Xi Zhao

Xi Zhao (Choreographer) received her MFA from Tisch

School of the Arts at NYU and her MA at the School of

Dance, Minzu University of China, where she stayed as a

tenured lecturer after graduation and worked for 12

years. Xi’s choreographic works including Chinese Dance,

modern dance, and Chinese Opera have won many major

prizes in China and have been presented internationally.

She is the founder and artistic director of Beijing New

Dance Festival, one of the most influential international

contemporary dance festivals in China. From 2015 to

2000, the festival invited over 100 international artists

from more than 25 countries to perform and to teach in

Beijing, introducing various contemporary dance artists

and companies from central and Eastern Europe to China

for the first time. In view of Xi Zhao's contributions to the

international contemporary dance exchanges, the Dance

Fest Skopje in North Macedonia honored her the "Award

MENADA for Extraordinary Achievement in the Field of

Contemporary Dance" in 2019. Xi moved to St. Louis as a

Visiting Guest Artist in the Dance Department at Webster

University where she currently serves in the faculty team

and has been the Artistic Director of Webster University

Dance Ensemble since 2021.