Independent Curator / Choreographer / Mentor/ Arts Critic

Graduating from The Chinese University of Hong Kong with major in Fine Arts and minor in Chinese Music, Daniel is a self-taught dancer and was twice awarded scholarships to study choreography in Amsterdam and London. Daniel was raved by Europe’s BalletTanz year book as “The Choreographer to Look At” and was awarded the “Rising Artist Award” by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) in 2002. He is also a seven-time awardee of the Hong Kong Dance Awards (2000, 2005, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2020), organised by the Hong Kong Dance Alliance, and twice acclaimed as “Top Five Best Dance Works of the Year” by the South China Morning Post. In 2013, Daniel was awarded by the HKADC as the “Artist of the Year (Dance)” for his immense contributions to the development of dance in Hong Kong as performer, choreographer, dance critic, mentor and curator. In 2020 (till 2022), he was appointed by the Government as Councilor and Chairman (Dance Sector) / Vice-Chair (Arts Criticism) through democratic election for the HKADC. In the same year, Daniel was once again awarded by the Hong Kong Dance Award with the most prestigious “Distinguished Achievement Award”.

Daniel was granted by the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority for an in-depth research on Dance Festivals and Curatorship from 2013 to 2015, providing him opportunities to research on different successful models of festival programs throughout Europe, and building networks for further collaborations with international dance festivals in Asia. In 2017, Daniel was funded by the Home Affairs Bureau for curating and presenting his first dance festival H.D.X (Hong Kong Dance Exchange) as an inter-Asia festivals exchange program festival, alliance with New Dance for Asia International Festival (Korea), Dance Round Table Project (Taiwan), Fukuoka Dance Fringe Festival (Japan) and Japan Contemporary Dance Network.

Daniel is also an active artist specialised in interdisciplinary noiseand international inter-cultural collaboration. He was invited by the Japan Kyoto Arts Centre three times for teaching and presenting works in the International Creators Meeting and “Hot Summer in Kyoto” workshop festival curated by Monochrome Circus, and has been invited two times as an artistic coordinator and choreographer to set his dance works with choreographers from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Australia for the Little Asia Dance Exchange network touring program. Daniel has also curated and co-choreographed the multi-media dance work Little Prince Hamlet performed by himself with artists from Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia presented by the Hong Kong Arts Festival 2005. In 2007, he was appointed by the Seoul International Dance Festival as the artistic coordinator for an international collaboration co-choreographed by dance artists from Singapore, Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea.

Starting from 2012, Daniel began with his new partnership with Hong Kong Arts Centre for his new project “Open Dance” as Curator and Joint Presenter, which he had produced 17 Open Dances in unconventional performance spaces with diverse dance forms and categories. “Open Dance” has also won him the Hong Kong Dance Award for his concept and contribution on community/environmental and educational dance category.

Recently Daniel has great interest in integrating contemporary dance and Lion Dance (a fresh take on the cultural heritage which has been around in China, and the rest of Asia, for centuries), and exploring more possibilities of how it can be presented. His multi-media production Contemporised-Lion-Dance works have been presented by Taikoo Place theatre ArtisTree as their grand opening program, New Vision Arts Festival, and JCNAP by HKADC in Hong Kong, also Sanriku International Arts Festival in Japan, and tanzmesse in Germany, in which he combined and collaborated with local and international artists from Japan, Taiwan, Belgium, Italy and Poland, ranging from aerial dance, circus, ballet, contemporary dance and Parkour.

Dance can truly become an international language because it is a “holistic cultural activity” that encompasses the body, mind, and even the soul. Dance can also genuinely represent a place and reflect an era’s pursuit and contribution to the “beauty” of itself and the world, allowing everyone to share in this beautiful realm together.

