Hsueh-Tung Chen (or H. T. Chen) was a prolific dancer and choreographer who primarily worked in New York City, where he founded H.T. Chen & Dancers. Blending Chinese and Western styles, his historically-informed work focused on the Chinese American experience, and through his touring and teaching, he helped cultivate Chinese American performing arts both in New York and globally.

H.T. Chen was born in Shanghai in 1947 and moved with his family to Taiwan as a child. He gravitated towards dance as well as visual arts at a young age and studied dance at what is now Chinese Culture University, receiving an extensive education in classical Chinese opera movement and regional folk dances. Chen also began to gain a knowledge of Western dance while in Taiwan. He was taught Russian ballet and was exposed to modern dance by traveling American artists. Chen initially faced difficulty getting his parents to understand his passion for dance, but with time, and especially after they saw him perform, they saw that it was his calling.

H.T. Chen performing, photographed by David Drebin. From “Remembering H.T. Chen,” La MaMa, https://lamama.org/.

In 1971, Chen came to the United States to study modern dance at the Martha Graham School, taking a job as a delivery boy to pay for his education. He later auditioned for the Juilliard School and was accepted on scholarship. There, he met his wife, Dian Dong, another dance student. They were the first Chinese male and female students, respectively, in Juilliard’s Dance Department. Dong was asked to be his translator even though they spoke different dialects, but they formed a relationship, eventually marrying in 1975. After graduating, Chen pursued a master’s in dance education at NYU, studying under Doris Rudko.

H.T. Chen playing Prince Chu during the dress rehearsal of The Return of the Phoenix, a production put on by the Chinese Theater Group at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club on June 27, 1973. Photograph taken by Emile Bocian, Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection.

During and after receiving his M.A. in 1978, Chen worked with the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre and La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. Ellen Stewart, La MaMa’s founder, donated rehearsal space for Chen and his budding company for years even though her support for non-American dancers led some funders to withhold or reduce her funding. Stewart’s assistance enabled Chen to establish his company H.T. Chen & Dancers in 1978. In 1980, he and Dong co-founded Chen Dance Center on Mulberry Street in Chinatown, opening a theater as part of the center in 1988. At the center’s school, Chen and his team began teaching Chinese opera, kung fu, ballet, and modern dance. He wanted to provide a broad education and teach students their cultural heritage, but his main mission was to show them the joy of dance and instill arts appreciation from a young age.

H.T. Chen with members of his company. From left to right: Hsin-Ya Hou, Dian Dong, Fumiko Rose, Dagmar Spain, Rome Quezada, and Jennifer Bishop. Photographed by Carol Rosegg. From “Remembering H.T. Chen,” La MaMa, https://lamama.org/.

Globalism and cultural exchange were key to H.T. Chen’s practice. He harnessed his unique style—a highly informed blend of traditional and modern Western and Chinese dance—to create pieces that communicated Chinese American experiences with aesthetic and technical prowess. While many dance companies were similarly combining techniques, H.T. Chen & Dancers stood out, praised for their particularly seamless blend of styles. The troupe included dancers from different backgrounds, and Chen incorporated an international dancers exchange program, adding even more diverse perspectives. Chen wanted to put Chinese American art and history in the public eye, performing for audiences across the United States as well as internationally. The company toured extensively in Europe and Asia and at times put on more than one hundred performances in a single year.

Advertisement for Chen & Dancers featured within an article about the company in Chinese American Forum. From Chinese American Forum, Vol. 10, No. 3, January 1995. Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection.

Early on during his time in New York, Chen witnessed Chinese Americans protesting for workers’ rights and became devoted to telling these stories through dance. His piece Transparent Hinges (1997) details the history of Chinese American laborers and the immigration process thousands went through on Angel Island. He recounts both the more literal action of becoming Chinese American and the less tangible experience of contending with two identities at once. Continuing this exploration, Bian Dan (2000) portrays navigating generational divides within Chinese American immigrant families at the same time as acclimating to the United States. Using bian dan, or bamboo poles traditionally used as carrying tools, Chen draws a parallel between physical and cultural burdens, illustrating the perseverance of immigrants.

As the Chicago Sun-Times put it in a review of Bian Dan, “H.T. Chen is a choreographer with the instincts of a sociologist.” Chen’s thorough and personal research methodology was crucial to his practice. He held workshops and interviewed Chinese American immigrants across the country. Over many years, he conducted research on Angel Island, in the South and the West Coast. Before performances, he often introduced the work to make it more approachable to his audiences. Sometimes he projected historical photographs onstage and involved non-dancers in performances. In these aspects, Chen’s emphasis on community engagement was clear. With meticulous research behind every piece, Chen highlighted both familiar and obscure Chinese American stories.

H.T. Chen’s work has earned him the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Organization of Chinese Americans, the New York City Mayor’s Award for Arts & Culture, and the New York State Governor’s Arts Award, among others. He received grants from the Jerome Foundation, the JP Morgan Chase Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts in the form of the Creative Artists Public Service Award. He also received numerous fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Chen Dance Center has faced many obstacles in recent years. In January of 2020, a fire devastated Chinatown’s historic 70 Mulberry Street building, displacing the company and destroying most of its one-of-a-kind costumes, props, and sets. Additionally, the center’s classes had to be suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Chen Dance Center remained resilient, holding classes, workshops and performances online, later introducing events in outdoor spaces. 

In 2022, Chen passed away from lung cancer at the age of 74. His wife took over direction of Chen Dance Center, carrying on his legacy of promoting dance and Chinese American culture. Through the center’s lasting impact, H. T. Chen is remembered as a central figure in the Chinese American dance world, who channeled his expertise into teaching, creating art, and advancing meaningful change.

By Nikolai Gottesdiener, Bloomberg Arts Intern at MOCA