Movers & Shapers: Oxana Chi

Oxana Chi is a choreographer, dancer, filmmaker, curator, author.

She founded the company Oxana Chi & Ensemble Xinren in Berlin, Germany in 1991 and moved to New York City in 2015. In 2018, she was listed in the Dance Enthusiast’s 2018 “A to Z” of People Who Power the Dance World.” She is featured in several publications and films, and is the main protagonist of the movie Dancing Through Gardens.

Oxana Chi created 19 dance productions, including 2 commissioned works for Humboldt-University. All creations are accompanied by music composed – and often performed live – by outstanding contemporary musicians specially for the dance. Drawing inspiration from her travels to and study in 40+ countries in Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, the Pacific, and the Americas, she developed her own performing language, Chi Fusion style.

The company received funding from public and private sponsors such as the European Union Social-Cultural Program, French Ministry for Youth, Sports and Societal Cohesion, Die Linke German Parliament Cultural Funding, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Heinrich-Boell-Foundation, Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah and Fimor. Oxana Chi performed at theaters, universities, and festivals all across Germany, as well as in the USA, Canada, Finland, Turkey, Australia, Canada, India, France, Austria, Taiwan, England, Indonesia, Ghana, Martinique, Singapore and Austria.

Oxana Chi is accompanied in this podcast by her main collaborator Dr. Layla Zami, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Performance + Performance Studies MFA Program at Pratt Institute and interdisciplinary artist (music, poetry, theater, film). Chi and Zami held residencies at the Abrons Arts Center (AIRspace Grant for Performing Artists 2017-2018), Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning and Maison Rouge : Maison des Arts (Martinique) among others.

With a passion for the intersection between performing arts, knowledge and civic education, Oxana Chi and Layla Zami curated events for Dixon Place, CUNY, Technical University Berlin, and are Co-Curators of Dance at the International Human Rights Art Festival. Oxana Chi was honored as an Ambassador of Peace for her art at DOSHIMA 2016 in Jakarta.