Artists
Founder and Artistic Director of T.H.E Dance Company (est. 2008) and its annual cont·act Contemporary Dance Festival (est. 2010), Kuik Swee Boon danced in Compañia Nacional de Danza (CND) from 2002–2007, performing in works by renowned choreographers such as Nacho Duato, Jiri Kylian, and Ohad Naharin. Prior to CND, he danced in Singapore People’s Association DanceCompany and Singapore Dance Theatre. A 2007 Young Artist Award recipient, he was nominated for the Benois De La Danse Award in 2003, and selected for the 2021–2023 Fellowship Programme with the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA).
Under Swee Boon’s direction, T.H.E has become a seminal dance company that trains in his HollowBody methodology, with a repertoire of works that has toured many international festivals. Even when the pandemic hit, his 360° virtual reality adaptation of PheNoumenon (2019), amongst other digital projects, made its rounds to Italy and Israel in 2021. Most recently, he was commissioned by Esplanade’s da:ns festival 2022 to create Infinitely Closer, which also marked the opening of the new Singtel Waterfront Theatre.
Photo by Paraphrase
First exposed to street dance at age sixteen, Mikiko Kawamura majored in dance at the Japan Women’s College of Physical Education, and began her professional choreographic journey in 2011. Once described as a dance enfant terrible who have fallen to Earth from a faraway planet, Mikiko works widely, not only in theaters but also for outdoor live events, music sessions, musical storytelling, video, music composition, and handmade crafts. She is a 2013-2016 Junior Fellow at the Saison Foundation.
Her solo work Alphard premiered at Yokohama Dance Collection EX 2012, and has since been presented at numerous festivals in Japan, Poland, Croatia, Vietnam, the United States, France, and Canada. Her awards include the Outstanding New Artist Prize at Yokohama Dance Collection EX 2011; the Next Generation Choreographer Award and Audience Award at the Toyota Choreography Award in 2014, and the Jury Prize and The French Embassy Prize for Young Choreographer at Yokohama Dance Collection EX 2015, all for her work Inner Mommy.
Her works begin with a vision, which she then consistently transforms into a staged reality. Comprehensively authoring music, lights and visuals, Mikiko combines these with accurate planning of her own choreography. She describes her dance as an attempt to express parallel worlds – the constellations of never used alternatives, which often go unnoticed.
Photo by K Kajiyama
Eunice started dancing in Republic Polytechnic’s Modern Dance Interest Group under the guidance of Zaini Tahir and Marcus Foo in 2008, performing in its annual concerts Momentum and Muse. She joined the NUS Dance Ensemble as an associate member in 2010, participating in their concerts Evocation and The Next Wave. She was a performer with Universal Studios Singapore as a Parade Performer for 5 years. Eunice joined T.H.E Second Company in 2011, and has since performed in the Singapore Writers Festival 2012, MyDance Festival in Kuala Lumpur, cont·act Contemporary Dance Festival, liTHE, and Bedfellows for the company’s 5th anniversary.
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Jack has been dancing since 2008, training mainly in contemporary dance and Chinese dance. He has performed with semi-professional companies such as Dance Horizon Troupe, Singapore and joined T.H.E Second Company in 2017, participating in multiple productions over the years. Jack actively seeks out new ways to expand his dance vocabulary and has recently branched out into cross-disciplinary work such as dance films and performances involving live music, spoken word, dance, and live media.
Photo by Seah Jun Hui
Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, Marina started dancing ballet at the age of 4. In 2011, she decided to pursue a full-time dance education at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), where she worked with choreographers Osman Abdul Hamid, Wallie Wolfgruber, Filomar Tariao, and Lee Ren Xin for NAFA’s The Third Space and Crossings performances productions. Marina joined T.H.E Second Company in 2013 and has danced in liTHE, cont·act Contemporary Dance Festival’s Asian Festivals Exchange platform, and the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre’s inaugural Extravaganza, performing in Associate Artistic Director Silvia Yong’s creation. In 2018, she was invited to SIDance in Seoul, South Korea, to perform The Seasons, choreographed by Kim Bora, which premiered at the Asian Festival Exchange in the same year.
Photo by Teresa Chiok
Natasha started dancing at the age of 13 with Dance Horizon Troupe, Singapore during her years at River Valley High School. Upon graduation from the Integrated Program, she pursued her passion at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), where she had the opportunity to work with local and international choreographers. During her studies at NAFA, she worked closely with John Mead Dance Company, Paragraph and Re:Dance Theatre II.
