Tao Dance Theater | 16&17

• 11-04-2026

  20.00

  Sala Grande

In 2024, TAO Dance Theater created two new works, 16 and 17, included in the Numerical Series. These two pieces aim for a deeper study of bodily movement, further expanding the richness of the “Circular Movement Technique” and exploring the practice of Eastern somaesthetics. Starting from the image of “following its inertia,” the works create infinite possibilities of “instantaneous flow.”

16
Choreography Tao Ye
Music Xiao He
Costume design Duan Ni, made by DNTY
Co-production La Biennale di Venezia, TAO Dance Theater
With the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels

16 is the fifteenth work of choreographer Tao Ye’s “Numerical Series.” The choreography is inspired by the Dragon Dance and Snake games. Sixteen dancers are connected and arranged in a linear tail. In the process of flowing, rotating, and marching, the fluctuations of energy among the dancers are continuously transmitted from beginning to end, unfolding the dynamics of overlapping spatial flow. In its exploration of movement, 16 continues to develop possibilities and new languages of bodily motion. It develops a circular space for 360° movement of the body and head. Hidden areas of the head—such as the forehead, nose, ears, and nape—become pivot points. Circles of different shapes are drawn in space. The dancer’s body moves like a dragon. Based on the Circular Movement Technique of the spine and guided by the drilling, striking, transmitting, falling, following, twisting, and wrapping qualities of head movement, the limbs shift and move constantly in accordance with the natural inertia of the body’s center of gravity. Through the twisting of the head and body, every small space of the body is enveloped by circular movements. The tiny space created by the head from beginning to end in 16 presents a multidimensional, structurally infinitely derived body. Through the final exploration of repetitive and non-repetitive movements, it paints a chaotic yet splendid micro-world.

17
Choreography Tao Ye
Sound concept Tao Ye, performed by the dancers of TAO Dance Theater
Music Cheng Leting, Wu Zhenka
Costume making DNTY
Co-production La Biennale di Venezia, TAO Dance Theater
With the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels

17 is the sixteenth work of choreographer Tao Ye’s “Numerical Series,” continuing the sonic experiment on the form of sound and body movement to create a dialogue with the piece 7. Seventeen dancers disperse or gather, apparently in disorder. From beginning to end, sound becomes the signal for the group’s thoughts and movements. Falls, propagations, sonic wonders… The sonic form is always synchronized with the bodily movement, forming a contrasting interplay between the two languages. A variety of strange, mixed, and unruly relationships seem to be visualized in sound waves and flying fireworks. The creation of 17 stems from the kinesthetic imagination of sound. It is a song without words and a word inexplicably familiar. This contradictory sense of closeness—near and far—runs through the entire piece 17. For Tao Ye, the fluctuations and linearity of sound are not only auditory but also physical — “Bodies are all connected; this is a language of the world.”

RUNNING TIME: 80 minutes