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 Willy Tsao has been instrumental to the development of the modern dance in China.
Tsao was born and educated in Hong Kong and received his modern dance training in the U.S. from 1973 to 1977. In 1979 he graduated from the University of Hong Kong with an MBA degree, and established the Hong Kong City Contemporary Dance Company. He was invited to teach modern dance at the Beijing Dance Academy in 1986. From 1987 to 1991, he was the teacher and advisor for the Guangdong Dance School modern Dance Program. He has conducted intensive modern dance workshops in many cities in China since 1987, Including Shanghai, Wuhan, Kunming, Fuzhou, Taiyuan and Daqing etc. He helped to set up the Guangdong Modern Dance Company, the first professional modern dance company in China, and had been its Artistic Director from 1992 to 1998. He was invited to be the artistic director of the Beijing Modern Dance Company in 1999. In September 2005, he left the Beijing Modern Dance Company and set up the BeijingDance / LDTX.
Tsao’s choreographic works vary in style and have been presented in the U.S., Canada, Korea, Japan, Israel, Germany, France as well as Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei in China. In July 1999, he was awarded the “Bronze Bauhinia Star” by the Hong Kong SAR government for his significant contribution to the development of local arts. Other honors and awards include the “Dancer of the Year” award from the Hong Kong Artists Guild (1988), the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons” (1990) “The Badge of Honor” from H.R.H. Queen Elizabeth II (1993) and the “Louis Cartier Award of Excellence-Outstanding Choreographer” (1998).
His major choreographic works include: “Bird Songs”, “Kunlun”, “China Wind, China Fire”, “Wandering in the Realm of Lightness”, “One Table Two Chairs”, “Sexing Three Millenniums”, “In Search of the Grand View Garden” etc. |
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