USJ Dance Ensemble Spring Concert

Join the University of Saint Joseph Dance Ensemble for their annual spring showcase. Featuring student choreography and choreography by Artist in Residence Lorelei Chang.

Lorelei Chang is renowned modern dance artist, Qigong teacher, and a Chinese calligrapher who has dedicated her life time to study these disciplines for nearly 40 years. Lorelei and her twin sister, Mai Nakanishi are world-class artists who pioneered combining Chinese calligraphy and modern dance with Qigong. They have performed internationally including China, Japan, New Zealand, Belgium, and South Korea during the 2018 Winter Olympic. She currently teaches Qigong, Yoga and dance to students ages 5 to 85. In 2012, she won a gold medal for the 24-form Taiji Quan and a silver medal for 42-form Taiji Quan during the International Wushu Competition in Connecticut. She is the founder and artistic director of dancEnlight and a board member of the National Qigong Association. Lorelei has taught at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Omega Institute For Holistic Studies and National Qigong Association’s annual conferences. Lorelei is a certified instructor of Radiant Lotus Women’s Qigong founded by Daisy Lee. dancenlight.org

Primordial Forces expresses an ancient Chinese Daoist concept, which is Qi, and translates to life energy. The flowing of life force in nature is the same force that moves inside the human body. The primordial forces helps us understand that we are spirit in human form. This invisible life force, or Qi, connects our body, mind and spirit as a whole similar to how Dao gives birth to all living beings through Yin and Yang energies and five elements in nature.

This newest choreography is inspired by Lorelei’s life time studying of dance, Qigong, Chinese Daoist philosophy and her daily cultivation of these subjects. Her dance choreography implies the concepts of Dao, the five elements (water, wood, fire, earth and metal) and the relationship between nature and human body, mind and spirit, and the idea of returning back to the source.

Her entire dance repertoire consists of seven sections with music specially composed for this work by a very talented multi-instrumentalist, Suan Armstrong. Lorelei and Suan are both long time Qigong practitioners. They are thrilled to have created this piece together to express the beautiful philosophy of life. In Suan’s music, she clearly states a well-known saying from Dao De Jing:

“From the eternal void of infinite possibilities

Emerges the one

The vastness of the one becomes the two

The two gives birth to sacred trinity

From the three arises ten thousand things

Returning to the source to nothing

This is Dao.”

Lorelei is delighted to work with University of Saint Joseph’s students. These wonderful dancers who worked hard are very bright and all are pursuing other careers such as nursing, teaching, etc. They have been working diligently with Lorelei about three hours a week, for only a few weeks they finished the 15 minutes length piece. Their determination exhibits the great strength and professionalism. Lorelei is delighted to share her new choreography work with these wonderful students!
Lorelei would like to thank the chair of the dance department of USJ, Susan Murphy, and the director of USJ, Steve Ginsburg, for inviting her as residency artist. She also would like to express her love and gratitude to her dear friend, Suan Armstrong for her hard work and beautiful music!

Program supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts, Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
*This is a virtual event- online only