About Naishi Wang

Born in Changchun, China, and now based in culturally diverse Toronto, I began my training at Jilin College of Art in Chinese martial arts, Chinese classical dance, and folk dance.

In 2004, I moved to Canada to attend The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, later joining Toronto Dance Theatre as a company member for nine years.

Photo by (from left to right). Guntar Kravis, David Hou, Jeremy Mimnagh and Guntar Kravis.

In 2015, I began working extensively as an independent artist, collaborating with diverse choreographers worldwide.

Photo by. Jeremy Mimnagh(left), Heiko Marquardt(right), Xavier Curnillon(top & bottom).

My choreographic career began with collaborative projects in Germany, co-creating works with Berlin-based Tanztheater artist Christoph Winkler, including Can Asian Dance?, Crossing Half of China to Sleep With You, and Tale of the Dragon and Lion.

Photo by Dieter Hartwig(all)

In 2018, my solo Taking Breath premiered in Toronto and toured to Montreal, Annapolis Royal, Halifax, and Hamburg. In 2019, I created Free Steps, commissioned by Toronto/Halifax-based Nostos Collective. In 2020, I received the Small Scale Creation Fund from the CanDance Network and Les Respirations du FTA.

Photo by Martin Hüsges(left), Omer Yukseker(right bottom) & Francesca Chudnoff(right top).

During the pandemic in 2021, I deepened my exploration into the motivations behind bodily movement and the emotions they express, developing an improvisational practice that transforms into incarnations of meaning. My drawings and writings—“dances on paper”—echo my movement-based work.

In 2022, my duet Face To Face, an embodied emotional journal, premiered at the Citadel in Toronto, followed by performances at FTA at La Chapelle (Montreal) and Tanzmesse (Düsseldorf). In the same year, I was honoured with the Chalmers Arts Fellowship from the Ontario Arts Council.

Photo by Jeremy Mimnagh(left top & bottom), art work with Master Man Kuen Wong (right)

In 2024, I toured Deciphers, an international collaboration with UK-based artist Jean Abreu, across Canada, with stops in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. That summer, I officially registered Naishi Wang Dance Company with the goal of continuing to explore the aesthetic of “emotionally damaged bodies”—a poetics of brokenness and resilient, transformative emotional energy—through collaborative creation with other artists.

I am currently an artist-in-residence at Citadel + Compagnie and Xing Dance Studio, preparing the company’s first group production, Eyes Wide Open.