FEBRUARY 2025:
Sophon Tabklong ‘Toffee’
Sophon Tabklong ‘Toffee’ is a visually impaired artist, actor, dancer, and acting coach passionate about creating inclusive art that challenges social norms. His work centers on making the arts accessible, focusing on sensory experiences that transcend visual dominance. Toffee’s signature projects include Blind Theatre, a six-dimensional performance that uses sound, touch, and scent to engage both blind and sighted audiences, and The Nose Project, where he created art using scented paints to allow blind people to express themselves visually.
As Thailand’s first blind mime artist, Toffee performed with Khonnakhao Mime Troupe (คณะละครใบ้คนหน้าขาว), showcasing the capabilities of disabled artists in mainstream theatre. His ongoing project Blind Rituals with Ong Pholchai (Spine Party Movement) explores the relationship between blindness and movement, aiming to deepen understanding of sensory perception through dance.
Toffee’s advocacy extends to accessibility in education, space, and employment, especially for people with disabilities. He works as an acting consultant for GMM Grammy, helping improve representation in media, and as a mentor to emerging disabled artists. His vision is to create inclusive spaces where sensory learning and adaptive techniques are integrated, ensuring people of all abilities can fully participate in the arts. Through his work, Toffee promotes empathy and diversity, paving the way for greater inclusivity in the creative world.
Nitipat Pholchai ‘Ong’
Nitipat Pholchai ‘Ong’ has studied and followed along the dance lineage of Kathleen Hermesdorf, Sarah Shelton Mann and Katie Duck. He appreciated being integrated into a lively dance artist community in San Francisco Bay area during 2011-2013 where he has acquired tremendous knowledge about Feldenkrais, Body-Mind Centering, Axis Syllabus, contemporary dance and contact improvisation.
Since 2015, he has enjoyed creating his dance work and weaved his science teaching (Physics), and dance/art facilitation into his rewarding role as ‘a life art curator.’ He looks forward to continuing sharing his creative, inquisitive journey while supporting and growing together with others.
MARCH 2025:
Lenzo Lim (Malaysia)
Lenzo, originally from Penang, Malaysia, discovered his passion for dance at the age of 14 through Chinese Cultural Dance within the Phor Tay Ex-pupils Association, where he dedicated three years. In the year of 2009, he choreographed his first piece of Chinese Cultural Dance together with his fellow schoolmates. His dance journey then led him to explore Modern Dance, collaborating on choreography with members of the Phor Tay Private High School’s dance society.
At 18, Lenzo formalized his training in Contemporary Dance under the tutelage of Aida Redza. Later, at 21, he further enriched his skills by immersing himself in Ballet at the myDance Station Ballet Academy. In April 2019, Lenzo proudly graduated from Singapore’s Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) with a Diploma in Dance. During mid-2019, an Overseas Immersion Programme led him to the Northern School of Contemporary Dance (UK), where he collaborated with fellow classmate Tan Xin Yen on a reflective duet piece titled “I Like the Difference Between Us” inspired by their three-week experience. Lenzo’s artistic endeavors have found expression in various showcases, including “You Are My Boy” featured in Sigma Dance Collective’s Kaleidoscope 2.0 event in December 2021, “Allelopathy” presented in Emergence by the Singapore Chinese Dance Theatre, and his solo creation “My Asura” highlighted in Kaleidoscope 3.0 in December 2022.
APRIL 2025
Adrianna Michalska (Poland)
Contact Improvisation dancer, facilitator, performer, and independent artist with background in somatics, Contact Improvisation, creative writing, and various improvisation methods studied across the globe. Adrianna graduated with a Dance and Culture degree from University of Surrey, UK and Next Choreography course at Siobhan Davies Studios, UK, and is a certified DanceAbility teacher. With her work Adrianna traveled, performed, and shared with many diverse audiences in India,
Thailand, Romania, Poland, Moldova, United Kingdom, Singapore, India, and more.
Examples of some of the collaborations include: Stopgap Dance Company (2013-2015), Candoco Dance Company (2016), Curba de Cultura (2018), Swaraj University (2020), Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (2021), Moksha Contemporary Dance School (2021), Contact Improvisation Residency and CI@50 Conference in Oberlin, Ohio (2022), Warsaw Flow Festival 2023 (teacher), EIX Barcelona festival 2024 (teacher, performer).
Adrianna is interested in embracing artistic practices from different cultures into a creative process, and looking at the trans-disciplinary potential when working with text, image, sound, and movement. With her work she aims to develop a better understanding of an artistic ensemble
as interdependent on the exchange of attention, perception, judgment, and decision-making of its members. She is also curious about working with instant composition in performances and pushing the boundaries of spectator performer relationship through participatory and experiential pieces.
