Chinese contemporary dance group wins Silver Lion Award in Italy

ROME, July 27 (Xinhua) -- The TAO Dance Theater of China won the Silver Lion Award for Dance at the 2023 Venice Biennale in Italy on Thursday.

The award is dedicated to promising young artists in dance or to institutions that have distinguished themselves for cultivating new talents.

According to Wayne McGregor, director of the Venice Biennale's dance sector, the Chinese artists created "a unique and evolutionary dance genre that has enraptured the audience with a mesmeric, minimalist force."

"In my works, the principle is to remove everything that can be removed, there are no images, props or even music on stage. The only thing I want to highlight is the power of life, of the nature of the body," Tao Ye, co-founder and artistic director of the TAO Dance Theater, said.

The TAO Dance Theater, founded in 2008 and based in Beijing, has developed an innovative approach to movement through a technique known as the "circular movement system."

The troupe is scheduled to perform three works from their choreographic series titled "Numerical Series" on Friday and Saturday at the Teatro Malibran, a historic theater in Venice, as part of the 17th International Festival of Contemporary Dance, which Venice hosts between July 13 and July 29.

"Numerical Series" has been presented on major stages around the world in recent years, including at the Lincoln Center Art Festival in New York, the Sydney Opera House, the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, and the Theatre de la Ville in Paris.