NiNi Dongnier

Inner Mongolia-born and New York-based, choreographer and artist NiNi Dongnier works in choreographic performance, moving image, and painting. She delves deeply into questions about form, faith, constancy, migration, and the experience of life through explorations of movement, visual art, garment, and the use of tech intervention where necessary. Her work in dialogue with multiple nourishments—from her nomadic roots, classical training in a wide range of traditional to contemporary dance, to art history and Mahāyāna Buddhism. “My desire is to record intuitive truths through the sensual body and its material extensions.”

Dongnier’s work has been performed and exhibited at The Watermill Center, New York Live Arts, Movement Research, Mana Contemporary, G Museum, Aranya Art Center, Shanghai Ming Contemporary Art Museum, National Centre for the Performing Arts, and Shanghai International Dance Center Theater, among others. She was a recipient of nominations for the China Dance Lotus Award. She has been an artist in residence at Monira Foundation, La MaMa|CultureHub, The Watermill Center, Media Art Xploration, Jacob’s Pillow, and Barnard Movement Lab at Columbia University.

Dongnier’s initial learning stemmed from the vast, textured nature of Inner Mongolia, as well as from her parents. She graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy, received her MFA from New York University, and studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Dongnier has served on the faculty of Beijing Dance Academy (2012-17), taught at Hunter College—CUNY (2020), and at Barnard College—Columbia University (2020, 2024). She was a tenure-track assistant professor at the School for the Contemporary Arts—Simon Fraser University (2021-24). 

As a collaborator, Dongnier has worked with musician and composer Mauricio Pauly, Lane Shi Otayonii, Anda Union, theater director Robert Wilson, and has choreographed projects for artist and engineer Xin Liu, among others. She co-founded the interdisciplinary NUUM Collective alongside Mimi Yin (ITP—NYU) and Tiri Kananuruk (Graphic Design—Yale). NUUM’s work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts Emerging Media Arts Grant, Google Research Awards, The Center for Ballet and The Arts, and ITP—NYU, etc. Since 2024, Dongnier has contributed curatorially to the Movement Lab.