Xin Ying

Xin Ying is a dancer, choreographer and educator. Born and raised in China, Ying studied Chinese classical folk dance and attended the Nanjing University of Arts, where she was an inaugural member of the university's 4-year choreography program. She began her professional career as a dance teacher at the Sichuan College of Arts & Culture, where she later took on a director role for the dance department. In 2008, she led students from the relatively unknown university to win a Lotus Award - the top prize in China's classical dance competition. On a sabbatical in 2010, she attended the Martha Graham School in New York in hopes of learning more about modern dance and its origins. She received a scholarship to continue her studies and to join the Graham 2 student company. In 2011, Xin Ying joined the Martha Graham Dance Company, where she is currently a principal dancer. 

Xin Ying performs many of Martha Graham’s own roles including in Cave of the Heart, Errand into the Maze, Herodiade, Chronicle, Lamentation and Deep Song. She has also been featured in new works created for the Graham Company by Nacho Duato, Pontus Lidberg, Annie-B Parson, Kyle Abraham and others. Xin Ying has a passion for choreography and digital media -- she frequently posts improv videos on her Instagram that showcase her unique Chinese folk and American modern dance influences, and she's presented a duet at Google utilizing virtual reality technology to create a 3D painting. Xin Ying has a passion for sharing modern dance the Graham technique with the world; she teaches and choreographs everywhere from Salt Lake City, UT and Little Rock, AR to Turkey and China.