Photo courtesy of Shen Wei Dance Arts.
Shen Wei Dance Arts
Shen Wei Dance Arts performs in front of Shen Wei’s Untitled Number 8 (oil and acrylic on linen canvas, 2013).
The David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center at Pocantico
Ticket price: $16.81 (includes $1.81 ticketing fee)
Internationally renowned choreographer, director, and painter Shen Wei kicks off his expansive first Westchester exhibition, Shen Wei: Still/Moving, with a special appearance at the David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center at Pocantico. This multidisciplinary performance and conversation will focus on how the artist integrates dance, music, film, and painting in his creative process—each component shaping the others.
Shen Wei Dance Arts, the artist’s acclaimed New York-based touring company, will perform excerpts from a new work-in-process commission developed during their residency at The Pocantico Center, as well as previous works. The event will also include screenings of three short films by Shen Wei. Then, Shen Wei himself will take the stage for an audience Q&A on his practice, work, and new exhibition at The Pocantico Center and the Katonah Museum of Art (KMA).
This event will be followed by a reception in the DR Center Gallery with a sneak peek at Shen Wei: Still/Moving, a joint exhibition of Pocantico and the KMA that captures the full breadth of Shen Wei’s visionary artistic career, encompassing dance, music, painting, calligraphy, film, and poetry. Shen Wei: Still/Moving opens to the public at Pocantico on October 18 and at the KMA on October 19.
Presented in partnership with the RBF Culpeper Arts & Culture program and the Katonah Museum of Art.
Shen Wei
Hailed as “one of the most expansive, creative minds in the arts” (The New York Sun), choreographer, director, and painter Shen Wei is internationally renowned for his artistic vision. Born in China, he trained in Chinese opera, traditional painting and calligraphy, and Western visual art. He founded his international touring company, Shen Wei Dance Arts, in 2000.
Shen Wei’s paintings and performative installations have appeared in leading museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Power Station of Art (Shanghai), and Asia Society Hong Kong Center. He was the lead choreographer for the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies.
Shen Wei Dance Arts
Shen Wei Dance Arts (SWDA) has won worldwide acclaim for "amassing a body of works so strikingly original they defy categorization," says The Boston Globe. Since its founding in 2000, SWDA has performed in 138 cities spanning 33 countries on five continents at prestigious festivals and venues. The company transcends East and West, fusing disparate influences to forge a startling new hybrid form of dance that incorporates vivid colors, striking design, and imaginative use of space into theatrical, kinetic paintings reflecting the compositional rigor of Shen Wei’s visionary choreography.