The biennial “Hong Kong Dance Exchange” has gained the visionary support of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (hereinafter referred to as the CSTB) all along, allowing us to engage in long-term exchanges with the most important dance festivals and institutions around the world through our most representative dance masterpieces. This enables the world to continuously witness the evolution and progress of Hong Kong’s dance, culture, and art. From the first edition to the present, the global dance connections of the “Hong Kong Dance Exchange” have doubled or even multiplied with each edition! Now in its fourth edition, with the highest number of participating international dance festivals and institutions, we have a total of 17 representatives from dance festivals, arts institutions, and performance venues attending the “Hong Kong Dance Exchange” to select artists and works, facilitating more than 20 international exchange opportunities for Hong Kong artists, including world tours, residencies in various locations, and collaborative creations! I sincerely thank the CSTB and all the Hong Kong artists for their participation and full support, enabling the “Hong Kong Dance Exchange” to achieve such impressive results.

Regardless of Chinese or foreign, East or West, in cultural exchanges, we hope to continue expanding the proud achievement and renowned brand of “Hong Kong as an international hub” through the “Hong Kong Dance Exchange,” as well as the unique position of “dance” as an important carrier of the human spirit and culture!

I eagerly anticipate that the achievements of this edition of the “Hong Kong Dance Exchange” and the accumulated accomplishments over the years will not only be reflected in Hong Kong and local artists but also extend to Mainland China and the rest of the world. Special thanks to our close collaborator, the “Macau CDE Springboard” which, starting from this edition, will bring artists and works from the Greater Bay Area of China to the “Hong Kong Dance Exchange.” Furthermore, in addition to the existing connections, this edition of the “Hong Kong Dance Exchange” has also established ties with newly joined dance festivals and institutions from different regions of the world, from nearby Laos to as far as Canada, Luxembourg, Finland, and Israel. Together, we share this gift and glory of the “Hong Kong Dance Exchange” with audiences worldwide, enabling us all to venture further into the realm of dance and elevate Hong Kong to greater heights of authenticity, virtue, and aesthetic radiance.

Let us join hands and dance together, striving to put our bodies into action!

Graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honors) degree, majoring in Contemporary Dance and Choreography. Actively performs on stage and explores various mediums to showcase dance, collaborating with artists from different disciplines as well as art institutions and groups.

Recent works including City Contemporary Dance Company’s “I Don’t Mean It” (2021), Hong Kong Arts Festival’s “Ding Ding Ding Ding” (2021), and E-Side Dance Company’s “Leg” (2023).

Ma has received the “Tom Brown Emerging Choreographer” at the Hong Kong Dance Awards in 2020. She was also honored with the “The Award for Young Artist” by the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards the following year.

Additionally, she has been nominated twice for the “Outstanding Choreography” award at the Hong Kong Dance Awards, for “Over-master” (2020) and “Night Run” (2023).

“Leg” means indulgence in Cantonese.
Plunging into the stage, lost in the dance.
Indulgence is a sweet poison;
no matter the pain, you choose to sink deeper,
like a dancer, like life.
Have you ever found the happiness that can only be found in indulgence?

Performers:
Pansy Lo

Composer and Sound Designer:
Leung Po Wing

Lighting Designer:
Au Yeung Hon Ki

香港藝術發展局支持藝術表達自由，本計劃內容並不反映本局意見。
Hong Kong Arts Development Council supports freedom of artistic expression. The views and opinions expressed in this project do not represent the stand of the Council.

She holds a master’s degree in dance from a national university in Japan and her physicality based on Japanese modern dance continued from Baku Ishii. She began her creative activities focusing her original improvisation method in 2017 and has presented her works in Japan and overseas.

2018 Encouragement Prize at the YDC Competition II. 2020 Audience Award at the Dance Ga Mitai. 2021 Finalist at the YDC Competition I. 2022 Grand Prize at the SAI DANCE FESTIVAL, invited from 1000 CRANES in Estonia, DIDF in South Korea and WITH HARAJUKU Contemporary Dance Festival in Japan.

2023 Finalist at the 28MASDANZA Solo Contest, selected to MASDANZA EXTENSION and invited from Hong Kong Dance Exchange in Hong Kong, Zawirowania Dance Festival in Poland, Artistic Residency in Canada. Also 2023 Finalist at the Odoru Akita, invited from Macau CDES in Macau. Also 2023 triple award include Jury Prize at the YDC Competition I.