In March 2016, she travelled to New York City under the International Visa Program by Peridance Center, where she completed a three-month course. Through performance and teaching, she hopes to share her love for dance and impact lives with her art. She is currently an artiste with the Music and Drama Company as well as a Dance Artist with T.H.E Second Company.
Photo by Jeff Low
Vera Chiew (Singapore) | Gear, Performer; T.H.E Second Company Dance Artist
Vera first ventured into the arts through ballet under Ms Lovell Chia and Cheng Ballet Academy, competing in various ballet competitions. Her time in the School of the Arts (SOTA) allowed her to experiment with other dance forms including contemporary, jazz and tap. Vera has worked with many choreographers and dancers, including Silvia Yong, Ryan Tan, Jeffrey Tan, Jacinta Walsh and Heather Myers. She has since continued her training and exploration in NUS Dance Synergy under Yarra Ileto and Albert Tiong. In 2017, Vera joined The Human Expression (T.H.E) Second Company, performing in various editions of liTHE and Co.Lab.Asians (2019).
Photo by Tan Hong Ying
Stefanie Teo began her dance journey at the age of 4 with the Royal Academy of Dance ballet syllabus. She has since been involved in various youth dance groups, receiving the tutelage of Melissa Ng, Fiona Thng, and Zaini Mohd Tahir. Stefanie holds a Diploma in Dance from LASALLE College of the Arts, and has had the opportunity to work with renowned choreographers such as Eisa Jocson, Ery Mefri, Rachel Lopez de la Nieta, Kuik Swee Boon, Dapheny Chen, Susan Yeung, Susan Sentler, Bernice Lee and Jenny Neo. She was the recipient of the Wu Peihui Dance Award for the 2019/2020 academic year, and joined T.H.E Dance Company’s Training Initiative in 2021.
She is currently experimenting with various dance methodologies to further develop her movement articulation and embodiment.
Photo by Crispian Chan
Ji Kyungmin graduated from Chung-Ang University, majoring in Contemporary Dance and Dance Education in the Graduate School of Education. In 2007, Kyungmin founded Goblin Party, a choreographer’s collective in Korea, and has been actively performing pieces all around the world since then. In 2011, and 2012, he was selected as the Rising Star by the Korea Performing Arts Centre. He won the best prize for the AK21 at Busan International Dance Festival with his piece Human’s Empire. He also worked with choreographer Idit Herman from Israel’s Clipa Theater, Danish choreographer Martin Forsberg in Fors Works, and many other renowned artists. With his latest solo piece, SHYNESS, Kyungmin won his first Jury Prize in the Solo Contest at MASDANZA in 2017. Once Upon A Time, another well-received work by Kyungmin, received the Excellent Artwork for Dance Creation award by the Korea Arts Council in 2016, and was selected as one of the Best Five Artworks of the Year by the Korea Dance Critics Association the same year. After his appearance at Aerowaves with his co-choreographed piece Silver Knife, Goblin Party has been invited to more than 10 overseas festivals in 2019 and 2020 alone.
Photo by Jungeun Lim
Joanna began her dance training in classical ballet with the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus. She went on to pursue a Diploma in Dance at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. She has danced in works choreographed by Larry Clark, Wallie Wolfgruber, Natalie Maria Clark and Ji Kyungmin. As a member of T.H.E Second Company, she has performed at various platforms, including the Asian Festivals Exchange (2018) and Co.Lab.Asians (2019).
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Kimberly started off with ballet at the age of 6. In 2016, she graduated from School of the Arts with an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma. Kimberly completed her BA(Hons) Dance Degree at LASALLE College of the Arts in 2019.
Her passion to nurture the youth led her to start her journey as an instructor with Jete Dance Studio. She also became a Dance Artist with T.H.E Second Company to continuously develop herself as an artist. Kimberly has a strong desire to develop her dance pedagogy and style that focuses on fluidity in movements. She hopes to continue carving her path as a dance artist through working with various artists in a deeper, multi-layered artistic voice.
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Say Hua started ballet when she was young, and trained in the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus. She was introduced to modern dance in Meridian Junior College where she took up dance as her Co-Curricular Activity. With an intention to explore contemporary dance more, she joined the Nanyang Technological University’s Contemp{minated} at university. It was there that she learned more about contemporary dance and was exposed to various techniques and styles; mainly through the guidance of nurturing instructors and guest choreographers. She joined T.H.E Second Company in 2017.
