About

dancEnlight's mission is dedicated to fostering the arts through excellence in dance, Qigong, arts, education and artistic collaboration in a tapestry of Eastern and Western culture & ideas. dancEnlight strives to enrich the community, enlighten audiences of all ages, and inspire cultural development, locally and globally.

Founded by Lorelei Chang and Mai Nakanishi in 2008, dancEnlight is a professional modern dance company that performs in the US & Japan under the direction of Lorelei Chang (US) and Mai Nakanishi (Japan). Ms Chang & Nakanishi draw their inspiration from their Asian background and creates cross-cultural works with inventive ideas. Their idea of combining dance and the ancient art form of Chinese calligraphy and Qigong has uniquely set the company apart from others. Through artistic collaboration, dancEnlight works together with local and global artists to create lasting, high quality works of art that can be embraced by a wide range of audiences.

Since 2008, dancEnlight has performed at many venues locally and globally such as Trinity College, Charter Oak Cultural Center, Mohegan Sun, Heights Of Wellness, Wadsworth Anthenuem, NBC Wellness Festival, International Festival of Arts and Ideas, 5x5 Dance Festival, The Book Festival, first ever in CT; The Hartt School, Marlborough Arts Center, South Windsor Senior Center, Greater Hartford Academy, Rebound Dance Festival, Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, The HOT school, Playhouse on Park, International Calligraphy Conference in Boston, and many venues in Japan including Yokohama Museum of Art in Tokyo.

In the past years, dancEnlight has been providing education programs for all ages, and is committed to serve the community by performances, outreach organizations and events. The company has performed for many private and public schools as well as community service projects over the years including Farmington High School, Sedgwick School, Asian Study Academy, Granby Public Schools, Kinsella Performing Arts School, Killingworth Elementary School, Chester Elementary School, Kingswood Oxford School, South Windsor Senior Center, White Oak Retirement Center. Ms. Chang and the company are excited to share the "Dance & Calligraphy" residency program and "Ink Passion" performances. The company offers two annual Summer Intensive programs: 1) Summer Intensive for teens, adults and professional dancers 2) Summer Intensive For Youth for ages 6-8 and 9-12.

In May, 2011, dancEnlight was awarded a non-matching grant from the Artist Fellowship Grant Program. This grant supported the company's world premiere, "The Way" In March 2012. dancEnlight produces annual company dance concert from 2008 to 2017. With all the overwhelming feedback, dancEnlight is humbled and profoundly blessed with the support from the board, family, friends and fans.

dancEnlight's collaborators include Mai Nakanishi Cultural Arts, Tokyo, Japan and Lanzhimo Culture Development Co., Ltd.Beijing,

dancEnlight is on break since 2018. Currently Lorelei is offering dance performance, online classes and workshops. She hopes to continue serve our community through Qigong, dance, Taijiquan, Chinese calligraphy and arts.

Photo Credit: Li Jian Guo
Dancers: Lorelei Chang & Mai Nakanishi

Lorelei Chang--Artistic Director

Lorelei Chang loves life! It has brought her much richness from being one of the first modern dance pioneers in China and performing internationally, studying Shiatsu and Chinese Medicine, winning awards for Taijiquan performances, and her 40 years of dance life on stage to being completely off stage as a full-time caregiver. Life has presented Lorelei with a broad range of varying dynamics such as her combining dance and calligraphy. Her life has been filled with excitement, wisdom, and challenges.

Lorelei and her twin sister, Mai Nakanishi, were privileged to perform during the closing ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. The sisters are world-class artists who pioneered the combination of Chinese calligraphy, Qigong, and modern dance. Lorelei is the founder and artistic director of danceEnlight in Connecticut.

Lorelei has taught as faculty and guest at many dance schools and universities in CT includes Trinity College, University of Hartford, Connecticut Concert Ballet, GHAA, Miss Porter School, and many more. She also taught Qigong and Chinese Calligraphy at National Qigong Association’s annual conferences, Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, Omega institute For Holistic Studies, Beijing, China, Tokyo, Japan and more. She is currently offering only online classes for Qigong, Movement and Chinese Calligraphy.

Lorelei is a professional member of the National Qigong Association. She is a Shiatsu practitioner trained by Nini Melvin and a certified instructor of Radiant Lotus Women’s Qigong founded by Daisy Lee.

Lorelei holds deep reverence and gratitude for her many teachers; especially her mother who introduced her twin daughters to the gift of Qigong in their early teens. Lorelei’s teachers have influenced all areas of her life, and she hopes their lights continue to illuminate through her presence and teachings. Lorelei truly hopes that in her lifetime, whomever she encounters benefits from her work and teachings.

Photo Credit: Zoe Macerollo

Mai Nakanishi-Co-Artistic Director, Guest Choreographer & Performer

Mai is Lorelei's twin sister, who is co-founder of dancEnlight based in Tokyo, Japan. She is a performer, a choreographer, a ballroom dance instructor, and Chinese calligrapher. A Beijing native, Mai Nakanishi is an internationally recognized calligraphy artist and highly skilled professional dancer. She began her calligraphy at the age of five. As an award-winning calligraphy artist, honoraries include being the 2009 recipient of the prestigious Tokyo Museum International Chinese Calligraphy Award. Aside from Calligraphy, Mai Nakanishi is a trained professional dancer and instructor. She began her dance training in classical ballet, and Chinese folk dance at age three. As a young adult, she was selected among thousands of dancers in Beijing, China to receive full scholarship, intensive dance training, at China's top dance institutions, working with and studying directly under world-class instructors and choreographers. Mai received numerous Certificates of Excellence at many dance competitions. She moved to Tokyo, Japan in 1993 and continued her profession as dancer and instructor. After graduating from the prestige Guang Dong Dance University, she became a founding member of Guang Dong Dance Company, China's first modern dance company.

Photo Credit: Sachiko Nagata