About the Artists

Yue Yin is an internationally recognized performer and choreographer and the founder and artistic director of YY Dance Company (YYDC). Yin studied at the prestigious Shanghai Dance Academy and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she received her MFA in 2008. In 2018, Yin founded YYDC, a NYC-based, non-profit contemporary dance company dedicated to the teaching, production, and performance of Yin's original choreographic works. Yin’s signature FoCo Technique™ represents a dynamic fusion of folk, ballet and contemporary dance. YYDC’s mission is to incorporate Yin’s signature movement style into live performances and choreographic commissions as well as educational endeavors. Under Yin’s direction, the company has presented its work to live audiences on U.S. and international stages. Yue was recipient of 2021 Harkness Promise Award, which recognizes her innovation in choreography and education. She was also the winner of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago 2015 International Commissioning Project, winner of the 2015 BalletX Choreographic Fellowship, and winner of Northwest Dance Project’s 5th Annual Pretty Creatives International Choreographic Competition in 2013. Through these high-profile successes, Yin has received commissions from all three widely recognized companies as well as other companies and organizations namely Martha Graham Dance Company, Boston Ballet, BalletMet, Oregon Ballet Theater, Philadelphia Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Limon Dance Company, Alberta Ballet, Balletto Teatro di Torino, Gibney Dance Company, Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, Whim W’him, Bruce Wood Dance, Ririe Woodbury Dance Company, Boston Dance Theater, 10 Hairy Legs, New Dialect, Backhausdance, Tisch School of The Arts, George Mason University, Rutgers University, Point Park University, West Michigan University, and Juilliard School for Dance.

Annie Arnoult is the founding artistic director and current executive artistic director Open Dance Project (ODP) where she directs the company’s professional performance season and oversees the company’s extensive dance education work. Arnoult returned to her native Houston from Chicago where she was the artistic director of Chicago’s Striding Lion Performance Group, garnering acclaim for the company as a “new center of gravity for indie dance in Chicago.” Arnoult was named one of “25 to Watch 2018” by Dance Magazine and was a 2017 recipient of Houston Arts Alliance Individual Artist Grant for the development of the critically acclaimed ‘Bout a Stranger, deemed one of the “most fully realized pieces to come out of Houston in decades,” by Nancy Wozny of Dance Magazine. Arnoult’s creative work is deeply informed and influenced by her 25 years as an artist teacher and integrated arts education advocate in Chicago Public Schools, HISD, and surrounding districts. Arnoult is the director of Hunter Dance Center in the Heights and has been a guest artist/teacher at universities, festivals, conferences, and institutes throughout the U.S. Arnoult is a Certified Cecchetti Ballet teacher and a member of the National Dance Education Organization. Her research and choreography has been presented regionally and internationally. She has served on the dance faculty of Northwestern University and The School of Theatre and Dance at University of Houston. In addition to performing in her own work, Arnoult is a member of Houston’s Transitory Sound and Movement Collective, under the direction of Lynn Lane, and has danced for Meghan Durham, Ashley Thorndike-Youssef, XSIGHT! Performance Group, Lucky Plush Productions, Peter Carpenter, Asimina Chremos, and Billy Siegenfeld’s Jump Rhythm Jazz Project.

About Houston Contemporary Dance Company

The Houston Contemporary Dance Company’s (HCDC) mission is to ignite passion for contemporary dance by providing world-class professional repertory concert performances and community engagement activities that are accessible to all regardless of race, culture, sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, or nationality. HCDC aims to lead and innovate performing arts in Houston by drawing upon the director’s long tradition of inclusiveness and diversity within all facets of the organization. HCDC sets itself apart by employing high caliber performing and choreographic artists from across the country. In setting high technical and artistic standards, HCDC is currently the only contemporary repertory company to provide Houston audiences with opportunities to view works created by some of America’s most exciting dancemakers that speak to and are representative of the full spectrum of Houston’s diverse populace, while supporting talented Texas based artists as well. HCDC’s philosophy is simple: use inclusiveness and equity as a guide to create experiences that speak to and are representative of the full spectrum of Houston’s diverse populace. In just five seasons and despite the challenges of the ongoing global pandemic, HCDC has presented 18 unique concerts across the Houston area and a performance at the Carver in San Antonio, saw the creation of over 26 new choreographic works, held educational activities at a variety of Houston area schools, participated in the Red Rock Dance Festival in Utah, Austin Dance Festival, and forged meaningful partnerships with an array of Houston organizations and artists. Led by founder and artistic director Marlana Doyle and drawing from her over 25 years of curatorial experience, HCDC’s five seasons have been presented at a range of Houston theaters including the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Discovery Green Park, the Miller Outdoor Theatre, the Queensbury Theatre, and the Institute of Contemporary Dance Houston. The company’s first three seasons have also been highlighted with premieres created by exceptional artists including Princess Grace recipient Joshua Manculich, Associate Director of Juilliard Dance Mario Zambrano, NYC based emerging artist Keerati Jinkunwiphat, Houston dance icon and director of Hope Stone Dance Inc. Jane Weiner, Artistic Director of Madison Ballet Ja’ Malik, Houston artist and Co-Artistic Director of iMEE Andrea Dawn Shelley, and HSPVA and Juilliard graduate Robbie Moore. HCDC has forged partnerships and collaborative projects with Houston based artists including Kinetic Ensemble, Apollo Chamber Orchestra, Loop 38, Houston Poet Laureate Outspoken Bean, vocalist Christina Wells, genre-bending multi-instrumental duo from Houston Say Girl Say, and Contemporary West Dance Theatre from Las Vegas, NV. Houston Contemporary Dance Company’s 6th Season is funded in part by the Houston Arts Alliance through the City of Houston, Texas Commission on the Arts and Dance Source Houston. We would also like to thank Bob Boblitt, Shirley and Brian Colona, Bobbie Nau, and Remington and Sarah Tonar for their support this season.

About Open Dance Project

Open Dance Project (ODP) is a contemporary dance theater company, under the direction of Annie Arnoult, whose ensemble-driven work transforms literary, historical, and community-based source material into highly stylized performance experiences. Through a collision of dance and theater, live performance and new media, urban grit and magical realism, ODP breaks down conventional barriers between artist and audience to make dance more accessible and meaningful for both. ODP is on the Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Artists Roster and is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. The company brings high-quality interdisciplinary arts education and arts integration to Houston school children through its extensive education and community engagement program and partners with Young Audiences of Houston and Arts Connect Houston to work towards arts equity in Houston schools.

Performing Arts and Culture programs at Asia Society Texas are presented by Syamal and Susmita Poddar. Major support comes from Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, The Brown Foundation, Inc., the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, Houston Endowment Inc. Generous funding also provided by The Anchorage Foundation of Texas, The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the Wortham Foundation. Additional support is provided by The Clayton Fund, and the Friends of Asia Society, a dedicated group of individuals and organizations committed to bringing exceptional programming to Asia Society Texas.

Performing Arts and Culture Presenting Sponsors

Syamal and Susmita Poddar

Performing Arts and Culture Program Sponsors

Program Partners

Program Sponsors

About Asia Society Texas

Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community — trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.