In addition, in Japan, she planed collaborative creative performances once every two months at a café 2022 and plan theater physical performances in partnership with Theater X 2024.

The doldrums mean windless area that occur near the equator and the psychological stagnation of humans. In the days when there were no engines yet, it was a dead zone there. Ships couldn’t get propulsion, time passed, and the food ran out. Focusing on the impulses and emptiness in human mind and the flow of time related to life through breathing in silent space and movement driven by will.

<Stuck in windless sea.
(The sun rises… sets…)
Accumulation accidental and incoherence actions compose most of humanity.
Today, our times can go on.
What should value in this world?
Or rather let’s try not to proceed?
(The sun rises… sets…)>

direction/ composition/ choreograph/ perform:
MIZUKI Taka

Awards

Yokohama Dance Collection 2023 (JAPAN)

• Jury Prize
• Kinosaki International Arts Center Prize
• Architanz Artist Support Prize

28 MASDANZA 2023(SPAIN) Finalist, invited from

• Hong Kong Dance Exchange HDX(HONG KONG)
• Zawirowania Dance Festival(POLAND)
• Artistic Residency(CANADA)

Odoru Akita 2023(JAPAN) Finalist, invited from

• Macau CDES(MACAU)

SAI DANCE FESTIVAL 2022(JAPAN)

• Grand Prize

Invited from

• Daegu International Dance Festival (SOUTHKOREA)
• 1000CRANES (ESTONIA)

Ji Jie is a dancer and choreographer. In the past two years, Jie has delved into her childhood traumatic experiences and incorporated her thoughts, feelings, and responses into her dance research. Through this cathartic process, she has become empowered. She now focuses on healing and creating a sanctuary for those invisible wounds, exploring the possibilities of self-reconciliation in intimate relationships.

Jie’s movement training includes Contemporary Dance, Chinese Classical Dance, and Chinese Folk Dance. Her works was selected for the Yokohama Dance Collection , Stray birds dance collection and MASDANZA Art Festivaletc.. She has participated in theatre performances, international art competitions, and festival performances. Collaborative projects include the recent French May Arts Festival (2023) with Christian Rizzo, the 15th Seoul International Dance Competition (2018), the 4th Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition (2017), and the Shanghai and Hangzhou International Dance Festival (2016).

The choreographer aims to depict intimate relationships within the framework of a game, with “winning or losing” as the central objective. However, the outcome of this presentation reveals a game that prioritizes competition to sustain relationships. Once individuals become accustomed to their roles and desire the game (i.e. the relationship) to persist, there are no alternative options available.

To design the movements, the choreographer incorporates repetitive and oppressive elements, such as “Asphyxia” and “hui( 回 ), ” to evoke a physical sensation that arises naturally from one’s own perception. This approach compels both participants (regardless of being winners or losers) to engage in a discussion about the crucial proposition of whether to continue the game.

Performer:
ZHANG Qingyi

Awards:
2023 YoKohama Dance Collection MASDANZA PRIZE

Born and trained in Friuli Venezia Giulia, she start by studying academic dance (ballet, modern and contemporary). At the same time, she continued her art studies and graduated in fashion design. A connection that influences her artistic vision and her aesthetic tastes.

She approaches dance without distinction of gender and uses dance as a communication vehicle.
She uses the body as a tool and material and as such she applies it in possible declinations.
If she started looking for and studying rules, structures and schemes in academic dance, she then moved to another “zone” of the “dance” universe where she could discover other rules, structures, schemes. This path leads her to mix, hybridize languages, schemes, structures and look for new images.

From the meeting with Giovanni, Claudia decides to study the techniques derived from breakdance and together with Giovanni founded the association which, in 2019 takes the definitive name of Compagnia Bellanda Ets. Claudia is completely dedicated to the company and her experiences and results converge with those of Compagnia Bellanda: she participates in several national and international festivals, in which she debuts as a dancer but also as a choreographer.

