Muna Tseng is a Chinese-American dancer, choreographer, author and lecturer. She has lived in New York since 1978 and in 1984 founded Muna Tseng Dance Projects in New York City. She created over 40 dance productions and performed in over 30 cities and festivals in 15 countries. Since 1990 she has been the director and executrix of her late brother

Tseng Kwong Chi Tseng Kwong Chi, known as Joseph Tseng prior to his professional career (Chinese: ; September 6, 1950 – March 10, 1990), was a Hong Kong-born American photographer who was active in the East Village art scene in the 1980s. He is the brother of d ...

's photography archive. She has served for several years on the 'Current Practice' subcommittee for the annual

Bessie Awards The New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessie Awards, are awarded annually for exceptional achievement by independent dance artists presenting their work in New York City. The broad categories of the awards are: choreography, ...

, also known as the New York Dance and Performance Awards.

Biography

Muna Tseng was born and raised in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. In

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, Canada, she began her modern dance training at age 13 with Magda and Gertrude Hanova, disciples of

Mary Wigman Mary Wigman (born Karoline Sophie Marie Wiegmann; 13 November 1886 – 18 September 1973) was a German dancer and choreographer, notable as the pioneer of expressionist dance, dance therapy, and movement training without pointe shoes. She is co ...

, and with Heather McCallum who worked with

Anna Halprin Anna Halprin (born Hannah Dorothy Schuman; July 13, 1920 – May 24, 2021) was an American choreographer and dancer. She helped redefine dance in postwar America and pioneer the experimental art form known as postmodern dance and referred to hers ...

. Tseng was invited to New York by

Jean Erdman Jean Erdman (February 20, 1916 – May 4, 2020) was an American dancer and choreographer of modern dance as well as an avant-garde theater director. Biography Early years and background Erdman was born in Honolulu. Erdman's father, John Piney ...

after graduating from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. Tseng was a principal dancer in Erdman and her husband and mythologist

Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the ...

's Theatre of the Open Eye from 1978 to 1985, and was one of the first dancers to inherit many of Erdman's seminal roles, dancing to originally commissioned music by

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

Teiji Ito was a Japanese composer and performer. He is best known for his scores for the avant-garde films by Maya Deren. Early life Ito was born in Tokyo, Japan to a theatrical family. His mother, Teiko Ono, was a dancer and his father, Yuji Ito, was a ...

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his form ...

, and

Louis Horst Louis Horst (born January 12, 1884, Kansas City, Missouri – died January 23, 1964, New York City) was a composer, and pianist. He helped to define the principles of modern dance choreographic technique, most notably the matching of choreography t ...

. She is one of Erdman's best known students. Tseng has taught as adjunct faculty at New York University in the Playwrights Horizons Program (1996) and the Atlantic Theater Program (2002–2004); she was also an adjunct professor at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

(1980–1983). She founded and directed the Caumsett Summer Dance Residency program at

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

from 1984 to 1987. She regularly taught residency workshops in Tallinn, Estonia at Pollitalu Arts Centre, and in Bordeaux, France. Tseng regularly lectures on the topics of dance, performance, archiving and estate management. She has lectured at The Platform at

Paris Photo Paris Photo is an annual international art fair dedicated to photography. It was founded in 1997, and is held in November at the Grand Palais exhibition hall and museum complex, located at the Champs-Élysées in the 8th arrondissement in Par ...

, The Institute for Artists' Estates, and OPEN Singapore.

Honors and awards

Bessie Award The New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessie Awards, are awarded annually for exceptional achievement by independent dance artists presenting their work in New York City. The broad categories of the awards are: choreography, ...

for Choreography/Creation (with

Ping Chong Ping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Ping, a domesticated Chinese duck in the illustrated book '' The Story about Ping'', first published in 1933 * Ping, a minor character in ''Seinfeld'', an NBC sitcom * Ping, a c ...

) for ''Ambiguous Ambassador'' / ''SlutForArt'', 1999. *Citation for Best Choreography from ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' for ''The Silver River'', 2000-01 theater season. *Fund for American Artists at International Festivals and Exhibitions, Arts International, 2001, 1998, 1995, 1990. *International Touring Grant from Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, 2011. *"Meet the Composer", Choreographer/Composer Project, 1996, 1992, 1991. *Choreographic Fellowship,

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

, 1991, 1987. *Choreographic Fellowship,

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, 1988, 1987. *Commissions from

New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) is an arts council serving the U.S. state of New York. It was established in 1960 through a bill introduced in the New York State Legislature by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell (1905–1996), ...

, 1980–1985. *Choreographer/Visual Artist Collaboration, New York State Council on the Arts, 1985. *Citation for Outstanding Performances for Children and Youths from the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

, 1984. *Citation for Artistic Excellence from the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, 1984. *Citation for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts by Asian-Americans from the City President of New York, 1993.

Notable works

*''IT'S ALL TRUE: GRANDFATHER'' – Director, author, choreographer and performer; in development at Baryshnikov Arts Center Residency March 27 – April 21, 2017 *''After Fukushima'' – performed with Perry Yung, a 24-hour event to remember the tragedy, curated by Eiko, Danspace Project, March 2016. *''High Rise / Medusa'' – Director and choreographer; a site-specific dance commission for New York City Parks Summer Events, on large scale sculpture by Charles Ginnever, Hudson River Park, June 2014 *''Stella:'' – Danspace Project NY premiere 2011 (dramaturgy by

Ong Keng Sen Ong Keng Sen (born 20 November 1963; ) is a Singaporean director of the theatre group TheatreWorks, which was founded in 1985. Early life Ong Keng Sen was youngest of six children born to immigrants from Putian, China. Ong joined the drama cl ...

), residency TheatreWorks 72-13, Singapore 2010. *''Water Water, Water Mysteries, Water Trilogy'' – La MaMa NY, 2008, 2009; Jacobs Pillow MA, 2008; Joyce Theater NY premiere, 1988; toured UK, Switzerland, Sweden and Greece. *''Ambiguous Ambassador a.k.a. SlutForArt and 98.6: A Convergence in 15 Minutes'' – 92nd Street NY premiere, 1999; National Dance Project US tours, 1999–2002. *''The Silver River'' – Lincoln Center Festival, NY, 2002; Spoleto Festival USA, 2000; Philadelphia and Singapore tours. *''After Sorrow'' – Ping Chong and Company: La MaMa NY premiere, 1997; US, Korea and Hong Kong tours, 1997–98. *''The Idea of East'' – Performance Space 122 NY premiere, 1996; toured UK, 1998. *''The Pink'' – Hong Kong and La MaMa NY premieres 1994; US and Estonian tours, 1994–1997 *''MTPNC'' – Danspace NY premiere, 1992; German tour. *''Post-Revolutionary Girl'' – Dia NY premiere, 1989; toured Hong Kong, UK and Sweden.

References

External links

Muna Tseng Dance Projects Official Website

Interview with Muna Tseng in 2018
for part of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division Oral History Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Tseng, Muna Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Hong Kong female dancers American female dancers University of British Columbia alumni New York University faculty Rutgers University faculty Queens College, City University of New York faculty Bessie Award winners Hong Kong emigrants to the United States American women choreographers American choreographers Chinese choreographers American women academics 21st-century American women