TAO Dance Theater to debut latest works in Shanghai

TAO Dance Theater's latest creations "16" and "17" will make their world debut in Shanghai later this month.

The Beijing-based independent dance troupe is known for its unique and highly creative body movement techniques, which is invented by the theater's founders Tao Ye and Duan Ni, a professional dance couple.

"16" and "17" are the latest parts of their "Numerical Series." In the series, each dance is named after the number of performers featured in the piece.

The new dance "16" is described by Tao as "a self-contained language that explores inward," while "17" is "a new language for the universe."

When working on the "Numerical Series," Tao often starts his choreography from a certain body part, such as a spine or the limbs. In "16," all movements originate from the head.

The head is a blind spot for vision, as humans cannot observe the shape of their own heads with their eyes. Tao required the dancers to try explore the micro-movements of different parts of the head, including the ear, the tip of the chin, and the cheeks.

"The dance is like a knotted ball of yarn, being both elastic and linear," said Tao. "When the bodies of 16 dancers are tangled and rolled around, it is disordered. But when they are tangled into one unit, it is consistent."

The dancers in "16" wear all-black costumes, which naturally draws attention to the exposed face and head. Along with minimalist electronic dance music composed by musician Xiao He, the dancers use their heads to lead the complex and smooth movements of their torsos and feet.

The dance "17" is more like a sound experiment. During the performance, the dancers make sounds beyond the cognitive order. They can be words or melodies, composing a sea of ​​meaningless garbled codes. Sound no longer transmits information, but only serves as just frequency and rhythm.

Tao believes that sound and movement can be connected by a hidden order. Using the rhythm and the energy field created by the dancers, the sound is visualized and the body is sonified.

As a work that is almost purely ground-based, the 17 dancers are like a handful of candies scattered on the ground, performing Brownian motion. Sometimes they act like nimble animals, and sometimes like standing stone statues. They bounce, slide, pull and fight, releasing energy through body movements.

Tao says when audiences give up rational logic, and try to "feel" rather than "understand," they will enjoy "17" more.

Performance info

Dates: August 24-25, 7:30pm

Tickets: 180-680 yuan

Venue: Shangyin Opera House 上音歌剧院

Address: No. 6 Fenyang Rd 汾阳路6号