Together with Giovanni Leonarduzzi, she received several awards in international contemporary dance contests and competitions such as the Choreography36 – International Choreographic Contemporary Competition in Hannover (where she won the first prize) , the Copenhagen International Choreographic Competition, CICBUNY Burgos, Stray Birds Dance Platform and others and in 2023 she created a duet for the german dance company Mir Dance Company, directed by Giuseppe Spota.

His history as a dancer started with the word “B-Boy”, in breakdance, where he has been active since 1996.

He has been invited as a participant, national representative but also as a judge in various national and international breakdance competitions.

These are just the most significant events to which he was invited: JusteDebout as a finalist Italian representative in Experimental (two times) ; judge at Dance Festival Berlin; Fusion Concept (Paris); Circle Industry (Austria); Break the Floor (Slovenia); HHC (Italy); B-Boy pro – am (Miami, Florida).

He soon started looking for an alternative path in this type of movement, trying to create his own identity and creating a new language that could now be classified in the “experimental” category.

Going deeper and deeper into this research, he land at the dance theater, almost losing the starting point.

Everything he has created in these 25 years stems from an urban breakdance matrix and has its roots in an extremely physical and at the same time technical dance.

From this technique, in fact, he started a research that goes beyond the simple gesture and the main feature of this research is to abstract the movement born from breakdance.

Since 2012 he has been working in parallel as a breakdance dancer for Italian authors and companies and as choreographer and performer in his own artistic project, now concretely transformed thanks to a constant and decisive growth in the cultural association “Compagnia Bellanda ETS”.

Thus began his authorial journey, which is confirmed by invitations and selections received from national and international events and platforms: Vetrina della Giovane Danza d’Autore (from 2012 to 2016) and related circuits, Premio Equilibrio Roma (2013), Oriente Occidente, Cadiz En Danza, Tu Danzas, Quinzena de Danca Almada, Mash Jerusalem, Lucky Trimmer , Choreography33 Hannover, MasDanza, StrayBirds Dance Platform Taipei, JEJU International Dance Festival, New Dance for Asia festival are just a few.

From Plato’s story to the present day, a continuous tension in search of the total, unique, complete body. From the “hermaphrodites” narrated in Aristophanes’ speech, supernatural figures, in strength and shape, to the divided body that we have.

The attempt at reunion, the tension towards completeness, the relationship never completely “satisfied” because it is now impossible to go back to being a “single body”.

A perennial desire for reunion, a desire that animates and moves bodies.

From Plato’s specific story to the analysis of current society and the dynamics of the relationships it contains: the difficulty of finding, maintaining and cultivating a relationship as a couple in a society that pushes towards ever stronger individualism and which leads to less acceptance of the couple’s “compromise”.

From here our moving figures are born where the two bodies, added together, create a larger one.

Awards

• 16/12/2023 invitation awards for: NDA Festival (Daegu) ; Jeju international dance festival (Juju Island) ; HKDance exchange HongKong; Akita Dance Festival (Japan)
• 22/06/2023 invited @ RIDCC Rotterdam (Holland)
• 20/05 /2023 first prize @ SoloDuo BarnesCrossing competition, Köln (Germany)
• 23/10/2022 First prize of the Jury and Audience Prize @ DanzaXtrema Certamen Coreografico (Navalmoral de La Mata)
• 25/07/22 first prize in Certamen Danza en el Camino (Burgos y Nueva York)
• 08/07/22 Audience award at Copenhagen International Choreography Competition
• 02/07/22 Jury award and audience award at Choreography36, BalletGesellschaft
• 02/07/22 Production award from Giuseppe Spota/ MiR Dance Company in Choreography36, BalletGesellschaft

Justyne Li Sze-yeung graduated from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (Ballet and Modern Dance). She is a former member of the Hong Kong Ballet and Tanz Graz (Austria), and was a soloist with Ballett des Stadttheater Bremerhaven (Germany). She established Neo Dance HK with Wong Tan-ki in 2010, and is currently an independent dancer and choreographer. Li has performed at M1 Contact Contemporary Dance Festival, d’MOTION International Dance Festival, Guangdong and Beijing Dance Festivals, and was selected to participate in West Kowloon Cultural District’s “Creative Meeting Point: HK x Finland” programme in 2016.

