Shen Wei () is a Chinese-American choreographer, painter, and director who resides in New York City. Widely recognized for his defining vision of an intercultural and interdisciplinary mode of movement-based performance, Shen Wei creates original works that employ an assortment of media elements, including dance, painting, sound, sculpture, theater and video. Frequently, critics have commented on his innovative blend of Asian and Western sensibilities, as well as his syncretic approach to performance art. In 2000, he founded Shen Wei Dance Arts and became the artistic director of the contemporary dance company. The works he has created for the company is based on his own dance technique created over the past 12 years, a movement language he calls "natural body development". In recent years, Shen Wei has expanded his artistry to include large-scale multimedia works showcasing original art installations, and original video and animation material. Shen Wei's 13 major movement-based works has toured in 30 countries in 130 cities. Shen Wei has been commissioned by the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony, the Park Avenue Armory, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Lincoln Center Festival in New York City, and the TeatroDell'Opera di Roma, as well as contemporary ballet companies such as Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal. For each new work he choreographs, Shen Wei typically designs all the visual elements including the sets, costumes and make-up, film projection and lighting as well. In addition to creating works for the proscenium, Shen Wei has also created works for fashion shows, art exhibition openings, and other cultural productions for international companies. In July 2008, he choreographed a fashion show at Paris Haute Couture for the label WUYONG, by the Chinese designer Ma Ke. In 2004, Shen Wei received the Nijinsky Award for Emerging Choreographer and, in 2007, he received the MacArthur Award. China (1968–1994) early education and influences Family background and education in the arts Shen (family name) Wei (give name) was born in 1968 in Hunan, China to an artist family during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. His father is a Chinese opera director, performer and calligrapher, and his mother is a theater producer. Both of Shen Wei's brothers are visual artists. Shen Wei left home at the age of nine to study classical Chinese Opera at The Hunan Arts School (now: Hunan Vocational College of the Arts) for more than 6 years (1978–1984). His