13 & 14

The TAO Dance Theater, winners of the 2023 Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale and straight from Beijing, has forged a path between heritage and futurism, in physical harmony of body and soul. With 2 to 14, Tao Ye and Duan Ni developed a work in crescendo, adding more and more performers in a wave of bodies casting light on individual identities. The two new productions see the individual becoming distinctive (in 13), expressing emotions and building up relationships with others while also remaining faithful to the communal body; the costumes display subtle differences in shades from off-white to blue-gray. Then 14 initiates a chromatic explosion, energizing the unison in a sinuous dance inducing contemplation.