The change wasn't choreographed, and it began with a series of videos.

"Every video I watched, the styles were slightly different," Wei-Chia Su said at a news conference with Eliot Feld and fellow dancer Wu-Kang Chen in New York last week. "those videos changed my perspective on how I enjoy and think about dance."

Chen, who has maintained a working relationship with Feld for 12 years, brought Su the videos of Feld's choreography. He joined Feld's Ballet Tech in 2001 and danced principal roles with the company for several years before co-founding the HORSE Dance Theatre with Su in 2005 in Taiwan.

"It's different than just an average dancer whose talent doesn't demand as much as the talent of these two gentlemen," Feld said at the news conference after two clips of the men dancing his work were viewed.

On Thursday, Chen will premiere a Feld solo piece and Su will premiere another solo, Zeppo, Act 2, at the Ballet Tech Kids Dance spring season opening night gala at the Joyce Theatre. Preceding the dance program, the company will host a wine reception at the school. Tickets for the thursday event cost $300 to $750 and benefit the tuition-free dance school. Chen will dance only for the gala and Su will dance all performances June 13-16, including Zeppo, Act 1.

Zeppo, Act 2, is the second installation of Feld's choreography collaboration with Su. the dance is based on a clown, set to music by Louis Armstrong and Feld said pays tribute to one of the "lesser known" Marx brothers, who all made movies during the early 20th century.

The American choreographer has produced 145 ballets since 1967 for a long list of performing groups, including the American Ballet theatre, John Curry Skating Company, San Francisco Ballet, and New York City Opera.

"My sense is that the challenge for a choreographer is to remain an amateur, so that the minute you really know what you're doing, it's not worth doing," Feld said. "You need to have the courage to go by the seat of your pants and be a beginner every time, so that you are looking for what is and has been unavailable to you."

Feld credited his varied background in ballet and contemporary dance for stretching the boundaries of his work. Whereas the ballet world largely focuses on leaping and standing erect, the modern dance style is more weighted and drawn into the ground, said Feld, who seeks to blend the two worlds.

When Chen auditioned for a spot in Ballet Tech, Feld said he was impressed by the dancer's technical skill, but was shocked when Chen performed one of Feld's "very American" dances as if he were born in Harlem.

Feld compared Chen to ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, who he recalled seeing as a 16-year-old. Feld said it was an amazing thing to see Baryshnikov come out from behind the Soviet Union's Iron Curtain and dance like he was born in the US.

"The influence [Feld] has had on me is everywhere," Chen said. 'I remember when I went back home in 2003 to choreograph and everything I did smelled like [Feld]."

After studying at and performing for Ballet Tech, Chen said he has inherited greater expectations for his own dance company and demands more of his dancers in Taiwan.

carolineberg@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 06/10/2013 page2)