Dance has existed as a nonverbal expression and communication among people. Previous studies on the performer-audience connection have focused on emotion as a crucial means for communication. The process of meaning-making thus relied heavily on the socio-cultural background of the audience and their ability to see from the perspective of the performer. Striving to find a deeper common ground or mutual relationship between the performer and the audience, this study explores the cultivation of the inner or unconscious self. By means of philosophical analysis of the writing of Daoist Zhuang-zi and the autobiography of modern dance pioneer Martha Graham, the study conceptualizes a transformative body-scheme of qi-body, i.e. the qi-energy functioning in the mind and the body. By comparing the traditional Daoist self-cultivation to the contemporary experiential dance philosophy, this paper proposes that performer could enter into a specific and transparent state in which one can unleash creative inspiration and connect other’s spirits from within. During the process, there exists an artist-audience sympathy, which interfuses and unifies subject and object, and the audience could feel moved or touched without apparent emotional engagement from the performer. Evidence of such experience will be presented by using the reflective notes from researcher’s solo dance concert and the commentaries collected from the audience. Possible areas of research and practice, such as using “true self” to serve as a ground for exchange, mutual nurturance, and interdependence between the practitioner and the participant in dance performance will be analyzed and discussed.