Currently Adrianna is collaborating with Contact Improv India and InContact – organizations that foster the development of Contact Improvisation scene in India through movement arts residencies, workshops, regular classes, jams, performances, and discussions.
Guru Suraj (India)
Guru Suraj is an artist with a background in visual and movement arts, dedicated to facilitating, researching, organizing, and performing Contact Improvisation on the cross-section with different art forms.
Guru has a Bachelor’s Degree in Painting from the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai and a Master’s Degree in Philosophy of Yoga from Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University, Chennai. The curiosity of movement has led him to years of study of Contact Improvisation and various somatic techniques, which investigate the mind-body connection as ways to explore one’s internal self.
Passionate about exchanging different forms of cultural expressions and experiences through art, Guru has been involved in various national and international projects as Creative/Artistic Director, Artist in Residency, organizer, and facilitator. Some of the collaborations include: Art Promo Contemporary Art Festival, Chennai (2012) Sutra Dance Theatre, Malaysia (2013), Cholamandal Artists’ Village, Chennai (2013), Marapachi Theatre (2013-15), Global Village Project, Dubai (2015), Thailand Contact Festival (2019), REAson d’etre productions, Canada (2019), Goa Contact Festival (2009-2020), Swaraj University, Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (2021), Moksha Contemporary Dance School (2021), Contact Improvisation Residency and CI@50 conference in Oberlin, Ohio (2022) and others.
MAY 2025
Mirte Bogaert
(Norway-Belgium)
Mirte Bogaert is an artist with background in dance and choreography in Norway and Belgium. After her studies in social work, she studied at Høyskolen for Dansekunst in Oslo and completed her studies at Research Studios 2017-2018 at P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels.
Bogaert creates and collaborates in interdisciplinary performing arts projects that integrate body, movement, objects, sound, light, and text. Rooted in the body’s presence and gestures from everyday life, rather than learned virtuosity in dance styles, her practice is guided by an interest in rhytyhm, subtle movements as breath and eye movement, which play a crucial part for creating layered, immersive experiences.
JULY 2025
Tien Hsiao-Tzu (Taiwan)
Born in 1984 in Tainan, Taiwan. In recent years, Tien has put the focus of her choreographic research on human emotions shaped by time, history, culture and environment. Regarding choreography as the chisel of life, Tien attempts to cut away the contradictions and labels that hinder self-exploration, and uncover powerful emotions deposited in the body.
Whilst peering into the desires and fears in life, she also looks for the exits of life’s trajectories, as well as their various possibilities. She also develops the potentials of body and movement through international exchange and collaboration with theater or performance arts, keeping connected with foreign cultures and other disciplines.
Mid Aug-Sep 2025
Mohammadreza (Aka Momo) Akrami (Canada)
Mohammadreza (Momo) Akrami is an Iranian-Canadian dance and interdisciplinary artist whose work spans Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, San Francisco, and Brussels. With a multifaceted background in mathematics, physics, and theater, Momo brings a unique perspective as a creator, dancer, and teacher. His diverse dance lineage encompasses Flying Low/Passing Through/Improvisation with David Zambrano, Butoh/Noguchi Taiso with Atsushi Takenouchi and Imre Thorman, and Grotowski/post-Grotowski theater. His physical practice is enriched by martial arts such as Wing Chun, Escrima, and Chi Kung.
Momo has taught at various institutions including Simon Fraser University, Dance Arts Institute (formerly Toronto Dance Theatre) in Toronto, UC Berkeley, Studio 303 (Montreal), ODC (San Francisco), and BOE (San Francisco). His teaching philosophy integrates his dance lineage, personal practice, and life experiences, fostering an inclusive and exploratory learning environment.
Momo’s artistic practice explores the intersection of dance, image, and sound to shift perceptions of time and self. Grounded in his lived reality in Iran, his projects examine bodily autonomy and collective agency. Committed to questioning artistic norms, Momo creates environments that foster exploration, driven by his fascination with epistemology, playfulness, and cultural appropriation.
Mid Sep-Oct 2025
Ix Wong (Malaysia)
Ix Wong Thien Pau is a Malaysian choreographer, dance artist, and designer based in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. A graduate of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, he danced professionally with the City Contemporary Dance Company (Hong Kong) and Singapore’s Arts Fission Company.
In 2002, he co-founded the acclaimed dance duo Ah Hock & Peng Yu (AHPY) with the late Aaron Khek Ah Hock. Their works were commissioned by the Esplanade, Singapore Arts Festival, and international festivals including Hebbel Theatre (Berlin) and Cross Over Dance Company (Taipei). In 2016, he co-initiated Lalu Lalang Lab (L3) with Aaron, Nirmala Seshadri, and Leslie Tan—a cross-disciplinary collective exploring movement, sound, and text.
