EDWAARD LIANG

Edwaard Liang was born in Taipei, Taiwan and was raised in Marin County, California. He began his dance training at the age of five at Marin Ballet. In 1989, Mr. Liang entered the School of American Ballet. He joined New York City Ballet in the spring of 1993, and that same year, was a medal winner at the Prix de Lausanne International Ballet Competition and the Mae L. Wien Award. He was promoted to Soloist in 1998. In 2001, Edwaard joined the Tony Award winning Broadway cast of Fosse, performing a leading principle role. In 2002, he was invited by Jiri Kylian to become a member of the acclaimed Nederlands Dans Theater 1. Dancing with NDT 1 is where he discovered his passion and love for choreography. After returning from Holland, Edwaard again danced with the New York City Ballet from 2004-2007.

Edwaard Liang started his choreographic career with the Nederlands Dans Theater 1 workshop. His piece FLIGHT OF ANGELS, has since been performed by various companies around the world. He was then invited to participate in the prestigious 2004 New York Choreographic Institute. That same year, DISTANT CRIES, danced by NYCB Principal Dancers Peter Boal and Wendy Whelan, was premiered to rave reviews from the New York Times and had performances at the Joyce Theatre, New York City Ballet, and City Center. Since establishing himself as a freelance choreographer, numerous companies have performed his ballets Some of the recent companies that have performed his works include New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, Shanghai Ballet, Washington Ballet, Hubbard Street 2, National Ballet of Novosibirsk, Colorado Ballet, Guggenheim's Works and Process, and Morphoses the Wheeldon Company.

In 2006, Edwaard was named one of the "TOP 25 to Watch" by Dance Magazine for choreography. He was also the winner of the 2006 National Choreographic Competition, and was also invited to be apart of the 2007 National Choreographers Initiative. In 2008, Edwaard Liang was invited to create a new work for the Joffrey Ballet. The resulting ballet, AGE OF INNOCENCE, with costumes by Maria Pinto, was deemed " a newly minted masterpiece" by the Chicago Sun Times.

Edwaard has also been featured in the New York City Ballet Workout book and it's accompanying video and Richard Corman's book of photographs "Glory". His television appearances include the nationally televised PBS Great Performances broadcast "Dance in America: From Broadway: Fosse," which has subsequently been made into a DVD. He is one of the winners of the Prince Prize Grant for Choreography and the Choo San Goh Award for Choreography. In 2008, he was also nominated for the Golden Mask Award for WHISPERS IN THE DARK in Russia.

2009 has been a particularly prolific year for Edwaard. When the calendar year ends, he will have had five ballets premiered world wide. Above all else, he feels extremely humbled and honored to be able to create new works in the world of dance.