Danny Nguyen

Photograph by Tommy Wu
Danny Nguyen was born on January 12, 1964 in Saigon, Vietnam. Eighteen years later in 1982, he left Vietnam to come to the United States. Even though it has been a long time, he will never forget the most memorable day of his life: arriving at the Airport in Hawaii- his first steps on American soil. Once he had relocated to the States, he was instantly inspired by the dancing on television shows such as Star Search, Dance Fever, and the movie Fame. Thinking to himself, "that looks like something fun, that looks easy enough", he began to seek out a dance education. By March 1983 he was afforded his first opportunity to pursue his formal education in dance at the San Francisco Ballet School, San Francisco, CA. Here he began his ballet training, and shortly thereafter, avidly sought out additional instruction at the Berkeley City Ballet and Berkeley Ballet Arts. While training, Mr. Nguyen performed in several ballet productions including: The Nutcracker, Peter and the Wolf, and The Bells.

However, once exposed to the diverse dance community of the Bay Area, ballet was not his only interest anymore. In fact, his quest for a well rounded dance education lead him to Los Angeles and New York City where he had the opportunity to study the techniques of Alvin Ailey, Trisha Brown, Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, Jose Limon, and Paul Taylor. Mr. Nguyen has also appeared in the repertories of: Rebecca Bobelles, David Dorfman, Molissa Fenley, Mark Taylor, Paul Taylor, Bill Young, and Tina Yuan.

During this formative time in L.A. and N.Y.C., he began to choreograph modern works and performed in most of them. His developing choreographic style included: Classical, Jazz, Modern, Post-Modern, all with to be executed with his unique twist of Vietnamese culture and experience.

Mr. Nguyen is the first Vietnamese pioneer modern dancer, teacher, and choreographer in the United States to receive his B.F.A. in Dance, Performance, and Choreography at California Institute of The Arts and his M.F.A. in Dance, Performance, and Choreography at Mills College. In the early spring of 1999 he had the honor of being invited to Paul Taylor's annual choreographic symposium in San Francisco. It was here that Mr. Taylor recognized Danny Nguyen as one of the seven best creative choreographers in the Bay Area.

Also in 1999, Mr. Nguyen formed his namesake the Nguyen Dance Company (NDC). Since its initial creation NDC has had the opportunity to perform in a multitude of communities, events and special occasions. Some highlights include: Danny would like to continue bringing his company to other cities and Vietnamese communities around the world and journeyed to Vietnam in 2004 and 2005. Mr. Nguyen would only like to prove to the world that Vietnamese people are as gifted and talented as any other. His group is also committed to providing outreach to many people, often the least likely to have access to the performing arts. He would like to welcome the greater Asian-American community into the arts.