Shuai Chen was born in Qingdao, China and began training in ballet at the age of 12 at the Beijing Dance Academy in China, where he trained for seven years. While studying, he performed in contemporary dance and classic ballet. He received an annual scholarship for being an Outstanding Dancer and graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy in 2003.

Shuai became a member of the Tianjing Ballet Company in China for a year, then joined the Singapore Dance Theatre from July 2004-2007.

His classical performances include Sleeping Beauty, La Sylphide, Raymonda, The Nutcracker and Coppelia. Contemporary ballet performances include Tabula Rasa,  Lambarena, Rite of Spring, Season of Buenos Aires, The Lost Space and Maninyas.

Shuai joins Ballet San Jose as a Company Member in 2007.