Shen Wei is an international artist based in New York City. As a choreographer, director and visual artist, he founded Shen Wei Dance Arts (SWDA) in 2000. In addition to SWDA, Shen Wei is also a founding member of the first modern dance company in China, Guangdong Modern Dance Company (1991). Shen Wei has received the MacArthur "Genius" Award, Nijinsky Award, Australia's Helpmann Award, as well as the US Artist and Guggenheim Fellowships. His work has been performed in major international festivals and venues, including the Lincoln Center Festival, the Edinburgh Arts Festival, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the Park Avenue Armory in New York. Since 1995, Shen Wei has received 12 commissions from the American Dance Festival. His company, SWDA, has toured his works more than 30 countries and 130 cities around world in the past 11 years and in 2007 began a five-year residency at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.