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Dance Artist | Choreographer | Educator
Dieu-Thao (pronounced like "u–thao") is a Vietnamese dance artist and choreographer.
Dieu-Thao (pronounced “u–thao”) is a Vietnamese dance artist, educator and choreographer.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Dance from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the United States. She sees dance as a medium to sense and study culture and history—where bodily movement becomes a tool to observe, question, and live with personal experiences. Her practice centers on human connection through embodied perception and the temporal presence of the movement.
During her years living in the United States, her artistic journey was enriched by opportunities to perform in the works of choreographers including Michael Sakamoto, Jenna Riegel, Rennie Harris Puremovement Company, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Brendan Fernandes, Melissa Templeton, and Vivian Kim, among others.
Since returning to Vietnam, she has continued to create, perform, and teach across multiple platforms, engaging in both local and international collaborations with choreographers and artists from Vietnam, the United States (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Omaha, Boston, Colorado, etc.), Korea, Canada, Belgium, and France.
MORE INForMATION:
Bachelor of Art in Dance
complemented by a Bachelor of Journalism in PR & Marketing,
Psychology minor
Dieu–Thao began taking dance classes around the age of 4 at Hoa Binh Theatre and the HCMC Intermediate Dance School up to 10 years old. Prior to studying dance at the university-level, Dieu-Thao had a movement background of 4 years in Aikido under the guidance of Thay Ngo Lap Nhan. She also studied jazz and contemporary dance at Dancenter Vietnam from 2012 to 2016.
From 2015 - 2016, she danced with UDG Vietnam under the guidance of Thay John Huy Tran.
Her dance education and practice at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (USA) consisted of:
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various Modern Dance Techniques (8 levels),
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various street dance styles,
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somatic practices (Bartenieff Fundamentals, Pilates, breath work)
and other courses in:
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History of Dance
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Dance Pedagogy (the art & science of teaching dance)
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Kinesiology
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Injury Prevention
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Dance Composition (3 levels)
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Dance, Cultures & Politics
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Music for Dance
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History of Music
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Street Art
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Stage Makeup
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Basic Acting
After living in the U.S. for six years, she came back to Vietnam in 2022.
In 2023, she returned to the US as a guest dance artist where she taught classes and performed in a full-length show at the Colorado University-Boulder.
In 2025, she received further pedagogical training from Patrice Moniz and is a Registered Teacher in Horton Technique.
TRAINING & EDUCATION
TESTIMONIAL HIGHLIGHTS
"DieuThao and I first met when she auditioned for my choreographic project, Garden of the Wilis, in 2021. From the first moment in rehearsals, DieuThao was a visceral and engaging presence, emotionally open and consistently inventive. I work in a devised manner, utilizing many varied prompts to generate not only apt movement vocabulary, but character elements specific to each performer’s mind-body. It is a holistic approach that DieuThao seemed hungry and ready for, and she was practically the best performer out of ten corps dancers." (2023)
— Michael Sakamoto, a dance theater artist, curator, educator and scholar whose work has been presented in 16 countries, including at Vancouver International Dance Festival, REDCAT, TACTFest Osaka and Gøteborg Art Sounds. Michael’s work intersects butoh, hip-hop, devised performance, and intercultural dialogue. He is Performing Arts Curator at the UMass Fine Arts Center.
"I’ve worked with Dieu-Thao while she was in the company I started. She is such a brilliantly embodied mover who’s unbelievably connected to her intuition and self. She has the uncanny ability of being able to blend into dance styles flawlessly. Whether it be Jazz, Street Styles, Modern, or Contemporary dance, Dieu-Thao fully embodies the nature and groove of the movement. Her choreographic work is thoughtful and full of intentions. She flows well between virtuosic, high-energy movement and tenderness in gesture. Her movement and phrase work tells a story and truly pulls the audience into the world she’s creating.” (2023)
— Vivian Kim, MFA