Tao Ye

Artistic Director/Choreographer

Born in Chongqing, Tao Ye is a graduate of the Chongqing Dance School in China. After dancing with the Shanghai Army Song & Dance Ensemble, he joined Shanghai Jin Xing Dance Theater, and later moved to Beijing to join the Beijing Modern Dance Company (BMDC). In 2008, at the age of 23, Tao Ye founded TAO Dance Theater. His main works include: “Numerical Series” - Weight x 3, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14; “Non-numerical Series” - Contrast; “Arts Live” Series - 12 Hours and Infinite Walking. 

Inspired by Oriental thought, Tao Ye developed Circular Movement System in combination with his own style of dance. This system enjoys a high reputation internationally. At the age of 27, he was invited to perform at Lincoln Center Festival in New York City. He was named Sadler’s Wells 2011-2013 “New Wave Associates”. Tao Ye was also invited to collaborate on-site with the Y-3 Brand by Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto, create production with Cloud Gate Theatre and star in the film Blue Sky Bones directed by Cui Jian. He has been invited to cross-disciplinary collaborations such as film, theatre, fashion design, video, photography and etc. 

Tao Ye consistently signifies his choreography with minimalistic style, repetition and restriction. His creative concepts include: focusing on the grooves of the spine while removing the movements of dancers’ limbs, replacing the accompanying soundtrack with live vocals from the dancers seeking to make the dancers become a “mobile sound system”, restricting dancers’ bodies on the dance floor seeking to limit the vision in two dimensions, naming his works simply with numbers, and etc. His concepts were acclaimed“definitely on the cutting edge” and are very challenging for dancers and spectators.

“Mr. Tao has an ability to draw you inside his austere, meditative world; if you go willingly, you realize that the body is a sacred place.”— The New York Times ，USA

Duan Ni

Dancer/Artistic Director

Born in Xi'an, Duan Ni graduated from the Shaanxi Art College. She graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy modern dance choreography department (Guangdong branch), led by dance education pioneer Madame Yang Meiqi, founding director of the Guangdong Modern Dance Company, China's first modern dance company. During school, Duan Ni received a scholarship of ACC to attend the American Dance Festival. For the first time, Duan Ni systematically taught "Relaxation Techniques" in China, and her cutting-edge teaching concepts subverted the inherent concept of body movement of domestic dancers.

Duan Ni used to dance with Shanghai Jin Xing Dance Theatre, Akram Khan Dance Company (UK), and Shen Wei Dance Arts (USA). In August 2008, she joined TAO Dance Theater as the Founding Dancer and Artistic Director.  As the first Chinese contemporary dancer invited by international dance companies, Duan Ni accepted all concepts and styles with the inclusiveness of her body in this series of rich backgrounds at home and abroad, and formed her own body language and characteristics - softness and toughness, pure and open. She has performed three times at the Lincoln Center for Performing Art in New York with different three dance companies. Each time, her performance was singled out by The New York Times, lauded by critics as "extraordinary”, “formidable” and “athletic control”. In 2019, she was recommended by VOUGE and selected as an outstanding woman of "Light of Power" by BVLGARI.

”In the first part a woman with a shaved head, the formidable Duan Ni, twirls a long staff. Passing it from hand to hand and behind her back and over her head, she herself turns. The propeller whirl of the stick, catching the light like a circular saw blade, hypnotizes, while the incremental progressions in the movement loops engross.“ —The New York Times，USA