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Juliana Chen was born and raised in the Hunan
Province of the People's Republic of China. Her parents were proud when,
at 10 years of age, she was selected for specialized training at the
Hunan Academy for the Performing Arts.
At first Juliana Chen was trained in ballet,
then later she moved on to acrobatics and juggling. As a teenager, she
toured internationally with the famous Gungzhou Acrobatic Troupe.
After a couple of accidents which injured
the same leg, she was advised by doctors to give up foot juggling. While
she was recovering she saw the famous Japanese magician Shimadaon television.
Juliana Chen was fascinated by the way he had integrated magic into his
Asian culture. He was both unique and outstanding in his performance.
The Gungzhou's troupe manager encouraged
Juliana Chen to develop as a magician. She also took a closer interest
in the skill of the troupe's magician. Secretly, she began practising
her
skill with cards and ping-pong balls--the easiest props for her to find
at the time.
The ambidextrous Juliana Chen had the ability,
ambition and determination to succeed. Some four years later in 1986,
she was recognized as the best magician in China when she won the All-China
Best Magician competition.
Juliana Chen's desire to take her magic to
the international level led her to apply for permission to study English
in Canada. In
1988, she left China for Vancouver, Canada. There was not much work for
magicians so she got a job in a furniture store while she studied English.
Later she started her own graphics business.
In 1990, Juliana Chen met a friend who introduced
her to the local magic stores and The Vancouver Magic Circle--the largest
magical society in Canada. Two years later, after winning a major international
award in Salt Lake City, Juliana sold her graphics business to concentrate
on her career as a magician.
Over the next four years, Juliana Chen won
numerous magic competitions in Europe. Then in 1997, Juliana won the
world title for Manipulation (sleight-of-hand) at The World Congress
of Magicians in Dresden, Germany. Juliana became the first woman, and
first magician of Chinese heritage, to a world title for a solo act in
the 50-year history of The World Congress of Magicians. She was now The
World's First Lady of Magic.
On her return to North America, Juliana Chen was featured on the cover
of MAGIC magazine and included in The World's Greatest Magic IV, an NBC-TV
special which is still seen in different countries around the world,
A year later, Canada's leading TV current affairs program, The Fifth
Estate, featured Juliana in a 12-minute profile. They called her "The
hottest new magician around." That same year, ABC Television featured
Juliana in a special called Champions of Magic hosted by Princess Stephanie
of Monaco.
At the request of NHK Television, Japan's
public broadcaster, Juliana Chen was invited back to the 2000 World Congress
of Magic in Lisbon as a guest performer. Two days later in Buffalo, New
York, eleven hundred magicians gave her a standing ovation at the annual
convention of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
In the fall of 2002, Juliana Chen moved to
Las Vegas to take her career to the next level. That October, she was
awarded the Chavez Memorial Cup. She was recognized for her professional
excellence by the Chavez Committee of the Society of American Magicians'
Hall of Fame and Museum in Hollywood. The award was established in the
memory of Ben and Marion Chavez founders of the world-famous Chavez Studio
of Magic which trained some of the world's leading magicians.
In the Spring of 2003, Juliana Chen was nominated for Stage Magician
Of the Year by the Academy of Magical Arts in Hollywood. That summer
Juliana was the subject of a four-page cover story in Saturday Night,
Canada's oldest-established magazine. She became the first Canadian magician
to be featured on the cover of a national magazine since the late Doug
Henning in the mid-seventies.
Since winning the world championship, Juliana's
career has blossomed around the world particularly in Europe, Asia and
the USA. She has played traditional variety theatres like the London
Palladium and the Princess Grace Theatre in Monte Carlo, Caesar's Palace
in Las Vegas, Tiger Palast in Frankfurt, NHK theatre in Japan, and the
Berlin Wintergarten.
Awards
› 2003 Most original Merlin Awards by
International Magicians Society.
› 2002 Has been nominated for " Stage Magician of the Year by Magic
Castle Hollywood.
› 2001 Best Female Magician by International Magicians Society.
› 2000 Ben Chavez Memorial Award for excellencein sleight of hand by Society
of American Magicians Hall of Fame and Magic Museum Incorporated.
› 2000 Ben Chavez Memorial Award for excellence in sleight of hand by Society
of American Magicians Hall of Fame and Magic Museum Incorporated.
› 1999 Fold Lion Honoary prize by China Wigiao International Acrobatic
Festival.
› 1999 Monte Carlo Magic Stay La presidente.
› 1998 The " Foster Baird Award for Excellence in MANIPULATION in
Abbott's.
› 1997 First prize manipulation at FISM in Dresden Germany.
› 1996 Grand Prix of XXI Congreso Nacional De Magia In Spain.
› 1992 First prize of International Brotherhood of Magicians.
› 1986 First prize of China best magician competition.
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