YU DANCE THEATRE

Bio: ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHER Cheng-Chieh Yu is a graduate of Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan where she received a B.F.A. in Modern Dance with a minor in Chinese Opera. After this initial training in modern dance techniques (Graham, Limon, and Cunningham) and ballet as well as Tai Chi Chuan, and Chinese opera, Yu went to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Dance Department and received an M.F.A. in Performance and Choreography. Her international performance career began as a company member touring with Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. Starting in 1991 based out of New York City she worked with numerous choreographers and as a member of dance companies including: The José Limón Dance Company, Gus Solomons Dance Company, Bebe Miller Dance Company, and Ralph Lemon Dance Project. Her performance career has privileged her to perform in remarkable venues, from Moscow and Beijing to the White House in Washington D.C. Her extensive teaching credits include the Beijing Dance Academy, ATV Academy for Performing Arts/China, The Guangdong Modern Dance Festival/China, City Contemporary Dance Company/Hong Kong, Academy of Performing Arts/Hong Kong, Taipei National University of the Arts/Taiwan, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre/Taiwan, Suzanne Dellal Dance Center/Tel Aviv, Ohio State University, Texas Woman’s University as well as in NYC at Movement Research, The Limon Institute and Dance Space Inc. She is currently an Assistant Professor of the Department of World Arts and Cultures, UCLA. 
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION DESIGNER Born in Canada Peter Melville is a visual artist working in combined media, exhibiting in Canada, Japan United States, and Germany.  Residing in NYC in the 80’s and 90’s, Melville received a MFA (visual art) from Hunter College CUNY and worked extensively designing in the experimental theater and dance communities. In 1980-85 he was a company member (Design Associate/Performer) for the Dia Art Foundation’s Whitman Theatre Project, an experimental theater group led by artistic director Robert Whitman, the seminal Happenings / Fluxus / EAT era interdisciplinary artist. Melville was part of Whitman's Dia Art Foundation artist team with entries in exhibitions and performance tours such as "Blam, Pop, Minimalism and Performance1958-64" Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, 1984, and "-60-80 attitudes/concepts/images" Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1982. In 1981 Melville participated with Group Material in the project “subculture” with entries in gallery, and active subway car exhibits. In 2000 Melville created the acclaimed School Lunch installation for the NY Food Museum exhibited in the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. As the Director of Technical Design at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Performing Arts Institute, 1985-2001 he had the pleasure to work with numerous theater directors and choreographers. Melville's scenic and lighting designs for Dance Theater include those for Doug Varone, Lance Gries, and David Rousseve, and for the Wooster Group (highlighting his time a resident lighting designer for the Whitney Museum of American Arts Performance Series).   Recent lecturing includes the Gaungzhou Art Academy and the ATV Gaungdong Performing Arts Academy in China, as well as with UCLA's Department of Worlds Arts and Cultures, and Crossroads School, Santa Monica. About.htmlhttp://livepage.apple.com/About.htmlshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1