NYC Arts: The Complete Guide to Art and Culture

Michael Mao Dance is a critically acclaimed New York based modern dance company with an international corps of accomplished dancers. Passionate, yet meticulously crafted, Mao’s work is infused with a visceral, elemental power. His dances fill the stage with compelling images and enthrall audiences with their emotional immediacy.

Rooted in the traditions of American modern dance, Mao’s works reveal the choreographer’s Asian heritage in their spare yet expansive choreographic means.

Dances by Michael Mao have been performed worldwide. Commissions include original works for the Hong Kong Ballet, Café de la Danse, Paris, Festival Internaciónal Cervantinó, Mexico, and the Tennessee Children’s Dance Ensemble. He has created over 50 works for his company that have been presented in New York City at the Joyce, Dance Theater Workshop, Kaye Playhouse, City Center Danspace, Symphony Space, Riverside Theatre,  Madison Square Garden and at Purchase College. Michael Mao Dance has toured in Europe, most recently to the Edinburgh Festival, throughout the continental U.S. and Mexico, and most recently in the major cities of China.

Michael Mao Dance performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2009 as the concluding company in Jodi Kaplan & Associates’ Booking DANCE FESTIVAL 2009. Michael’s captivating work Weaving, performed to Kodo’s drumming, brought audiences to their feet.

In addition to presenting concert dance works, Michael Mao Dance also engages in arts-in-education and outreach programs including the 45-minute interactive performance Multicultural Fusion, and the ESLdance: Learning English Through Dance project that enhances the English speaking skills of immigrants and ESL students through the study of modern dance.

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