How this N.J. husband is keeping his wife’s legacy alive after tragedy struck in Hawaii

When Andy Chiang lost his wife on a trip to Hawaii, he says it was a pain like no other.

But the thought of not continuing the legacy of her passion was one reality he would not be able to handle.

“The unspeakable thing happened to my wife when visiting our daughter,” said Chiang, who lives in Fort Lee. “Each day, I carry that. But also, the legacy of my wife’s dance production that is so beloved.”

Now, the dance company that has had over 20 years of success is continuing its tradition of bringing Chinese culture across the United States.

The Fort Lee-based Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company will celebrate the Lunar New Year with its annual production, “Year of the Horse,” set for 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

Founded in the late 1980s by Taiwanese-born choreographer Nai-Ni Chen, the company grew out of Chen’s early success in New York’s downtown dance scene, where a critically acclaimed commission at La MaMa helped launch her career. At a time when opportunities for Asian American dancers on Broadway were limited, Chen established her own troupe, which has since become one of the few Asian American dance companies to tour extensively across the United States.

A longtime winter tradition at NJPAC that started in the late 1990s, the family-friendly matinees blend traditional Chinese dance with contemporary choreography, featuring colorful costumes, lion and dragon dances, ribbon work, acrobatics and live music, according to Chiang. The performances honor the spirit of renewal associated with the Lunar New Year while showcasing the company’s cross-cultural approach.

This year’s program includes three premieres. The first is a duet choreographed by residency artist Ying Shi that highlights the folk traditions of China’s Yunnan Province, known for fluid hip sways and soft shoulder movements.

The second, “Mongolian Harvest,” by Inner Mongolia native Lawrence Jin, draws on the region’s nomadic horse culture with bold, athletic choreography.

The company will also debut “Vira of the Red Horse,” a collaboration with Newark’s Rancho Camponeses do Minho, blending Portuguese Minho folk dance with Chinese movement in a tribute to the city’s immigrant history and its Ironbound community.

In addition, the program will feature a work-in-progress, “Mythical Echos,” inspired by the art of the Dunhuang caves along the Silk Road.

Live music will be performed by LiangXing Tang, a National Heritage Fellow, on the pipa, or Chinese lute, and by Yi Yang, a 2026 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Heritage fellow, on the guzheng, a 21-to-27-stringed instrument akin to a zither.

Festivities begin at 12 p.m. on Saturday with a dragon parade from NJPAC to the Newark Museum of Art three blocks away, followed by a marketplace in the theater lobby before the 2 p.m. performance. Tickets are on sale now at NJPAC.org.