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Maybelle Lek is a multifaceted movement artist. She pursued her training at School of the Arts and Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. Maybelle is a recipient of the Linbury Trust Bursary Award in 2016. She graduated in November 2017 with a Distinction in her Master’s Degree, and has performed with Moving Visions, VERVE and Rambert Dance Company, to name a few. In total, she has performed in over 30 venues and worked with 13 choreographers from the UK, EU and Singapore. The work Maybelle does includes teaching, choreography and inter-disciplinary collaborations. She joined T.H.E Second Company in August 2018. Since then, she has danced in liTHE 2018 and 2022, and in the 2019 and 2021 editions of cont·act Contemporary Dance Festival.
Photo by Eurie Lascano
Zeng Yu first trained in rhythmic gymnastics during her secondary school days and was introduced to contemporary dance when she joined the NUS Dance Ensemble back in 2011. She joined T.H.E Second Company in 2015, and has since worked with choreographers including Sebastien Ledig, Anna Borras, Albert Tiong, Bora Kim, Ji Kyungmin, Anthea Seah, Marcus Foo, Nah Jieying, Maybelle Lek and Goh Jiayin.
Photo by Kwek Yixuan
Amanda began her dance journey at the age of 15, coming from a gymnastics background. Under the tutelage of Wong Liang Pei and Dan Kwoh, she established her foundation in contemporary dance, clinching several solo and group placings at Commonwealth Society of Teachers of Dancing competitions. She was also the Modern Division Head at the Hwa Chong Music and Dance Society, choreographing for and performing in various school-wide events.
Fuelled by a passion for contemporary dance, Amanda joined M1-Frontier Danceland's Pulse Programme from 2018 to 2019 and worked with choreographers Faye Tan, Samantha Yue and Chew Shaw En. As a member of NUS Dance Synergy, and ex-President of NUS Dance Blast!, Amanda is keen to develop versatility in her movement and explore the confluence of street and contemporary dance. In 2022, she joined T.H.E Second Company to continue this journey of discovery.
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Hailing from Taiwan, Chen Chi started her training in classical ballet, contemporary and Chinese dance at the age of 9 through dance classes conducted at her elementary school. Inspired by her experiences in competitions abroad, Chen Chi strove to pursue a vocational dance education abroad. Chen Chi was a handpicked recipient for the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Talent Development Programme in 2021, and has been actively involved in productions including The Third Space, Crossings and Dancers@Work since then. Chen Chi has also collaborated with many reputable choreographers, such as Dr. Filomar Cortezano Tariao, Shahrin Johry, Hsu Yaoyi, Shen Yi-Wen, Yu Chien-Hung, and Chien Hua-Bao.
Photo by Merv Kwok
Cherie is an aspiring dancer in her 3rd year of the Diploma in Dance programme at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). Prior to joining NAFA in January 2021, she studied at School of the Arts from 2016 to 2019 and was accepted to the New Zealand School of Dance at the end of 2019, although the pandemic forced her withdrawal in 2020. Since enrolling in NAFA, she has been under the tutelage of Adele Goh, Dr Filomar Cortezano Tariao, Qi Huan, Goh Shou Yi and many others. She has performed in works by Jenny Neo and Gillian Tan in Crossings 2021, Dan Kwoh’s Grief in Third Space 2021, as well as Kuik Swee Boon’s As it Fades (excerpt) in Crossings 2022. She is currently part of the teaching faculty at DANSTUDIO.
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Grace began her journey with dance at the age of 5. She studied at School of The Arts (SOTA) where she completed the International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme in 2016, during which she also had the opportunity to attend the Alvin Ailey Professional Division Summer Intensive in New York. In 2021, Grace completed a BFA (Hons) in Dance with First Class Honors at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA).
During her studies at HKAPA, Grace was awarded multiple scholarships including the HKAPA Student Awards - Schools’ Outstanding Student Award (Dance) in her 3rd year. She has worked with international choreographers, including Anh Ngoc Nguyen, Yuri Ng, Corey Baker and Zoltán Fodor, and has also represented the school on tour to China for an exchange with Guangzhou University’s School of Music and Dance. Despite being a Ballet major, Grace has had numerous opportunities to be exposed to different genres of dance and enjoys exploring movement with no boundaries.
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James’ passion for dance started when he entered Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP). He received training in various movement genres including Hip Hop, Breaking, Contemporary, and Acro Yoga. He has a great interest in choreography as well as in inspiring the younger generations, and has choreographed for NP dance club D3's numerous performance opportunities. He has also sent teams to various street and commercial dance competitions.
