The New Jersey Performing Arts Center will ring in the start of Asian Lunar New Year through a transformative show this weekend.

Nai Ni Chen Dance Company will welcome the Year of the Black Water Rabbit and bring Chinese culture to the forefront in Newark.

"It's just an honor to be able to witness this truly cross cultural collaboration," said executive director Andrew Chiang.

"We work in harmony all together, even if we come from different background and culture," said artistic director Greta Campo.

Both said the performance is about combining the East with the West.

While this weekend will be about celebrating tradition throughout a diverse community, it will also honoring Nei Ni Chen, who died December of 2021.

She was a pioneer in the dance world and hoped to fulfill her mission of combining traditional and contemporary dance.

"Her spirit lives on and each one of the dancers are focused on steps and words she has spoken to them and that is how each one of us can remember her," Chiang said.

While Chen will not be at the show to see the beautiful production this weekend, the crowd will certainly see her work through dance.

"She's watching from above and we are trying our best to give everyone the experience that she had when she was younger," said Mireille Lorenzo, a dancer from the Phillipines.

The show will run Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.