December 2019

MOVERS & SHAPERS:

PODCAST No.93 –

Jessica Chen

Release Date: 12.5.19

TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST OR LISTEN:

• • iTunes: Subscribe, Listen, Rate Us HERE

  • Stitcher: Subscribe and Listen HERE

  • Any Smartphone Podcast app: Subscribe and Listen

ABOUT JESSICA

JESSICA CHEN is a freelance theater choreographer, Gyrotonic® instructor and Artistic Director of J CHEN PROJECT, a 501c3 non-profit modern dance company based in NYC.  She holds a B.A. in Global Studies from the University of California Santa Barbara and continued her dance training at The Ailey School and Earl Mosley Institute of the Arts.  Her work has been supported by LMCC, Taiwan Ministry of Culture, Gibney Dance Center, and Jerome Foundation. 

In 2013, Jessica made a miraculous journey back to the stage after suffering a horrific car accident, which rendered her in a coma for 13 days after 8 hours of brain surgery. She shares her story and fight to live through her work as a choreographer, speaker, and Artistic Director of J CHEN PROJECT.

Her choreography credits include The Portal at Minetta Lane Theater (Off-Broadway), INTERSTATE at New York Musical Festival (Off-Broadway), Cliché at The Cutting Room (NYC), Fiddler on the Roof at Timberlake Playhouse (IL), Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (NYC), and Ai Weiwei: The Seed for Brooklyn Museum (NYC).

She has taught master classes, workshops and seminars at institutions such as Semester at Sea, Yale, Boston University, Rosie’s Theater Kids, Do-One (Japan), Jazz DU Funk (China), Mt. Holyoke, and Orange County School of the Arts, as well as her alma mater.

Cornell University honored Chen as Keynote Speaker of their 2011 Celebration of Asian American Women, for her work empowering female leadership within the community. She presented “If I Can Dance It, Then It’s Possible” at the 2014 TEDx organized by Semester at Sea. International and National credits include 2010 World Expo USA Pavilion in Shanghai, China, and the Amnesty International Arts Festival in Washington D.C. Chen includes her thoughts on “Identity and Marketing in the World of Social Media” as a featured chapter contributor to a new book called A Life In Dance: A Practical Guide.  Jessica trains people privately as well as teaching group classes in the Gyrotonic® Expansion Method at Body Evolutions West 72nd Street.  Jessica is a Proud Member of SDC.