Lian Guodong (Choreographer)

Lian Guodong was born in Beijing in 1980, and went to study Chinese literature at Capital Normal University in 1998. After graduating in 2002, he studied modern dance with the Beijing Modern and Contemporary Dance Company. From 2004 to 2005, Lian danced at the Jinxing Dance Theatre and LDTX Dance Center. He became a freelance dancer and choreographer in 2006, working with different artists and groups including the Living Dance Studio, Paper Tiger Studio, Y-Space, Fan Theatre, Wang Jianwei, Cao Fei, Feng Jiangzhou, Li Jianjun, Tino Sehgal, Jérôme Bel, etc. He has performed in a number of festivals and theaters, including the CCD Independent Choreographer Project, Beijing Fringe Festival, Theater der Welt, Kampnagel Hamburg, and München Kammerspiele. He was invited to join the “Beyond China” international choreographer project by Emio Greco/PC Holland in 2010, and joined the American Dance Festival with a full scholarship in 2012. His choreographic works have been presented at the Beijing Crossing Festival, Shanghai Crossing Festival, Beijing Modern Dance Festival, and Guangdong Modern Dance Festival. His major works are Mental Imagery, Odds and Ends, Time, The Moment, and Encounter.

Lei Yan (Dancer)

Lei Yan was born in 1986 in Hubei, and currently resides in Beijing. She taught at Beijing Dance Academy after graduating in 2008. The same year she began performing in theaters as a freelance dancer. From 2009 to 2011 she danced with the Beijing Modern and Contemporary Dance Company, and participated in Europalia International with the company. From 2011 to 2014 she was a part of the Tao Dance Theater, performing at festivals and theaters in over twenty countries, including Lincoln Center Festival, Spring Dance Festival at the Sydney Opera House, Vienna International Dance Festival, Taipei's Novel Hall Dance Series, and Sadler's Wells Theatreof all of the troupe's performances. Unwilling to be restricted to one type of dance or performance, Lei participated in Hong Kong's i-Dance Festival, Power Station of Art's ReActor 2015, Old Theatre in Krakow, Poland, Hamburg's Theater del Welt, among more. Her independent piece Dreams Can't Reach Reality was chosen for the 2009 CCD Independent Choreographer Project, and was performed in the Beijing Crossing Festival and Shanghai Fringe Festival. Lei and her long-time collaborator Lian Guodong have created pieces such as Mental Imagery, Odds and Ends, Time, The Moment, and most recently Encounter, which was developed in 2015 in a number of spaces across Hong Kong. Since 2015 Lei has held workshops and classes in Hong Kong, Wuhan, Beijing, and Xiamen.

Ma Yue (Lighting Designer)

Ma Yue graduated with a Bachelor's in Lighting Design from Shanghai Theater Academy, and is the Lighting Designer and Technical Director for Tao Dance Theater.

Feng Juncheng (Lighting Designer)

Feng Juncheng graduated in 2016 from The Central Academy of Drama with a Bachelor's Stage Lighting Design.

Lei.Dong Workstation

Lei.Dong Workstation was established by Lei Yan and Lian Guodong in 2016 outside of the fifth ring road in Beijing. In addition to choreographing their own pieces, it offers workshops, arranges artist collaborations, and provides performance space to various choreographers and dancers.