TAO Dance Theatre, 6 & 7, Dance Umbrella / Sadler’s Wells

As part of London's Dance Umbrella festival, Chinese choreographer Tao Ye brings his latest works, 6 & 7, to Sadler's Wells for their UK premiere. His TAO Dance Theatre has acquired a solid international reputation since its foundation in 2008, and these works follow sell-out performances of 4 & 5 at the Lilian Baylis Studio in June.
Each number in Tao Ye’s series of experimentations represents the number of dancers.  Such is the originality of his approach to the body in motion that the precise nature of his movement is hard to pin down.  In  6 , backs curl and necks wind, with wide knees and tremendous bends of the torso. The dancers remain in a line, moving as one, while in  7  they describe intricate patterns.They have a fluidity of movement that belies the incredible athletic control behind this Chinese choreography.
The ritualistic movements are lit as though by moonlight in Ellen Ruge’s light designs. The dreamlike mood is enhanced by the music of a regular company collaborator, the indie composer Xiao He.  His music will be complemented in 7 by Sami (Laplander) musicians, Axel Olle, Sigurd Andersson and Simon Issát Marainen.
Critics have called TAO’s style ‘sculptural,’ ‘haunting,’ and ‘magnetic’ as well as ‘a worldwide festival favourite.’ This is dance like nothing else on the Umbrella programme, a trance-like foray into the philosophy of movement.