Li’s recent choreographies include Dance Internship II (i-Dance Festival 2016), Dance Internship I (Hong Kong Ballet), Human Internship (Hong Kong Dance Alliance), Trouble-maker’s Concerto (Hong Kong Arts Festival [HKAF] 2015), Galatea X, Present Absentee (Littlebreath Creative Workshop), What’s the Matter (HKAF 2013), The 3.5th Dimension (City Contemporary Dance Company), My Shadow and Me (HKAF 2011), Galatea & Passenger (LCSD “New Force in Motion” Series 2010), Galatea & Pygmalion (Hong Kong Dance Festival 2010 & 2013), Toy Story and 5 Solos (Ballett Bremerhaven).

In 2011, Li received the Hong Kong Dance Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance” (Galatea & Pygmalion), and was nominated for “Outstanding Performance”. She received the Hong Kong Dance Award 2014 for “Outstanding Achievement in Choreography” and “Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer” (Galatea X).

Solo ∞ Together links up two solos, two individuals. The two individuals may not even know each other, but a linking consciousness that transcends time and space, like an unknown ghost, infects each other’s moves.

Does My Body Represent My Whole Self?
by Sam Yuen

Moon-Light
by Genie Lok

Dancers:
Sam Yuen, Genie Lok

Lighting Designer:
Lai Bie

Anna Cheng is a versatile talent crossing the roles of a curator, creative producer, performer and writer in the performing arts field for over 25 years. She is currently the Senior Producer of Performing Arts (Dance) at the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA), responsible for the artistic programming in dance, including the annual contemporary dance festival “Freespace Dance” and various research and development, international residency exchange, new commission and co-production, and audience engagement projects.

Before joining WKCDA, Anna had been the key producer and project manager for different major arts organizations in Hong Kong including the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Hong Kong Arts Centre and Chung Ying Theatre Company. As an independent producer, she had been curating and producing dance, theatre and music performances, festivals, conferences and tour internationally with local and overseas artists and partners. As a dance critic, her articles were published in local publications and Taiwan’s Performing Arts Review.

Anna is now one of the steering committee members of the Asia Network for Dance (AND+), examiner for the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (Dance, Arts Administration) and an expert panelist for the Hong Kong Dance Award.

As both editor and critic, Daisy Chu has been covering arts and culture for many years, for publications including CrossOver Magazine, Hong Kong Economic Journal, Ming Pao Daily News, Xpressions Magazine, and organisations such as the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, City Contemporary Dance Company, Hong Kong Dance Company, the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong), and the West Kowloon Cultural Authority. Chu also writes regularly about dance and theatre for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong.

Daisy Chu is currently an examiner of dance, theatre and arts criticism for the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, a member of the Dance and Multi-Arts Panel of the LCSD, expert adviser for the Arts Capacity Development Funding Scheme (ACDFS) under the Advisory Committee on Arts Development (ACAD) and a panelist for the Hong Kong Dance Awards, Hong Kong Drama Awards, IATC (HK) Critic’s Awards and Hong Kong Theatre Libre Awards.

Stella Lau graduated from the Hong Kong Academy of Ballet and was awarded twice the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund Scholarship. Lau began her performing career with the Hong Kong Ballet and was the first homegrown principal dancer. She has extensive performing experience in both classical and contemporary works in Hong Kong and overseas.

Lau obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) and Master of Fine Arts in Dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts where was awarded First-class Honours in 1997 and Dean of Dance Prize in 2010. Lau is currently Associate Professor of Ballet and Leader of Gifted Young Dancer Programme and Outreach of the Academy.

Besides focusing on higher education for over twenty years, Lau is also committed to the development of dance in the community at large. She hosts public talks, lectures and workshops on dance appreciation. She was showcased in the Hong Kong Dance Hall of Fame and was awarded the Secretary for Home Affairs’ Commendation Scheme for her outstanding contribution to the development of arts and culture in Hong Kong. She was the chairperson of the Hong Kong Dance Alliance and Vice-President of the World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific. Currently, she is serving on governments’ art form panels and advisor to performing arts organizations.

