WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Part of choreographer Shen Wei's work is at first hidden on the gloves and socks of his dancers - until they begin to move.

As they appear onstage, one-by-one, it takes a keen eye to see that their hands or feet have been dipped in paint. The secret is revealed as the dancers sweep their arms, legs and entire bodies across the canvas floor.

By the end of a recent performance at the John F. Kennedy Center of Performing Arts, the dancers had paint on their faces and in their hair. And they had left a huge, abstract artwork with a rainbow of colors.

The performance of "Connect Transfer" is just one example of the work that has propelled Shen's fast-moving career in modern dance since he founded New York-based Shen Wei Dance Arts in 2000. Now Shen is taking his art to one of the world's most visible stages - the 2008 Beijing Olympics - as principle choreographer of the Aug. 8 opening ceremonies. He is the only American choreographer on the ceremonies' creative team.

China's hosting of the Olympics has prompted protests over the country's human rights record, as well as calls to boycott the opening ceremonies. But Shen sees his work as a way to bridge divides among cultures that will converge in Beijing. His Chinese-American background could give him a unique perspective in presenting China to the world.

"When you step out of China, sometimes you see China even more clear," he said. "Like (if) you live on the mountain, you don't know what the mountain looks like."

The 39-year-old artist moved from his homeland to New York in 1995, knowing just a few words in English: yes, no and thank you. Even though he became a U.S. citizen in 2006, he still values his Chinese heritage and the traditions of his native country, he said.

"I have been touring nonstop for years to share arts, a mix of Eastern and Western cultures, to help people understand each other more," Shen said in an interview with The Associated Press. "That has made me most proud as an artist, as a human being."

The Olympic preparations brought him back to China for the first time in eight years, even though his parents and two brothers still live there.

Zhang Yimou, a famous Chinese film director who is leading the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, invited Shen to join the creative team.

Zhang has said he's working to boil 5,000 years of history into a 50-minute film for the opening ceremony. He had expected to also have the help of American film director Steven Spielberg. But Spielberg dropped out in February, citing China's lack of pressure on Sudan, its oil and arms trading partner, to end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

The details of the Olympic choreography have been kept secret. Shen said he signed a confidentiality contract that won't allow him to disclose the nature of the performance or even the exact number of dancers or artists, though some reports have estimated the total cast will reach 10,000. Rehearsals already have begun in Beijing.

When Shen closes his eyes to think of what viewers will see in the Beijing National Stadium, where the opening ceremonies will take place, he imagines plenty of surprises.

"I see real intensity in the space and also quiet - and the energy is underneath," Shen said, opening his eyes slowly.

Shen is an artist of many talents - dance, music, painting and even opera. He's the son of opera singers and takes inspiration from architecture and sculpture as well. He creates his own sets, costumes and makeup designs, and his paintings have been exhibited in New York and Hong Kong. The mix of different art forms helps define his work.

Though he's a student of world cultures, Shen said he prefers to stay out of politics. He plans to vote in the U.S. presidential election, but he doesn't talk publicly about China's human rights record.

Still, among his creations is a book of photography entitled "Tibet" that was published to raise awareness about that region. A trip to Tibet, where Shen visited communities and an orphanage, provided inspiration for the book and some of his most recent dance work.

Shen approaches such issues with no specific political ideology but more broadly in terms of human suffering, said Brett Egan, executive director of the dance company. "It's not something he feels compelled to address in his work," Egan said.

The company's base has been primarily in New York, but it is creating a second home in Washington. Shen performed for the Kennedy Center's China Festival in 2005 and has since signed on for a five-year residency at the center - the Kennedy Center's first such commitment for a contemporary dance company. Over the course of the residency, the center will spend close to $1 million, staging performances each season.

Alicia Adams, a Kennedy Center vice president who oversees dance and international programs, said Shen quickly has risen to become one of America's best choreographers.

"His painterly eye gives him another way to move dancers around the floor," Adams said. "His movement vocabulary is one that is unique. ... He has taken the best of a Western style and combined it with an Eastern style and really has come up with another language."

In China, Shen had reached the heights of the dance scene as a founding member of the Guangdong Modern Dance Company, the first such group in the country. He then received a scholarship from the Nikolais/Louis Dance Lab to move to New York.

He arrived in the United States in 1995, alone, with $500 and initially set out to learn as much as he could from the New York arts scene. Shen said he had been insulated in China and wanted a broader experience. He spent many hours going to concerts and museums to learn everything he could in developing a better sense of Western culture. His eyes were opened along the way.

"A lot of people's art works, you don't understand it, which means I feel embarrassed ... and I feel so naive," he said of his first years in New York.

People quickly noticed Shen's talent. In 1995, he was invited to present his work at the American Dance Festival, and subsequent years brought performances in Taiwan, Stockholm and elsewhere.

Shen formed his own dance company in 2000, again at the American Dance Festival in Durham, N.C., running the company himself until 2005. It has grown to include 12 dancers with a $2.5 million annual budget, Egan said.

In 2007, he was honored with one of the MacArthur Foundation's "genius grants," a $500,000, no-strings-attached fellowship.

This year his company will perform in Serbia, Hungary, Italy, Connecticut and North Carolina, leading up to Beijing. In October, the group will return to the Kennedy Center.

Shen said he was chosen for the Olympics because he can communicate with people regardless of their religion, lifestyle or philosophy. He wants audiences - especially people watching the Olympics on TV - to see modern dance and modern China in a new way - to see what he sees.

"I always see things in history - how this nation, this country has come through 5,000 years ... I see the life, the philosophy in Chinese culture," he said. "I'm not just seeing this moment, this year."

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