Daoyuan Chen

Daoyuan Chen is a professional ballet dancer and educator, a graduate of the Shanghai Dance School, and a recipient of the prestigious Shanghai Distinguished Talent Award. During his training, he was invited to perform the leading role in Sleeping Beauty with the Kumamoto Ballet Company in Japan, showcasing his stage presence at an early age.
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He has received multiple international honors, including Second Place in the Chinese Tao Li Cup Ballet Group Competition, Second Place at the Seoul International Ballet Competition, and reached the final round of the Prix de Lausanne. In recognition of his performance potential, he was awarded the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation Scholarship, becoming the first Asian dancer and to date the only Chinese recipient of this internationally prestigious award.
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In 2009, Daoyuan joined the Hamburg Ballet – John Neumeier, performing and leading roles in both classical and contemporary productions across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Russia. In 2012, he joined Boston Ballet, and in 2014, co-founded N&D Ballet with Nancy Lou.
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Drawing from years of performance and pedagogical experience, Daoyuan developed a structured, progressive ballet training system focused on classical and contemporary technique, pas de deux, choreography, and physical conditioning. Over the years, he has trained numerous outstanding youth ballet dancers, many of whom have achieved exceptional results in top-tier competitions.

Under his leadership, N&D Ballet has received the “Outstanding School” award at YAGP Massachusetts for four consecutive years. His students have frequently swept top placements at YAGP and UBC, with multiple dancers receiving awards at the YAGP Finals, a testament to the school’s artistic and technical excellence.
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In 2025, Daoyuan was honored with the “Best Ballet Teacher Award” at the UBC Massachusetts Regional, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to youth ballet education and choreography.