Ix has choreographed and taught at LASALLE College of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, and Akademi Seni Kebangsaan. His work bridges dance, theatre, sculpture, and film, with projects involving artists like Han Sai Por and Glen Goei. He was movement coach for W!LD RICE’s The House of Bernarda Alba (2014) and choreographer for Beauty World and Man of Letters.
As a self-taught tailor and designer, Ix creates costumes, props, sets, and light installations for performances and exhibitions. His design work includes About Time (RE: Dance Theatre, 2014), Red Dust. White Paper (Kakiseni Festival, 2013), and UBS Diversity in Abilities (2012–2014). He is gradually expanding a bespoke clientele for cheongsams, changpaos, and tailored menswear.
His screen collaborations include Glen Goei’s Always Together, Forever Apart (2018), Jessey Tsang’s Ward 11 (2019) and Chroma 11 (2022), and Woo Mingjin’s feature film Stone Turtle (2022), where he served as art director. He is a recipient of the BOH Cameronian Arts Awards for Best Lighting Design (2020) and Best Costume Design, Styling & Make-up (2024–25).
Nov-Dec 2025
Heidi Strauss
Heidi Strauss is a dance artist with a curiosity in examining human behavior from different perspectives. Often responding to the current social and environmental moment, she explores relationships to consider the ‘realness’ of where and who we are, here and now – how we are affected by the world around us. In playing with how performance is seen/experienced, she looks to deepen connection with others while making space for self-reflection; she creates post-immersive, installation, ambulatory, and site-sensitive works for theatre, non-theatre and digital environments.
A KM Hunter and multi-Dora Award winning choreographer, she is the artistic director of Toronto-based adelheid, a project-based dance company through which her most recent solo between me and you has toured internationally. Strauss has been commissioned by/choreographed for Toronto Dance Theatre, Mocean Dance, The Frankfurt Opera, The Canadian Opera Company, Volcano Theatre, the Stratford Festival, among others. Her teaching practice has been developed through opportunities to share classes and workshops across Canada and internationally. She is Artistic Lead of Dance Arts, a conservatory professional training program for contemporary dance and performance. She holds an MFA in Creative Practice from Transart/Liverpool John Moore’s University. https://adelheid.ca
Nov-Dec 2025
He Jin Jang
He Jin Jang (KR/SG) is a Seoul-born choreographer, researcher, and curator whose practice is rooted in somatic movement, feminist theory, and indigenous healing wisdom. Recognized by Dance Magazine MOMM (Korea) as “a daring and candid choreographer,” her work investigates bodily vulnerability and the rhythms of resilience through choreography and interdisciplinary research. Jang has been awarded international fellowships and residencies including DanceWeb (AT), Movement Research (US), New York Live Arts (US), Saison Foundation (JP), and the National Dance Center (RO).
As a mentor and curator, she has collaborated with institutions such as the New York Foundation for the Arts, Asian Cultural Center, Seoul Dance Center, Korea National Contemporary Dance Company, and ARKO Theater. Her project group, He Jin Jang Dance, operates as a porous constellation where intimacy, critical collaboration, and embodied knowledge intersect across performance, writing, workshops, and discourse. At the core of their work lies a fascination with invisible bodies, unspoken mourning, and nonlinear rituals of the spectral. Drawing from Eastern philosophies of mind and body, she explores how fragile bodies relate to social structures. Her works have been presented internationally across Korea, Singapore, the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Austria, Romania, and Switzerland, including at Seoul International Dance Festival (KR), MODAFE (KR), Platform-L Live Arts Program (KR), Laboratorio Condensación (MX), National Museum of Contemporary Arts (RO), Temps d’Image Festival (RO), Musikfestival Bern (CH), New York Live Arts (US), and The Kitchen (US).
Nov-Dec 2025
Marie France Forcier
Marie France Forcier is a dance artist and researcher. An Associate Professor of Dance at the University of Calgary’s School of Creative and Performing Arts, she is also a doctoral fellow at Liverpool John Moores University (UK) through the Transart Institute, and a working artist whose work has been performed internationally on multiple platforms. Through studio work, public performance and community initiative, she researches at the intersection of somatic practice, trauma studies and choreography. She raises her children and works within the traditional territories of the people of the Treaty 7.
Her body of creative work has been presented on platforms spanning urban sites to dance-dedicated proscenium spaces across North America, Europe and Asia. In collaborative artistic capacities, she has performed live and in the digital sphere through disciplines ranging from dance theatre to contemporary dance, to performance art to aerial circus, touring extensively on four continents. Her trade articles can be found at The Dance Current, and her academic writing, in books Literature and Psychology: Writing, Trauma and the Self, Topography of Trauma: Fissures, Disruptions and Transfigurations, What Happened? Re-presenting Traumas, Uncovering Recoveries, and journals Fat Studies and Dance Chronicles.
miaodance.org 