He finds that being able to dance is a form of freedom, whereas being good at it is a form of commitment. To enhance his skills, he competed in various dance competitions such as Super24, The Royal Dance-Off (Duet), Paradigm Shift (All-Style-Battle), D:2 Dance Chingay Competition and Get The Beat 2022. Through these, he had the chance to interact and exchange ideas with like-minded peers, contributing to his belief that dance not only shapes you as a dancer, but also as a person.
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Joseph Chua’s strong passion for contemporary dance began at Ang Mo Kio Secondary School under the mentorship of Jesper Tan. His time there motivated him to attain his Royal Ballet Academy (RAD) ballet training, and he joined T.H.E Second Company from 2015 to 2017 to refine his craft. Upon completing his national service, he went on to receive full-time pre-professional training at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, gaining rich performing experiences such as performing for Eileih Muir from Studio Wayne McGregor. He has also been given opportunities to choreograph, including for Phenomenal III at the Esplanade Library. Having experienced working with international and local dance artists, he is now a contemporary dance instructor at various local dance studios.
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Sophie started training from a young age in ballet, modern jazz and tap. She began pre-professional training in ballet and contemporary dance at School of the Arts before enrolling in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), where she was consistently on the Dean’s List and placed on the Talent Development Programme. She now holds a Diploma in Dance (Distinction). Sophie has worked with numerous choreographers including Kuik Swee Boon, Dan Kwoh, Son Yu Joung, Christina Chan, Adele Goh and Jeffrey Tan. She was a member of TRDO 2nd Company, and won the Grand Prix in the contemporary solo category at the Masterpiece International Ballet Competition 2022.
Presently, Sophie is a dance practitioner, teacher, choreographer; Programme Executive at DANSTUDIO and a Co-Curricular Activity (Dance) assistant teacher. She is also a certified teacher of Progressing Contemporary Technique. Sophie hopes to impart to her students proper technique in contemporary dance and inspire in them a love and appreciation for the art form.
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Klievert Jon Mendoza graduated from the Philippines High School for the Arts where he received the Outstanding Student Artist Award in 2015. He went on to study at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) in 2018 where he graduated with a Diploma in Dance (Distinction), was named ‘Best Graduate’, and received the ‘NAFA President Award’. Klievert was the first Filipino to compete in the Youth America Grand Prix 2018, and was awarded the Gold Medal in the pre-professional category of the 2014 Concours International De Danse Classique De Grasse in Paris, France. He has also choreographed for the 2020–2021 editions of liTHE. Klievert joined T.H.E Dance Company in 2018.
Original photo by Crispian Chan
Born in 1995, Fiona Thng is a dancer, instructor and choreographer who has been exposed to various styles such as locking, hip hop, street jazz, contemporary and jazz. Over the years, she has worked with choreographers such as Ryan Tan, Jeffrey Tan, Zaki Ahmad, and Lisa Keegan. She loves exploring movements and infusing different styles and genres into her work. She joined T.H.E Dance Company in August 2019.
Photo by Bernie Ng
Trained in ballet and Chinese dance from a young age, Haruka’s formal introduction to contemporary dance began at her time in School of the Arts. In 2017, she was accepted into the New Zealand School of Dance majoring in Contemporary Dance where she got to train with a prestigious faculty that included Victoria Colombus, Paula Steeds Huston, James O’Hara, Balázs Busa, Daniel Jaber and other guest artists.
In 2021, Haruka joined T.H.E. Dance Company as a full-time dance artist, and she has been a part of repertoires and original choreographies by artistic director Kuik Swee Boon and resident choreographer Kim Jae Duk.
Photo by Bernie Ng
Chang En first started dancing classical ballet at the age of 4 and has since worked with established choreographers such as Jeffrey Tan, Albert Tiong and Zaki Ahmad. From 2017 to 2021, Chang En was a part of T.H.E Second Company, allowing her to further build upon her contemporary training. She had the opportunity to perform with T.H.E Dance Company in February 2021, where she trained alongside the company’s dance artists under the guidance of artistic director, Kuik Swee Boon. Chang En formally joined T.H.E Dance Company in January 2022.
Photo by Bernie Ng
Franky Drousioti is a multifaceted contemporary artist born in Naarm (Melbourne) Australia, and derived from Cyprus, Italy and Ireland. He is interested in the way art and culture can be utilised to build connections. Love, respect and compassion inspire Franky to create spaces that activate and weave human presences and senses.
