Chih-Jou Cheng (程之柔) (she/her) is a Taiwanese movement artist, physical theater creator, and puppeteer based in Chicago. Her interdisciplinary practice weaves together physical storytelling, puppetry, theatre of the oppressed, and community engagement to explore the challenges and joys of the human experience. Themes found in her work include migration, memory, identity, and grief. Through embodied research and ensemble-based creation, she crafts performances that spark connection, challenge assumptions, and foster collective healing.
Originally from Taiwan, Cheng began her movement journey by teaching herself through online resources. At age 19, she finally had the opportunity to study dance and later moved to the U.S. to pursue formal training in theatre and movement. As an immigrant and neurodivergent artist, she brings a distinct sensitivity to how the body carries emotion, cultural memory, and untold stories. Her work often integrates oral histories and lived experiences into devised theatrical forms that blend visual poetry with emotional depth. Cheng’s original works include Hold Your Hand, an immersive oral history theatre piece centered on intergenerational memory and the elderly community of Yintong; Above the Water, a movement and puppetry-based performance exploring how we live with grief; and Lost & Found, a community-devised production that examines personal agency through memory and storytelling. Currently, she is developing Arriving at Dawn, a poetic, wordless, physical theatre work, that explores the search for belonging through the lens of the migrant experience. In addition to her original work, Cheng has performed with companies across Chicago’s theatre scene. Her performance credits include RHINOCEROS (by KT Shivak), The Dream King (Teatro Vista), The King and I (Drury Lane), and A Chorus Line as Connie (Metropolis Performing Arts Centre), as well as productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Chicago Puppet Studio. She has collaborated with many artists including Tom Lee, Rowan Magee, IS/LAND, and Ishti Collective. She studies traditional Taiwanese hand puppetry to reconnect with her cultural heritage.
Cheng’s practice centers on creating spaces where people can explore the emotional landscape of the body and connect through shared experience. Her ongoing movement research, The Poetic Body, emphasizes sensory awareness, breath, and one’s relationship with the world through embodied presence. As a teaching artist, she leads workshops on breath and movement, shadow puppetry, and community storytelling. She is passionate about integrating art into healing spaces, having facilitated programming through the Chicago Arts & Health Pilot for Creative Workers, co-creating initiatives such as Move Through Sound, Balance and Bliss: Community Wellness Through Art, and the Lost & Found theatre series. Cheng’s work has been supported by the Ragdale Residency the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), and the Chicago Cultural Center Dance Studio Residency. She is a recipient of the 2024 Princess Grace Honoraria and the 2025 Princess Grace Fellowship in Theater. Her work continues to evolve at the intersection of movement, care, and cultural storytelling—inviting audiences and participants alike to witness, reflect, and heal.
Featured Artworks
2025.5.12 Night Fall, 2024
Image provided by Nasty Brutish & Short
Arriving at Dawn-2nd iteration Workshop, 2024
Image by Barbara Freeman
Hold your Hand, 2015
Chicago Dancer Archive Project, 2024
Image by William Frederking
Angle Island Work-in-progress present, 2023
Image by Matthew Gregory Hollis
2024
Image by Gabriela Chavez
Above the Water, 2022
Image By Penny Li