Since 1992, CAAM Chinese Dance Theater has served families and delighted audiences with some of the best locally-produced Chinese dance in the country. We are a community-based organization under the artistic direction of a world-renowned choreographer and teacher. A division of Chinese American Association of Minnesota (CAAM), the oldest, largest Chinese American community organization in Minnesota, we perform to 17,000 live audience members annually. In running a dance school, presenting annual concerts, and performing outreach programs, we have become the largest Chinese dance organization in the Midwest.


Mission Statement

CAAM Chinese Dance Theater is dedicated to preserving and celebrating our Chinese cultural heritage through the universal language of dance. We strive to maintain a dance school for youth and community development and to create a professional dance theater of national stature to enrich the cultural life of all Minnesotans.


Managing Committee


 Wendy Tai, Chair
David Peterson, Treasurer
Wanli Jiang, Director
Vickee Nelson, Director
Betty Rasmussen, Director
Bea Rothweiler, Director
Aiping Wei, Director
Angel Wu, Director



Staff

Lili Teng, Artistic Director, School Principal, and Outreach Director
Ying Mulligan, Teacher



Artistic Director’s Biography

Lili Teng In a career that has spanned more than 40 years and across two continents, Lili Teng has distinguished herself in dancing, teaching and choreography, with many of her works winning national awards in China. Earlier in her career, she was a lead dancer in such productions as Thunder Top Pagoda (Lei Fen Ta), Flowing North Xian River (Xian Jiang Bei Qu), White Hair Lady (Bai Mao Nu) and Salute to the Li Man Mountain (Li Man Song). She turned to teaching and choreography in the 1970s, directing many national and provincial television dance shows, including the dance drama Hwai River Legend (Hwai He Fon Qing), the opening ceremony of the National Short Performance Competition and the 1999 National Mid-Autumn Opera Show. After she arrived in the United States in 1999, she continued to create and choreograph dance dramas and taught young students at CAAM Chinese Dance Theater. Her artistry comes through in Descendants of the Dragon and Beloved Land, two major productions that won rave reviews when they premiered in the Twin Cities. Her cumulative skills and artistry shine through her newest work in CAAM CDT, Quintessence, which features classical dances evoking the beauty and harmony in nature and its relationship with people. Teng choreographed the Happy Evening by the Spring River, in which the young couple bids farewell. It is a graceful and tender dance, a segment in dance drama, Butterfly Lovers. She also choreographed the dance, Little Wu Dan, which features the mighty prowess and heroic characters of Chinese Kung Fu. Teng was the principal of CAAM Chinese Dance Theater, where she taught classes to dancers ranging in age from 4 to 16.


Studio Location and Mailing Address

CAAM Chinese Dance Theater
1410 Energy Park Drive
Suite 11
Saint Paul, MN 55108
Phone: (651) 774-0806
shuling@caamcdt.org

Phone: please call CDT office (651) 774-0806. The phone greeting is constantly updated for school events, production/school shows, and outreach performances. You may leave a message; CDT staff will answer your questions as soon as they can.