Franky continues to ignite his crafts by furthering research into the wealth of wisdom behind the body while acknowledging founding artistic creators. He is currently travelling, exploring his heritage and what it means to be in today's world. Franky joins T.H.E Dance Company as a Dance Artist in May 2023.
Photo by Rachel Dowse
Zu You started dance at the age of 13, gaining exposure to various genres of dance such as Chinese dance, contemporary dance and ballet. To further pursue his passion, he enrolled in LASALLE College of Arts, graduating with a Diploma in Dance, and completed his BA in Dance from Taipei University of Arts. Upon graduation, Zu You was a dance artist with T.H.E Dance Company till 2022.
Photo by Bernie Ng
Since graduating from LASALLE College of the Arts in 2006, Adrian has been designing shows for the local and international arts scene. His work spans a wide spectrum, including the performing arts and outdoor light installations.
He has worked with most major theatre and dance companies in Singapore, creating designs and spaces for operas, dance, and experimental works produced by companies like Singapore Lyric Opera, Singapore Dance Theatre, T.H.E Dance Company, W!ld Rice, The Necessary Stage, and Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. Several of his works have received theatre awards, including shows like Monkey Goes West and Another Country by W!ld Rice, A Cage Goes In Search Of A Bird by A Group of People, BITCH for M1 Fringe Festival, and Dark Room, which was commissioned by Esplanade as part of The Studios 2016.
Photo by Crispian Chan
Guo Ningru was a recipient of the National Arts Scholarship by the Singapore National Arts Council in 2016 and recently returned to Singapore after graduating with a MFA in Sound Design from the University of California Irvine (UCI). Over the past decade, Ning has designed sound for numerous plays and musicals in Singapore and the region. She particularly enjoys exploring immersive spatial audio for theatrical performances. Her Masters Thesis, Going Immersive – Spatial Audio for Theatre, details the current technologies and methods in Spatial Audio for sound designers to utilise in theatrical performances.
Recent sound design and composition credits include Between You and Me (Nine Years Theatre), Miss Julie (Singapore Repertory Theatre), and Lungs (Singapore Repertory Theatre).
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Kent Lee is a self-taught multi-disciplinary artist currently based in Malaysia. Having started out with his indie-pop band Fast Food Generation, it was through his frequent sessions with ambient artist flica (aka Euseng Seto) that he found himself gravitating towards the experimental side of music.
For the past few years, Kent has composed, recorded and performed for various dance and musical theatre productions in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, including award-winning Seni Tiga’s multidisciplinary performance Impermanence, and Singaporean ground-breaking contemporary dance company T.H.E’s PheNoumenon, Everyone and A Beautiful Day. Besides his musical outputs, Kent constantly pushes boundaries with other mediums including a series of performance art under his latest multi-disciplinary collaboration, Shaman Tearoom.
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Loo An Ni is fascinated with the tactility of objects and spaces. This brought her into theatre where possibilities are limitless. She has taken various roles in costuming, from design and construction to wardrobe management. Her costume design credits include Nine Songs (Siong Leng Musical Association), Returning (assistant design, SIFA 2015 commission), The Mazu Chronicle (assistant design, The Arts Fission Company), Teochew Festival 2014 Gala Dinner Performance (Teacher Post Ip Huay Kwan), Huayi – Chinese Festival of Arts 2018 commission Cut Kafka!, and Windward Side of the Mountain by T.H.E Dance Company and Nine Years Theatre.
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Ashley (she/they) is a Singaporean artist who works from an embodied perspective. A leaking body, her work plays across performance, -making, writing, graphic design, sound-tinkering, filmmaking, and scenography. Presently preoccupied with time, access, responsibility, and how we live together, alongside a persistent curiosity for composition, she sees performance as an intimate socio-political practice of transforming and being transformed.
Her performing experience includes processes with Ingrid Berger Myhre, Ula Sickle, Zarah Bracht, and more. As a maker, she operates frequently through ashleyho+domeniknaue. Her works have been presented and supported by a multitude of platforms and production houses. Ashley’s first poetry collection, Without Sound Now, was published in 2019 by Math Paper Press; she has also been published in artistic research journals such as Leonorana Revista and FUSE by Dance Nucleus. In 2022, Ashley completed her dancer/maker studies at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem, the Netherlands, with the support of the Singapore National Arts Council Scholarship.
