#13
Choreography：Tao Ye
Composer：Xiao He
Lighting Design：Tao Ye
Costume Design：Duan Ni
Costume Production：DNTY
Duration：30 minutes
13 is the twelfth piece in choreographer Tao Ye’s Numerical Series. The work revolves around the concept of a trinity, embodied by three distinct forms of bodily connection: solo, duet, and ensemble. These three modes of interaction constitute the structural core of the choreography.
In 13, dancers connect to form a unified whole, which gradually diverges into multiple evolving forms. Through continuous sequences of motion, the piece constructs a complex physical universe—manifesting collisions, compressions, fusions, falls, rebounds, and tensions. Bodies move in rhythms that shift from slow to medium to fast, transforming into flowing water, rugged stone, and myriad natural phenomena. Here, the body becomes a medium through which the boundless potential of imagination is expressed.
The concepts of unity, duality, and multiplicity are embedded as an internal logic. In this creation, Tao Ye interweaves transformations of body, space, and time to form a chaotic yet coherent whole. His choreography, at once rigorous and open, reflects the tangible and transient states of our contemporary world.
#14
Choreography & Sound Conception: Tao Ye
Lighting Design: Tao Ye
Costume Design: Duan Ni
Costume Production: DNTY
Duration: 30 minutes
Rhythm is the pulse that connects all living things.
14 marks the thirteenth creation in choreographer Tao Ye’s Numerical Series. This work embarks on a new exploration of rhythm and transformation. Departing from his previous choreographic patterns of repetition and loop, Tao Ye challenges the body with a continuously evolving quality of movement—unfolding endless spatial and temporal possibilities between motion and stillness.
The soundscape of 14 daringly adopts a singular, minimalist equal temperament. Its clock-like progression mirrors the intricate physical dynamism on stage, where the principle of “less is more” crafts a precise audiovisual interplay. Through this, the signature circular movement system of TAO Dance Theater expands to the very limits of bodily vocabulary.
With the slicing and folding of lines, planes, and volumes in space, and the surging sway of the body’s shifting center of gravity, the piece returns to the purity of physical motion. In the ever-shifting rhythms of change and stasis, 14 opens a vast journey into the infinite possibilities of the body.
