85: From Car Crash to Choreography — Jessica Chen

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This week on 5.6.7.EIGHT, Aleksandra interviews Jessica Chen, Artistic Director of the</span> <a href="http://www.jchenproject.com/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">J CHEN PROJECT</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">, a 501c3 nonprofit modern dance company based out of New York City that uses movement as a vehicle to heal wounds, share stories, and better understand our human existence. Chen is a seasoned dancer with a wide variety of dance and choreography credits. She has choreographed works for some of the biggest stages, including</span> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the International Human Rights Arts Festival.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jessica’s story is an incredible one, and her journey to where she is today has not been an easy road. In the not-so-distant past, Chen was involved in a near-fatal car crash, resulting in eight straight hours of brain surgery and thirteen days in a medically induced coma. However, Jessica fought back to the stage, and her time without use of her limbs forced her to reevaluate her life’s calling and priorities. On the podcast, Jessica retells this incredible story and discusses how she now uses lessons learned from this traumatic event to help others overcome hardships through the arts.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Moving Quotes:</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We’re all experiencing this now. Taking a pause can be scary, but it also has so many insights when you just take the time to just breathe and think and meditate in a way that doesn’t have any expectations. You’re just being still."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Learning without the expectation of it becoming something is important because you’re using your creativity and your analytical skillsets."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I want to be creative in how we see dance and how we structure artistic community. And I think it’s