Domenik (he/him) is a transmedial artist with a background in gymnastics, dance and theatre. He grew up in Weimar, Germany, surrounded by many cultural institutions, which stimulated his interest in creating and experiencing art. His work(-ing) combines physical movement, music composition, graphic design, and videography, and has been presented through numerous platforms. Since 2019, he has been creating performance works and conducting artistic research in collaboration with Ashley Ho. Domenik has worked as a performer with artists such as Nicole Beutler, Dunja Jocic, Keren Rosenberg, Dario Tortorelli, Corneliu Ganea, Julio Cesar Iglesias Ungo and Kazue Ikeda. He graduated from the dancer/maker Bachelor programme at ArtEZ University of the Arts in 2022.
Photo by Rune Leysen
Born in the United States, Megan Doheny is a movement artist, choreographer, and co-director of the collaborative dance project, Outrun The Bear. From 2015–2022, Megan worked as a dancer for the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company (KCDC) where she performed the works of artistic director Rami Be’er throughout Israel, as well as international tours to more than 20 different countries. In 2021, she was awarded the Yair Shapira Prize for her contribution to contemporary dance in Israel. As a choreographer, Megan has been collaborating with her partner, Ilya Nikurov, since 2015. From 2016–2020, they worked as resident choreographers for the International Dance Journey Program in Israel and created works for KCDC’s main company as a part of the Alternative Stage Platform. In 2021, they established Outrun The Bear, and have been invited to perform and screen their works in festivals throughout Europe, the United States, Mexico, Israel, South Korea, and Singapore.
Born in Kemerovo, Russia, Ilya Nikurov is a movement artist, choreographer, and co-director of the collaborative dance project, Outrun The Bear. From the age of 7, Ilya studied ballroom, modern, jazz and contemporary dance. From 2004–2008, he danced with folk dance company Siberian Kaleidoscope, then relocated to Moscow where he worked as a dancer with Boroditsky Dennis Dance Company and with The Great Moscow Circus. In 2012 he participated in the performance, Kamera, by Belgian choreographer Ann Van den Broek. Ilya joined Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company (KCDC) in 2014 and received the Yair Shapira Award in 2018 for his contribution to contemporary dance in Israel. From 2016–2020, Ilya, together with his life partner and collaborator, Megan Doheny, worked as resident choreographers for the International Dance Journey Program in Israel and created works for KCDC’s main company as a part of the Alternative Stage Platform.
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Moh. Hariyanto, or Hari Ghulur, was born in Madura island, Indonesia. He decided to major in dance, and earned his undergraduate degree in the Drama, Dance, and Music department at the State University of Surabaya (2010). In 2011, he pursued his Masters in Dance Creation and Interpretation at the Indonesian Institutes of the Arts, Surakarta (ISI Surakarta) and graduated in 2013. Hari has been involved in many festivals, as well as national, regional, and international events. He is now a lecturer at The College of Art Wilwatikta, Surabaya. He also established a dance studio named “Sawung Dance Studio” for Surabayan dancers and choreographers to collaborate on creative processes and innovative art works.
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Born in 1992, Reisa Shimojima began dancing in her hometown of Kagoshima, Japan, at the age of 7. Reisa primarily performed jazz dance and traditional Japanese Yosakoi dance, and majored in contemporary dance at J.F. Oberlin University. Reisa was later featured in the works of other choreographers, such as Kuniko Kisanuki, Chieko Ito, and Ryohei Condors. Since the establishment of the KEDAGORO Dance Company in 2013, Reisa has been in charge of the choreography and production of all the works. Reisa’s solo, Monkey in a Diaper premiered at the Yokohama Dance Collection, and was invited to be performed at more than 10 places, both in Japan and abroad. In 2018, Shimojima performed Monkey in a Diaper at the first Asian Comic Dance Festival in Hanam, and also showcased Sky at the 2019 Seoul World Dance Festival.
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Rosemainy Buang is a gamelan musician, composer and educator. Having been trained in gamelan for the past 10 years, Rose looks forward to expanding her practice through creating and collaborating with other practitioners of different art forms. Fuelled by a philosophy in gamelan, where the relationship between musician and music trumps technical ability, Rose aspires to ascend towards rasa, the highest form of aesthetics in karawitan.
Dapheny Chen is an independent dance artist who negotiates between the roles of a choreographer, performer, educator and manager. She is concerned about the provocations, connections and criticality that arise from making and viewing dance. Breaking away from her conventional dance training, she examines socio-political ideologies to navigate the possibilities of contemporary dance, while seeking to create alternative nodes of experience and entry points as conversations for change and knowledge. Her practice embraces the multiple facets of choreography and dance that change with time and state. While acknowledging the agile and transient nature of processes involved in creation, she breaks down previous definitions of the form to reform new experiences.