Wong graduated from the CUHK(BBA). He joined City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) in 1995 as a Publicity Officer and participated in many independent dance productions as a freelancer. He was the Company Manager of DanceArt Hong Kong, Project Manager of CCDC and Senior Marketing Manager of Theatre Ensemble/ PIP Cultural Industry from 2000-2008. Wong became the Senior Programme Manager of CCDC Dance Centre in 2008 and was the Director of the Centre. He was also the Vice-Chairperson of Hong Kong Dance Alliance, a member of Art Form Sub-committees (Community) of LCSD, and Arts Advisor (Dance) of HKADC. Wong is committed to promoting the ecological sustainable development of the local dance industry, focusing on the influence of cultural policies, networking, and resources on the dance community. Wong received the Distinguished Achievement Award of the 25th Hong Kong Dance Award in 2024.

Artistic Director of TROIS C-L | Maison pour la danse

Bernard Baumgarten, a Luxembourger by nationality, began his career as a dancer and choreographer, primarily in Frankfurt and Berlin among others, before transitioning to curating various festivals and projects in Luxembourg.

He has been the artistic director of TROIS C-L | Maison pour la danse since 2007. Located at the Banannefabrik in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, this center focuses on creation, residencies, research, audience development, and continuing education for both professionals and non-professionals.

TROIS C-L is a founding member of Grand Luxe Network and a member of the European network Aerowaves, both of which serve as platforms for artistic exchanges in support of choreographers. TROIS C-L is also a member of European Dance Development Network (EDN).

Dance artist / Curator
Festival Quartiers Danses – Montréal

Born and raised in New-Caledonia/Kanaky from Vietnamese descent, Charles Brecard is a dance artist, a curator for Festival Quartiers Danses, a sport massage therapist and poet based in Montreal/Tio’tia:ke, Canada.

His approach FLUIDIFY connects his experience in traditional, contemporary, street dances, and his knowledge in bodywork, philosophies and spiritualities. Thus, he is teaching in various contexts, from amateurs in cultural mediation to professionals during festivals, intensives or educational programs. His choreographies, imbued with a strong physicality, an epic and surreal aesthetic, a melancholic poetry and a lucid activism has been presented, awarded and recognized in Canada and Europe.

Stating that amidst our troubled era, art should first bring people together to build solidarity and celebration, he co-initiated a few community projects such as Le Bercail, Sacré Jam, Protopie.

In 1993, she received a grant from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs for overseas dancer activities and came to Japan to pursue her dance activities and to obtain her master’s and doctoral degrees from Ochanomizu University Graduate School (2003).

While involved in dance in both countries as a Japan-Korea coordinator, she noticed that it was difficult for young artists to advance overseas in the Japanese dance environment.

In 2017, she established the SAI Executive Committee and started the SAI Dance Festival, which mainly consists of COMPETITON to discover and nurture young Japanese artists, EXHIBITION to promote international exchange, and PLATFORM to advance overseas.

With the aim of becoming more fully-fledged, the company incorporated as SAI Limited Liability Company in 2024.

He worked with Saarländisches Staatstheater, Quan Bui Ngoc(les ballets C de la B), Eun-me Ahn, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Constanza Macras/Dorky Park, 12H Dance as a dancer, Choreographer, Artistic director in Europe and Asia. From 2023, he started to work with Daegu City Dance Company, South Korea as an Artistic Director and Choreographer.

Taiwan-based Artist. Founder of Ku and Dancers, a strong improvisation-based dance company that has just reached its 30-year anniversary and has set its footprint all over the world.

After teaching for 25 years, Ming-Shen Ku retired as Dean from the Dance School of Taipei National University of the Arts. She received the Wu San Lien award, a lifetime achievement award, in 2009 and the National Award for Arts in 2020.

Founding Artistic Director & Principle Choreographer of The Human Expression (T.H.E)
Dance Company.

