“
In front of the minimalistic white light, there is a body that blooms like a flower.”
— Review by Ying-Chien Chiu, PAR Magazine NO.314
(Photo by Sonia Shao)
Po-Nien Wang (he/him)
dancer /choreographer / performance artist
Most Recently Po-Nien completed artist residencies at Shinehouse Theatre in Taiwan and TROIS C-L in Luxembourg, developing his latest creation Prelude To Mountain Ghost.
He will soon begin working with Aakash Odedra Company on Little Journey, a new creation set to premiere in November in Leicester, UK. He has previously worked with the company as a dancer and rehearsal director for Samsara, which toured internationally.
Po-Nien was born in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1988 and began studying ballet at the age of 11. In 2009, he attended the Dance Academy at SUNY Purchase in New York on scholarship, before graduating from the Dance College at Taipei National University of the Arts in 2011. His training encompasses classical ballet and contemporary dance, alongside Chinese opera movement, Chinese martial arts and Tai Chi.
From 2011 to 2016, Po-Nien was a member of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, where he performed extensively in the company’s repertoire and internationally. He was a soloist in Hwai-Min Lin’s White Water and performed in works including Rice, Dust, Moon Water, Songs of Wanderers, Pine Smoke, Smoke, Nine Songs, Portrait of the Families and How Can I Live On Without You. During his time with Cloud Gate, he toured extensively across Europe, Asia and North America, performing at venues and festivals including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., Sadler’s Wells in London, Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, Next Wave Festival in New York, the Chekhov International Theatre Festival in Moscow and the Movimentos International Dance Festival in Wolfsburg.
Since becoming a freelance dancer in 2016, Po-Nien has worked internationally with a diverse range of artists and choreographers. His collaborations include Dance Ensemble Singapore, Ji Eun Jin Art Project in South Korea, and the Tsai Jui-Yueh International Dance Festival in Taipei. In 2017, he performed at La Biennale di Venezia under the direction of Marie Chouinard, working with choreographers Irina Baldini, Chloé Chignell and Joaquín Collado Parreño.
Po-Nien moved to Berlin in 2018, where he has performed for multiple seasons at Staatsoper Unter den Linden and has been a long-term guest dancer with Le Supplici, directed by Fabrizio Favale. Over the years, he has collaborated with artists including Aakash Odedra, Aleta Collins, Ali Heffetz, Colm Seery, Cai Shiji, Daniel Hay-Gordon, Elisabeth Kindler-Abali, Fabrizio Favale, Gemma Payne, Koen De Preter, Isaac Chong Wai, Monika Dorniak, Olga Rabetskaya, Robert Wechsler, ShenYuan Hu, Takayoshi Tsuchida and Yeri Anarika.
Alongside his performance practice, Po-Nien is also engaged in teaching and rehearsal direction. Since 2024, he has regularly led company classes for Le Supplici and has taught at the ROOTS Intensive Dance Program.