart’s humor and playful score to encourage, inspire, and motivate everyone to have a positive attitude and energy to face whatever the challenges come at us. Come join us for a special celebration and a unique cultural experience!

This production is supported by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and ArtsFairfax.

When:
November 12 — 7:30 p.m.
Where:
Capital One Hall

7750 Capital One Tower RD

Tysons, VA 22102
Tickets:
Click Here for tickets

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GDC Outreach Performance for A Gala Benefit Concert for World Central Kitchen

November 3, 2022 By shuchen

Shu-Chen will be doing a solo performance among an impressive array of accomplished musicians and singers/vocalists for World Central Kitchen – feeding people in need on the front lines of hurricanes, floods, droughts, wild fires, famine, earthquakes, poverty and war. Join us!

When:
November 13 — 5:00 p.m.
Where:
Annunciation Catholic Church

3810 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.

Washington, DC 20016
Tickets:
It’s a FREE event!

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Please Support our 7-8-9 Fundraising Drive! Together! We can keep the Curtain Up!

July 30, 2022 By shuchen

We need your help raising $7,000 by 8/9… Thus, 7-8-9!

It’s been a very busy and exciting 2021 – 2022 season at GDC… We’ve completed some wonderful performances including our season opening production “Perfect 10 +” in which we collaborated with FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology, NY) at the Capital One Hall. We presented “Look Beyond” at the Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival. We were thrilled and honored to create and perform “Aspire” for A Celebration of “Buoyant Force”, a magnificent 50 foot tall steel sculpture created by Sue Wribcan which is installed at the Reston Town Square Park. We were especially proud to perform at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the first two adorable pandas arrival in DC.

In addition to these great events and more, we had the absolute pleasure of bringing our “The Golden Time” to the Reston Multicultural Festival and Taiwanese Association of America Greater Washington Chapter’s Gala.

At GDC, we pour our heart and soul into every production. We create to impact, inspire, and brighten lives. We have a tremendous passion and love for what we do. We are excited to announce that we will be returning to Capital One Hall to open our 2022 – 2023 season. At this very special evening, we will share a full evening length innovative production of “Emergence” in which we will have the privilege of collaborating with world renowned mobile sculpture artist, Kevin Reese in sharing with the audience our brand new work “I Am Here” – we use this unique collaboration of kinetic sculptures and dance to delve into immigrants’ experience of the desire, dreams, struggles, opportunities, and celebration of their immigration to this country. We are also extremely excited to announce our collaboration with acclaimed musician, Chao Tian, who will create and perform an original score for the new work, “A Cup of Tea”, part of our “Emergence”production.

The funds raised during our 7-8-9 Funding Drive ($7,000 by 8/9) will help us cover the production costs of our exciting 2022-2023 season, keeping our artists working and creating to bring excellence in performing arts to the community. We humbly ask for your help in raising the funds needed for this exciting and ambitious production with your tax-deductible contribution. You can help us achieve our goal of raising the needed funds with your tax-deductible contribution.

Please give whatever you can … Every dollar donated will bring us closer to our goal.
TOGETHER, we can keep the curtain up!

You can donate at by clicking the button below…

Note: If you prefer to make a contribution by check, please make check payable to Gin Dance Company and mail it to:

Gin Dance Company
1818 Library ST, Suite 500
Reston, VA 20190

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Audition for Gin Dance Company!

April 28, 2022 By shuchen

Gin Dance Company is seeking male and female dancers with a strong background in ballet and modern technique along with performance experience and a great passion and eagerness to grow. The audition is by invitation only. If interested, please send your resume, dance photos, and a dance video if it’s available to info@gindance.com

Gin Dance Company (GDC) is a Metropolitan DC/Northern VA based performing arts modern dance company. GDC was founded in 2011 to provide a professional environment for artists to learn, grow, and express themselves and to bring refreshing and vitalizing works of Artistic Director Shu-Chen Cuff to the community. Each of GDC’s works uniquely reflects Shu-Chen’s rich Asian Dance heritage and Eastern philosophy blended with Western fluidity of movement and culture that touch the soul through visuals arts and movement. GDC’s works have been recognized and named finalists at the Dance Metro DC Awards in the categories of Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Individual Performer. GDC has also been selected and invited to several prestigious events and performances reaching out to thousands of people including presenting our ‘Perfect 10 +’ at the Capital One Hall, ‘Deep eMotion’ production at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, The 30^th Annual DC Mayor’s Arts Awards at the Lincoln Theatre, The Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relation between China and the United states at the Embassy of The People’s Republic of China, DUMBO Dance Festival at the Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center and SoloDuo Dance Festival at the Dixon Place in New York, Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, VelocityDC Dance Festival at the Sidney Harman Hall, ‘Yes! Dance Invitational’ at the Dogtown Dance Theatre in Richmond, Taiwan Night Concert at the Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center, Professional Touring Artists Series at the Reston CenterStage, and the Reston Multicultural Festival, Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival.

We are guided by the philosophy that by spreading the amazing art form of dance, we are building a stronger and closer community. Applying that in practice, GDC has performed and supported many great charitable causes through our Outreach Performance Program including the American Diabetes Association, Child Rescue Center, Benefit Habitat for Humanity, The Angel Fund’s Remembrance Cabaret, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, Catholic Charities U.S.A. Hurricane Relief, Life After Domestic Violence, Benefit Concert for Wounded Warriors and many others.

Our mission is both to provide a professional environment for artists to learn, grow, and express themselves and to bring refreshing and vitalizing works to the community. Each of Shu-Chen’s works uniquely reflects her rich Asian Dance heritage and Eastern philosophy blended with Western fluidity of movement and culture. We are guided by the philosophy that by spreading the amazing art form of dance, we build a stronger and closer community ~ Enriching lives through Dance. www.gindance.org

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Celebrating 50th Pandaversary at the Smithsonian National Zoo!

April 18, 2022 By shuchen

We were thrilled to perform for The Smithsonian National Zoo’s Pandaversary in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the first two adorable pandas’ arrival in DC on April 16, at 11:00 am and 1:40 pm. We also got to share the stage with talented musicians Huai-En Tsai and Shu-Ting Yao. They performed a series of beautiful duo music. We performed “The Golden Time” choreographed by Shu-Chen Cuff, an Asian/culturally influenced work combining Chinese Opera movements and modern dance in exploring the golden time of Shanghai in the 1920s and the role women played during that era in China. It was such a fun day. Many people came to the zoo and many animals came out to enjoy this gorgeous weather! It was so great seeing some of our family and friends at our performance at the Smithsonian National Zoo this past Saturday! We are so happy and so grateful ❤️ Big thanks to JJ&T Entertainment and Dan Pierron and his team at the zoo for such a wonderful and fun experience.

Here are some great pictures!
📷: Gary Cuff
“The Golden Time” choreographed by Shu-Chen Cuff