Dapheny graduated from Lasalle College of the Arts. She has since danced with Ah Hock and Peng Yu (2004), L.A. Dance Connection (2003-2008), Frontier Danceland (2010-2011) and Re:Dance Theatre (2012-2015).
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Joo Teng, affectionately known as Jootz, is the creative mind behind BackAlley Creations, a Singapore based photography and videography company. Jootz’s ventures into videography and film making for the arts got its roots from his days as a full time hip hop performer and educator. His journey in the creative industry which transited from the performing arts to the visual arts continues to allow him to hone his craft with a different lens. Most importantly, his work is shaped by the stories, people and connections that he has built along the way. Some of the companies he has had or continues to work with include Esplanade Theatres by the Bay, Cheng Ballet, NUS Centre of the Arts, Xinyi Dance Company, Re:Dance Theatre. Jootz has been collaborating with Dapheny since 2020.
Photo by Dapheny Chen
Emma is a choreographer and artist based in Whadjuk Noongar Boodja, Western Australia. A member of LINK Dance Company (2010), Emma holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and Master of Arts in Performing Arts from Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, and has been an Associate Artist with Co3 Contemporary Dance Australia. Emma is currently at Edith Cowan University working on an Australian Research Council Discover Project as a PhD candidate, exploring how slow choreographic methods can give corporeal form to fleeting social phenomena.
She has choreographed for the International Young Choreographers Project in Taiwan (2019) and been engaged in multiple projects and research residencies in Perth, Sydney and Tasmania, and festivals in Bilbao, Singapore and Melbourne, including choreographing a 360º VR film for the Revelations Film Festival. Emma’s work Slow Burn, Together also received the “Outstanding New Work” award at the 2022 Performing Arts Western Australia Awards.
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Currently a freelance dancer, teacher, choreographer and multimedia designer, Tan-ki is one half of the movement collective NEO Dance HK. His work Division received the top prize at the 7th Jerusalem International Choreography Competition, while works Galatea & Pygmalion and Galatea X received the Hong Kong Dance Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance” in 2011 and the “Outstanding Choreography” award in 2014 respectively. Tan-ki also received the “Young Artist Award” at The Hong Kong Arts Development Awards in 2015, and was awarded 3rd place in the Male Solo category at the 2012 International Dance Organisation World Tap Dance Championships. His filmic work Come Rain Or Shine received the “Outstanding Cinematography Award” and “Outstanding Film Award” at the 2022 Manifest Dance-Film Festival.
Photo by Chris Chan
Jieying started her training as an artistic gymnast and a chinese dancer. She moved on to train in contemporary dance and ballet in School of the Arts, Singapore. In 2016, she received the National Arts Council Scholarship (Undergraduate) to study overseas at London Contemporary Dance School. Upon graduating, Jieying worked for projects with James Cousins Company and Matsena Productions in the UK.
Jieying joined The Human Expression (T.H.E) Dance Company as a full time professional dancer from 2019-2022. Now, Jieying is not only a lecturer back at her alma mater in SOTA, she also teaches, choreographs for stages and commercials, and facilitates dance workshops and dance related talks for arts groups in Singapore.
Photo by Bernie Ng
Annabelle Dvir is an Israeli-Georgian choreographer, voice artist, live sound composer, and dance performer who researches live art with her developing ensemble WOMEN OF SOUNDS through tensions between sensation and perception, and the heard and the seen. She creates extreme physical-vocal practices and examines new aesthetics that merge reality and fantasy to transform human preconception, emotions and inner desires. Working with a musical choreographic lens, her practice centres the “performance body” as one of visual, audial-sonoric and plastic frequencies, and her works have been presented both nationally and abroad in North America and Europe.
Annabelle earned her Masters and Bachelor of Arts with Dean’s Honours from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, and graduated from The KELIM Center’s Choreography Programme Bat-Yam IL. She received the Ministry of Culture Award in 2022 for her outstanding work within her first 10 years. Presently, Annabelle is a member of The Israeli Choreographers Association, and CAMPI - Jerusalem Dance and Performance Community.
