Choreographers’ Biographies

Léa Tirabasso

As a dancer, Léa has collaborated with a wide range of companies and choreographers in the UK and across Europe.

Her choreographic work has been presented across Europe and internationally, at festivals and platforms such as Aerowaves (CR), Tanzmesse Düsseldorf (DE), Le Festival d’Avignon at CDCN – Les Hivernales (FR), the Seoul International Dance Festival (SK), and Summerhall at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (UK).

Commissions for companies include tanzmainz (DE) and Korea National Contemporary Dance Company (SK).

Her work is notably supported by TROIS C-L Maison pour la Danse and the Ministry of Culture of Luxembourg (LU).

Outside of dance, she serves as an ambassador for The Eve Appeal, a UK charity dedicated to gynaecological health.

Chen Yongping

Worked at Beijing Dance Academy for 12 years as a physical training instructor and dance choreographer.

It is my honour to participate in this event.

In choreographic practice, there is a preference for expressing character emotions and relational shifts through bodily tension.

Yu Pik Yim

Yu Pik-yim  is an award-winning choreographer born in Hong Kong. She is currently a Senior
Lecturer and undergraduate and postgraduate supervisor at the Hong Kong Academy for
Performing Arts (HKAPA), where she also serves as Programme Leader of the Academy’s
Diploma in Dance Foundations and BA (Hons) in Dance.
She received her professional training at HKAPA and the Beijing Dance Academy, and later
obtained a Master of Creative Industries from Queensland University of Technology (QUT),
Australia. Rooted in Chinese ethnic and folk dance traditions, her practice integrates
contemporary creative approaches with research-led inquiry, cultural dialogue, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Through sustained artistic practice, academic leadership, and international engagement, Yu
continues to foster meaningful dialogue in dance education and interdisciplinary
performance across local and global contexts.

Tsang Wing Fai

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Tsang Wing-fai is a freelance artist engaged in multidisciplinary collaborations, site-responsive choreography, street dance, contemporary danceand theatre. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Architectural Studies from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

In 2021, Tsang received a full scholarship from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund and graduated with Distinction in the Master of Fine Arts in Dance, specialising in Choreography, at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2023. In 2024, she was nominated for the “Tom Brown Emerging Choreographer” award at the 25th Hong Kong Dance Awards. Currently, she focuses on researching improvisation in performances concerning spatiality, temporality, identity and language.

Waddah Sinada

With a career rooted in movement, choreography and visual story telling that have equipped Waddah with a number of skills that have made him a well rounded and well versed artist specialising in street, hip hop and contemporary styles. His interests lie in creating honest and authentically driven work across Film, TV and theatre. He graduated from The Place with a BA Hons degree in contemporary dance and has since cofounded his own multidisciplinary dance company FUBUNATION to which he serves as artistic director. FUBUNATION were selected as Aerowaves artists in 2021 and have gone on to perform internationally and showcase work at Roundhouse, Sadlers Wells, V&A as well as featuring on platforms such as FACT Magazine and multiple film festivals and exhibitions for their film and photographic work. Commercially, Waddah has choreographed and collaborated with major artists and brands across the UK & USA. His choreographic efforts have seen him work with the likes of Nike, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Soho House, Burna Boy, Travis Scott, Tyla, Glass Animals, Sky TV and Venmo.

Rhys Dennis

Rhys Dennis is a London-based Choreographer, Intimacy Coordinator, Researcher, and Performer working betwee
n UK and Brazil. Beginning in Street Dance before expanding into contemporary forms, his practice explores ritual, ceremony, memory, and Afro-diasporic identity through movement, asking how the body can remember, reconstruct, and reimagine what has been lost, forgotten, or yet to come.

In 2017, Rhys co-founded FUBUNATION, a dance organisation creating space and visibility for people of colour within the UK contemporary dance scene. He was selected as an Aerowaves artist in 2021, received the Lisa Ullmann Scholarship in 2023, and is currently a Fellow in Residence at Instituto Sacatar in Brazil 2026.

Wang Ruping

WANG, Ruping is a native of Taiwan. She has served as a full-time faculty at the Department of Dance, University of Taipei since 2010. Wang received her MFA from the University of Utah Modern Dance Department and BFA from the Taipei National University of the Arts.

She had been a member of José Limón Dance Company, Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Mary Anthony Dance Theatre, Martha Graham Dance Company, the Repertory Dance Theatre Utah… among others. Besides teaching and performing, she enjoys freelance dancing and creating dance for her personal interest in arts and in cultures.

Ma Nan

Professor MA Nan is mainly teaching specialized dance courses including Modern Dance Technique, Modern Dance Repertoire and Dance Choreography.

She has been honored with titles such as Beijing Municipal Excellent Young Teacher and Young Top Talent, and has developed Beijing Municipal High-Quality Undergraduate Courses, High-Quality Undergraduate Textbooks as well as a National First-Class Undergraduate Course.

She has received Creation Awards, Outstanding Instructor Awards, Gardener Awards and other honors in dance competitions, and has served as a judge for numerous national and international dance competitions.

Nayaw Fangas
Born in Taitung, Taiwan. Fangas is an artist, director, choreographer, and performer. His versatile practices probe into the dynamics of audience participation and the possibilities of new technology in the performing arts, while constantly reflecting on his indigenous identity and cultural tradition as Amis.

These are seen in Don’t worry, be happy (2009), Farewell, Lin-Ban (2013), Tsou (“Name of Tribe”, 2015), Maataw (“Floating Island”, 2016), si, kaen (“Eating”, 2017), XXIX Summer Universiade Opening Program I (2017) and Alikakay (“The Giant”, 2019). His VR film work, A Song within Us, was selected in the SXSW VR competition 2020; the performance work, masingkiay: Co-creating a Collective, was invited to Cosmopolis #2 in Pompidou Centre, Paris in 2019.

His directorial and choreographic work, Mailulay, won the 14th Taishin Arts Award in 2016 (as one of the five annual prize winners). He is performance coordinator of 2020 to 2022  Nuit Blanche Taipei, 2021 & 2022 Taiwan Cultural Expo. in the theme pavilion. Invited artists of 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, La XXX Punk, four-channel video, 2022 Taiwan Biennial, Demi-Ami, mixed-media performance. 2022 ACC Grant Winner.

An invited artist of 2023 Munich DANCE Festival and 2024 SummerWorks Performance Festival. Director of performing arts for 2025 Summer World Master Games. Betel Nut Green, live performance and two-channel video, invited to 2025 Lyon Dance Biennale Forum and 2026 RawGround. As a director, choreographer, performer, and lecturer, Fangas Nayaw has participated in the artworks and activities of various representative venues, including NTCH, NTT, Weiwuying Center for the Arts, and Taipei Performing Art Center.