TAO Dance Theater

TAO Dance Theater is a full-time contemporary dance company founded by Tao Ye, Duan Ni and Wang Hao in 2008. It is the first contemporary dance company in China to be invited to perform at the Lincoln Center Festival in the United States, the Edinburgh International Festival in the United Kingdom, the Sydney Opera House in Australia and Théâtre de la Ville in France. They have also been invited to perform at the American Dance Festival (ADF), where they served as resident artists. The Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, UK, has commissioned five works from the company and invited them to perform in London six times. The projects of Numerical Series, created by the company with a simple creative concept and direct physicality, have toured five continents, more than 40 countries and over 100 art festivals. The company has garnered widespread attention from people from all walks of life, becoming one of the most sought-after Chinese contemporary dance companies on the international stage.

Born in Chongqing, Tao Ye graduated from Chongqing Dance School. He danced with the Cultural Troupe of the Shanghai Armed Police Political Department, Jin Xing Dance Theatre in Shanghai, and Beijing Modern Dance Company. At the age of 23, he founded TAO Dance Theater and created the Numerical Series works 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17; the Non-numerical Series work Contrasting; and the Art as Scene works 12, Infinity Walking, and The World of Movements-When Body Language Comes Alive. In 2024, he founded TAO Dance Theater 2, guided by the principle of "Dance for You, Dance for Yourself," aiming to connect dance with life and make it accessible to everyone. Inspired by Eastern philosophy and blending it with his personal dance language, Tao Ye pioneered the Circular Movement System, a technique that has gained international recognition. At 27, he was invited to perform at the Lincoln Centre Festival in New York, one of the world’s most prestigious performing arts platforms. He was named one of the six New Wave Associates by London’s Sadler’s Wells. Tao has collaborated with Yohji Yamamoto on runway performances, created works as a guest choreographer for Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and Nederlands Dans Theatre 1, and appeared in Cui Jian’s film Blue Sky Bones. He has frequently crossed artistic boundaries, working in theatre, fashion design, and film. In 2022, he was featured on the cover of VOGUE. In 2023, he was awarded the Silver Lion for Dance at the Venice Biennale. Tao Ye’s choreographic style employs minimalist strategies of repetition and restriction. He asks dancers to strip away gestural expression and focus solely on spinal movement, eliminates music to turn the body into a moving sound instrument, and even confines dancers to lying flat, rendering the body into a two-dimensional visual form. His works are titled only with numbers. This radical vision challenges both dancers and audiences, leading international media to describe him as “undoubtedly at the forefront.