Having recently won a Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale for the entirety of their work, Tao Ye and Duan Ni continue to deepen their study of unison as a profoundly philosophical phenomenon. Building a skilful dialogue between stillness and circular, flowing movement, the pair constantly expand the potentialities of a harmonious, collective organism. In 16, an explosion of colour illuminates the stage – a departure for the two, who have cultivated a sublime monochrome aesthetic – and bodies come together in moving, sinuous lines, evoking the Chinese tradition of Loong, the famous dragon dance. In 17, the dancers lie on the ground and burst from the shadows with prodigious leaps. They are bound together by the unison of their breath and their voices. As the titles suggest, the number of dancers on stage crescendos, creating increasingly spectacular symphonies of bodies.

Thomas Hahn