School of the Arts

Jiao Li is School Director at New York Chinese Cultural Center. She is Chinese native graduate from Temple University Master of Fine Art in Modern dance. Before receiving her BA from Beijing Dance Academy in Chinese Folk dance, she served as an Adjunct Professor in the dance department of University of Sports Tian Jin in China. She has previously had the great honor of performing at China’s National Center for the Performing Arts. She was invited to dance at the New York Times Square Countdown Live 2017. She participated in Hong Kong international Choreography Festival and presented her piece in Sheung Wan Civic Center Theater in 2017, she has been teaching at NYCCC since 2018.

Alice Chacon is a Chinese adoptee raised in New York City. She began her formal dance training at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts (“Fame” school). From a young age, she also trained at the New York Chinese Cultural Center (NYCCC) in Chinese Classical and Folk dance to stay close to her roots. Alice continued her training at the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase College where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts (BFA) in Dance Performance in 2018. She is currently a freelance dancer, photographer, and filmmaker working with names such as Sidra Bell Dance NY, Adam Barruch, SYREN Modern Dance, and more.

Beibei Gu was NYCCC’s School Director, she was a principal dancer with the Shanghai Song and Dance Company and an elected member of Professional Dancer’s Guild of China and has performed leading roles in countless dance operas, touring extensively throughout Europe, Australia, North America and China. As a teacher, Beibei has taught students in Sichuan Province and the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in China. She is a graduate of the Shanghai Dance Academy with Specialty in Chinese traditional and folk dance.

Angela Lai is a graduate of the First Institute of Art and Design in Hong Kong and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York, with a degree in Pattern Making and Fashion Design. She has taught Chinese calligraphy and painting at various after school programs. She has been teaching Arts and Crafts at NYCCC for the past 3 years.

Jiali Wang is an award-winning and multi position dance artist based in New York, New York. Working for New York Chinese Cultural Center as a cultural dance artist, she is also a coordinator of Dance China New York Company. In contemporary dance field, Jiali has found her own dance theater project and has been working on multiple NYC performances as a founder and artistic director, choreographer, and producer. Wang received her BFA from Beijing Dance Academy in 2010, and went on to earn her MFA at SUNY The College at Brockport in 2017. Wang’s choreography has been presented at ACDA Conference, Mark Morris Dance Theater, Movement Research, MuCCC Theater, Green Space, AOS Performance, CBG Dance Festival, The Craft, Sans Limites Movement Festival, Queens Outdoor Dance Festival, PIP Central Park, Dixon Place Theater, Hudson Guild Theater and Brookfield Lunar New Year Gala. Meanwhile, she has performed in works by Mariah Maloney, Nicole Kaplan, Vanessa Voskuil, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, An Nuo Spiritual Dance Art at Jazz at Lincoln Center, as well as many other choreographers.

Yan Hua Wang graduated from Yunnan Chinese Medical University. While at school, she was the disciple of numerous nationally renowned Taiji Masters. She is a lifetime member of U.S. National Wushu Kung Fu Federation and U.S. National Taiji Quan Federation. Wang has shown great dedicated in combining her traditional Chinese medical knowledge with martial arts teaching, and beloved by her students, she has been teaching at NYCCC since 2001.