Born in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, Duan Ni once trained at Shaanxi Art School and the Modern Dance Choreography Class (Guangdong Class) of Beijing Dance Academy, founded by Ms. Yang Meiqi, a renowned Chinese dance educator and the former director (founder) of Guangdong Modern Dance Company. During her school years, she received the ACC scholarship and went to the American Dance Festival for study and communication. She was the first to systematically teach the "release technique" in China, and her cutting-edge teaching concepts subverted the established concepts of body movement among Chinese dancers. She has performed as a dancer with Jin Xing Dance Theatre in Shanghai, Akram Khan Company in London, and Shen Wei Dance Arts in New York. In 2008, she became the founding dancer and artistic director of TAO Dance Theater. She has performed at the world-famous performance art venue, the Lincoln Center in New York, three times with different dance companies, and has been featured in The New York Times three times, receiving high praise such as "extraordinarily powerful, awe-inspiring, and with extremely strong control. In 2023, she won the Silver Lion Award for Dance at the Venice Biennale.