About Me
叶柔柔 | Rourou Ye
Rourou Ye (b. 1989, Wenzhou, China; lives in the USA) is an independent choreographer who works with movement, shadow puppetry, and technology to devise performances that defy reality.
She finds inspiration from the unexpected, using a practice of observation and play: repurposing items from her immediate surroundings and discovering hidden perspectives revealed through still and moving images and the lenses of the camera.
Her works highlight the creation of illusory, transformative, and cinematic sceneries through shadow and projection in live and digital performances where she “lives” and dances through to reveal urgent narratives of struggle.
Ye holds a BFA in Choreography from Shanghai Theater Academy (2012) and an MFA in Dance from Sarah Lawrence College (2017).
Her works have shown at Movement Research, Center for Performance Research, Danspace Project, Gibney Dance, Bronx Academy of Dance and Art, Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation, Austin Dance Festival, River to River Festival, New Inc at The New Museum of Contemporary Art in the US. Works shown outside of the US include Venice Art Factory, Venice, Italy, Elektron Art,Tallinn, Estonia, Beijing dance festival, D-STAGE Shanghai dance festival, China Dance Forward -Hongkong and Guangdong Dance Festival(China).
She was an artist-in-residency at Elektron Art(Tallinn, Estonia), Brockus Project Studios(Los Angeles), Pepatian(New York), Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation(New York), Gibney Dance(New York), Yangtze Repertory Theater of America(New York), among others.
Ye’s works have been reviewed by The Dance Enthusiast, ThINKingDance, LA Dance Chronicle, and Voyage LA.
Before Rourou’s relocation t, she worked as a faculty member at the Musical Theater Department in the Shanghai Conservatory of Music from 2012 to 2015, teaching dance classes (theater dance, ballet, contemporary), and choreographing for musicals. She worked with many directors, play writers, music directors, and gained considerable experience and understanding of theater. Her rigorous dance training started in Chinese dance forms in a conservatory setting for over ten years since she was 12. Rourou was excellent in performing folk dance and won many national awards including The 8th Tao Li Cup, the highest national dance competition in China.