15 | 18

Name: 15 | 18
Start: 2027-01-16 19:30:00+11:00
End: 2027-01-17 19:00:00+11:00
Location: The Cutaway

TAO Dance Theater

China

Calligraphy in human form: sweeping, gorgeous, precise. 

Description

Australian Exclusive

For the first time in the Southern hemisphere, TAO Dance Theater brings together two new monumental works from its celebrated Numerical Series—15 and 18—offering us a rare look at choreographer Tao Ye’s intricate and gorgeous movement language. 

In 15, fifteen dancers move with astonishing collective precision, building waves of momentum that sweep across the stage. In a rigorous triangular formation, the work unfolds through three demanding sections driven by concepts of collective drifting and dynamic flow. Tao Ye creates a space where Eastern and Western movement imaginaries coexist—where free expression meets precise logic. 

 In 18, the choreography draws on the principles of Chinese calligraphy, with bodies flowing through space like ink across paper, forming intricate geometric patterns that constantly dissolve and reform. The effect is at once hypnotic and deeply physical. The stage becomes a living blueprint inviting you to see the human body in an entirely new way. 

15 | 18... is part of the Dance Reflections by Van Cleef and Arpels program. Discover more here.

★★★★ “Exacting, exquisite choreography”

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

“Tao Ye is a fundamentally poetic dance-maker.”

THE GUARDIAN

Dance

Tao Ye

China

Tao Ye is the founder, Artistic Director and choreographer of TAO Dance Theater, and the creator of the Circular Movement System.

Born in Chongqing, China, he founded TAO Dance Theater at the age of 23 and developed the internationally acclaimed Numerical Series, exploring the possibilities of the body as a universal language through movement and structure. He was selected as one of six choreographers worldwide for Sadler’s Wells’ New Wave Associates programme, and has been commissioned to create works for Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and Nederlands Dans Theater 1. In 2023, Tao Ye received the Silver Lion Award for Dance at the Venice Biennale.

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