Zhang Xiao
About
Contact Improvisation dancer, interdisciplinary researcher, and artist. Practicing Contact Improvisation since 2016, he has continuously organized workshops, performances, and regular classes in Hangzhou. He founded "Ziran Xueshe" (Nature School), which later developed into the Prima-Somas Embodied Practice Studio, focused on long-term practice around embodied dialogue and the formation of cross-regional art communities. His research starts from the body and extends to the relationship between nature, Zen, and improvisation, with attention to the experiences and changes among body, relationships, and practice within the Chinese context. From 2023 to 2025, he co-curated the international Contact Improvisation and community practice projects "Our Way Home" and "AT HOME" (themed around "home") with Thai artist Ong. In 2025, he was invited to participate in CI53: Contact Improvisation as a Transformative Life-Affirming Art Form in Chiang Dao, Thailand, and has shared related practice at institutions including the China Academy of Art, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, and Zhejiang Normal University. His recent work observes action, power, and structure within Contact Improvisation's duet and group relationships, exploring embodied dialogue and co-presence across cultural contexts. In 2026 he initiated "Threshold," an international embodied-arts practice residency in Qingshan Village, Hangzhou.