Bowing, chest tucking, squatting, crawling, rolling, leaping forward... Twelve dancers deeply immerse themselves into the earth, just like seeds falling into soil, finding the tranquility of life with their profound attachment to the earth.

The work '12' was created by choreographer Tao Ye for Cloud Gate Dance Theatre as part of the 2019 'Exchange Project' collaboration between Tao Ye Theatre and Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. Inspired by clouds, Tao Ye combined the 'Circular Movement' technique of Tao Ye Theatre, which focuses on the spine as the axis, with the lifting and sinking training of Cloud Gate, creating twelve dynamic and flowing movements that form a beautiful picture of the body.

On the stage, a vast expanse of white, with distinct contrasts of light and dark, the dancers' bodies freely stretch and expand, paying tribute to the earth. Each dancer comes from the same place and goes to the same place, yet each has their own journey and fate. The dancers entangle and reconcile with themselves, and every moving frame forms a poetic composition. The twelve pure movements come and go, the twelve cycles of life advancing wave after wave, the dancers draw circles with their bodies, achieving completeness, leaving no trace of their coming and going.

The number 12 represents a cycle, like the twelve Chinese hours, a pattern of the sun and moon alternating. The twelve dancers fade in and out, each individual connecting as a whole. Where do they come from? Where are they going? All of this is simply contained within the natural subject, just like clouds appearing in clouds, just like water disappearing in water.