Artistic Director of cont．act Contemporary Dance Festival

Kuik Swee Boon is the founding Artistic Director of The Human Expression Dance Company and its annual cont．act Contemporary Dance Festival. His career began with Singapore People’ s Association Dance Company and Singapore Dance Theatre before becoming the principal dancer of Spain’ s Compañ í a Nacional de Danza (CND) from 2002 to 2007.

Under Swee Boon’s direction, T.H.E has become a seminal dance company with a signature voice derived from training in his HollowBody™ methodology, developed from 2016. This methodology informs Swee Boon’ s repertoire of works for T.H.E, which has toured many international festivals. His numerous commissions include Infinitely Closer (2022) for Esplanade’s dains festival, which also marked the opening of Singapore’ s new Singtel Waterfront Theatre.

Swee Boon is a recipient of the 2007 Young Artist Award, a nominee for the 2003 Benois De La Danse Award, and a 2021 – 2023 Singapore fellow with the International Society for the Performing Arts.

In 2017, choreographer LAI Hung-chung founded Hung Dance, with the name and meaning of “Hung” symbolizing the spirit of soaring freedom. Since its inception, the company has been tirelessly creating and striving to convey Taiwanese art through international tours. It is also committed to fostering international connections for young creative talents. In 2019, the “Stray Birds Dance Platform“ was established to support emerging choreographers, providing opportunities for production and touring, promoting international collaboration, and bringing new vitality to the field of dance in Taiwan, thus advancing the development of Taiwanese dance.

Hung Dance focuses on the interactive moments between dancer training, developing dancers‘ abilities, and conceptualizing works. It develops a dance training system according to the requirements of creative concepts, integrating traditional Tai Chi elements to find a balance between contemporary thinking and dance.

Hung Dance aspires to inspire and move audiences through its works, and invites the public to join us in soaring freely in the world of dance, both on stage and in the community.

Liisa Nojonen belongs to Finland`s highly acclaimed jazz- and modern dance awarded founders and international influencers.
She has belonged to many planning committees in the field of dance, for example, The State´s Art of Dance Committee
She has represented Finland as a field adviser and an international member of jury in dance competition,
and promote the recognition of Finnish dance in the international arenas.
Her work has produced many noticeable awards to her at home and internationally of which I can mention next:
World Championship and Golden Shoe and First Price in Choreographer Competition USA 1990.
And many other awards and acknowledgements as a choreographer and trainer in Finland and internationally.
Six Awards for life’s achievement 2017-2019: (As The Finnish Cultural Foundation,
Satakunta Cultural Foundation, Union of Finnish Dance Artist of Finland),
The association of Dance Institutes of Finland, Finland´s Theaters Central Union life’s achievement award and a golden badge year, State Prize for Dance 2006. SICF Diploma for Cultural Exchange Asia – Finland – Asia.
Dance School Liisa Nojonen founder, (Managing Director, master teacher, choreographer 40 years)
PDC Pori Dance Company Founder (, Artistic Director, choreographer, managing director, producer 25 years)
PDC Pori Dance Month Festival Founder, (Managing Director, artistic director, producer).
International advisor of Dance Month Festival
Joy of Dance Company Founder, Artistic Director, Producer since 2015
Working as a choreographer, assistant of choreographers since 1979 in TV, Movies, Films, Opera

Born in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Gran Canaria, Spain, choreographer and dancer Natalia Medina Santana, has a degree in Physical Education from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and a Master in Performing Arts from King Juan Carlos University (Madrid). Her professional activity is developed as a cultural manager, focusing her work on Dance.

Natalia is the Director of QUÉ TAL ESTÁS PRODUCCIONES, S.L., from where she directs, manages and organises the following projects:

• MASDANZA, The International Contemporary Dance Festival of the Canary Islands.
• ACROSS HIP-HOP LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA.
• ACROSS HIP-HOP LANZAROTE.
• “NATALIA MEDINA” DANCE SCHOOL.
• NATALIA MEDINA DANCE COMPANY.
• TRANSITANDO, Contemporary Dance Festival with Fundación DISA.
• RETAMA, Contemporary Dance Cycle.
• SUMMER & DANCE CAMP at The Pérez Galdós Theatre.