Photo by Montpellier Danse
Layil Goren is a dance performer who grew up in the Golan Heights. She graduated from the Kelim Choreography Center's 2-year programme, and has also been in the Kibbutz Gaaton Dance Workshop and the Vertigo International Dance Programme. Over the years, she has worked with choreographers including Ido Batash, Sahar Azimi, Deganit Shemy, Merav Cohen, Ruth Segalis, Nachshon Stein, Orit Shaul, Ma'ayan Liberman Sharon, Racheli Zohar, Elad Shechter, Nicol Mahler and Noa Atar. In 2019, she started working with choreographer, performer and voice-artist Annabelle Dvir in two of her latest projects. Layil is a practising therapist of the Ilan Lev Method, and a contemporary dance teacher in various programmes in Israel.
Photo by David Kaplan
Noa Shaveh is an independent creative dancer, performer and teacher. She graduated from the Dance Department of Alon High School of Arts, and holds the professional dance qualification, Hasadna, in Kibbutz Ga'aton. Noa was recognized as an outstanding dancer during her service with the Israel Defense Forces, and she has since worked as a creative dancer and performed in works by Rachel Erdos, Yossi Berg & Oded Graf at various dance festivals in Israel. She was also a part of the creative processs of choreographers Andrea Costanzo Martini and Yankalle Filtser. in 2021, she performed in Curtain Up Dance Festival in Tel Aviv with a solo choreographed by Ronit Ziv. Most recently, Noa has joined the WOMEN OF SOUNDS ensemble by choreographer, composer and voice artist Annabelle Dvir.
Beryl is a professional contemporary dancer and an aspiring choreographer based in Singapore. A former company dancer of TRDOco, Singapore, and Transitions Dance Company, London, she has performed in works that toured both locally and internationally to Malaysia, Indonesia, United Kingdom and Italy. Beryl graduated from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (2021) with a Masters of Arts in Dance Performance and was awarded ‘Trinity Laban Dance Award’. She has participated in intensives such as One Body, One Career (OBOC) Countertechnique by Anouk Van Dijk, and Orsolina 28 where she studied the repertoire of Crystal Pite under the guidance of Sandra Marín and Jirí Pokorny. Beryl is in constant practice of combining her knowledge and experience over the years to expand her craft and artistry as an artist.
Photo by Crispian Chan
Amelia Chong is a freelance professional dancer and dance educator with a Bachelor's degree in Dance Studies from the University of Auckland. She specialises in contemporary technique and creative dance processes, and her works have been presented at the Tempo Dance Festival 2016 and at the SUPERCELL Festival of Contemporary Dance 2019 alongside renowned Singaporean artists. She was also invited to perform at BODY.RADICAL International Performing Arts Biennale and Interplay Festival Internationale Di Danza Contemporanea 2020 after her performance at the 10th edition of cont·act Contemporary Dance Festival. Amelia was also a research associate at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 2019. Amelia hopes to instil a critical and reflexive mindset in her students, where they start to question and appreciate the wonders of dance as an art form that goes beyond its physicality.
Photo by Aaron Low
Claudia Hilda is an award-winning contemporary dancer and creator based in Brooklyn, New York. She worked as a principal dancer for the Cuban National Company of Contemporary Dance and Transitions Dance Company in London. She has collaborated with cutting-edge international choreographers and has performed in the principal theatres across Europe and America. In 2020-2021 she was the recipient of the Chevening and Leverhulme Art scholarships in London, where she graduated with the highest achievement prize from her Master’s studies in Art and Choreography. She approaches performing art as an exercise that celebrates consciousness and intuition around the body, the mind, and society.
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Zoe is a dancer and choreographer from the UK. Her professional dance training commenced in London at the prestigious Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary. She then continued her training at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance. She also spent a semester in New York at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. During her time in Boston, she discovered her skill and passion for creation and composition under the mentorship of Kurt Douglas and Daniel McCusker. Her first full length show, Epilogue, premiered in November 2022.
Photo by Merv Kwok
Klynn started dancing in Classical Ballet at age 3 and has since obtained certification at Advanced 1 level in the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus. She also started training in Contemporary Dance while in school, learning from choreographers such as Low Mei Yoke, Leia Ang, and Albert Tiong. While in London, Klynn competed and won in several inter-university competitions. She is currently actively exploring other genres including Dancehall, and House, and the Gaga movement language.
Photo by Crispian Chan
Xenres started his dance journey in 2016 at the age of 19, auditioned and entered Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in July 2016. Presently, Xenres is a Chairperson for NAFA’s Dance Alumni Chapter, President of World Dance Alliance Singapore and the Director for Nagi Contemporary Dance Corps. Xenres was also featured in national press such as The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao for his exceptional flair in his craft.
Photo by Gerald Lim
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