Choreographer of Kham dance company in France and artistic and executive director of Fang Mae Khong International Dance Festival (FMK) in Laos.

Native from Laos, Olé KHAMCHANLA grew up in France and trained in Hip Hop from 1990 as an autodidact. Then he works with various choreographers for hip-hop dance, capoeira and contemporary dance. He was co-choreographer with the A’CORPS company from 1997 to 2010, before creating his own company, KHAM, in 2011.

In 2006, he went to Laos and Thailand to learn traditional dances, an initiatory journey which has nourished his dance and his projects since then. In Laos, he founded the Fang Mae Khong International Dance Festival (FMK) in 2010.
Olé KHAMCHANLA explores an incessant search for the crossing dances and cultures, with which he questions the human being issues and its complex psychology.

C.E.O MASH Dance House

Edelman began his dance training at the Kibbutz Dance Workshop under Yehudit Arnon and later studied choreography at Rotterdam Dance Academy, earning the “Prince Bernhard Award.” He created the acclaimed “KAV-300” for the CaDance Festival and worked in the Netherlands from 1995 to 2001, collaborating with prominent European artists. His work integrates performance media and technology, using dance-theater to explore socio-political issues with a critical lens.

Edelman’s creations have been staged across Europe and supported by cultural institutions. He has worked independently and with repertoire companies such as Scapino Ballet, Rotterdam, and Choreographic Theater of Johan Kresnik, Bonn. In Jerusalem, he co-founded Machol Shalem Dance House with Ofra Idel, fostering collaboration and experimentation.

Currently CEO of Machol Shalem, Edelman leads The MASH XR research program, merging choreography with innovative technologies to advance artistic creation and professional dancer training. His work reflects a commitment to pushing boundaries, blending tradition with experimentation, and inspiring social dialogue through dance. Edelman believes in art as a transformative force, creating platforms that challenge perceptions, inspire change, and bridge cultural divides.

Stella Ho is the founder and artistic director of Stella & Artists. Her choreographic works have been staged in a range of events, including the Macao Arts Festival, International Youth Dance Festival and Macao City Fringe Festival. In recent years, she has been committed to promoting the development of dance in Macao by organizing “Macao CDE Springboard”, which motivates creation of local dance works and also actively brings local dance works for international exchanges.

Choreographer, Dancer, Researcher

namstrops
The Sky is Vast! International Dance Festival in Miyazaki

Choreographer and Artistic Director of “namstrops”. Presented works in 40 cities across 15 countries. Yokohama Dance Collection EX 2011 awardee. Cultural Affairs Agency Fellow (Romania). Visiting Researcher at Miyazaki and Kanagawa Universities.

Yi-San, Wu is Chairperson and Associate Professor of Taipei National University of the Arts, School of Dance, and Artistic Director of Yi Production. Teaching and choreography for nearly 30 years, Her over 30 works have been premiered across Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, USA, UA etc. professional companies, dance festivals and institutions. She was a professional dancer in Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and City Contemporary Dance Company. Her creations integrate theatrical and Dance, blending Eastern and Western movement vocabularies, as well as explore cross-cultural dialogue, multimedia, gender, identity, and the exploration of life’s existential questions.

Korean traditional dancer
Art director of Daegu Dance Festival and Asia Dance Festival
Founder of Korean Dance Art Center & BEADS POUCH

Designare Movement / New Dance for Asia International Festival

Yu Ho Sik is the founder and artistic director of Designare Movement, a private contemporary dance company in Korea.
He currently produces and choreographs various productions in Daegu City, Korea.

Critic/ Director
JAPAN DANCE PLUG Co. ltd.

Norikoshi is the most published dance critic of contemporary dance in Japan. He has lectured on dance at universities and festivals around the world. He is a dance advisor for international festivals and the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Theater.

He writes reviews for dance magazines and newspapers. He writes reviews for dance magazines and newspapers, and writes a series of articles for a monthly magazine.
Since 2023, he has been running the “Dance Critics [Training to Dispatch] Program,” which trains dance critics and dispatches them to dance festivals in Europe, and the “Online Dance Private School.