Happy Dance Ensemble is a group of happy people who simply love to dance, comprising committed dance students, pre-professionals and professional dancers.The main genre of performance is Chinese dance, which includes classical, folk, and minority group (Tibetan, Mongolian, etc) dance styles. The group also explores other forms of dance, including character dance, ballet and jazz. Happy Dance Ensemble invites choreographers to set original pieces in which the traditional is imbued with a contemporary flair.
Happy Dance Ensemble Music Collaborator:
Bei Bei He | Gu Zheng Artist/Composer/Performer/Educator of Standyby Productions
Originally from Chengdu, China, Bei Bei He is a Gu Zheng performer, composer and educator based in Los Angeles. She has performed at venues in the U.S. and Canada and her original compositions have been used in dance shows, radio, TV and film, including “Battlestar Galactica,” “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and NPR and BBC radio stations. Michael Bakan features her in the college textbook “World Music.” Bei Bei is the owner of “Hacienda Music,” a Gu Zheng music shop and school in Hacienda Heights.
www.beibeizheng.com | www.haciendamusic.org
MOPA Dance is led by choreographer Mandarin Wu. Mandarin's choreography is a fusion of her experiences in the arts and her cultural upbringing in Western and Eastern sensibilities. Mandarin holds a Dance MFA from New York University - Tisch School of the Arts and a Dance BA from University of California, Irvine. She is a dance graduate of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. MOPA Dance is part of Mandarin Orange Performing Arts (MOPA), which was founded as a platform for artists and designers to create and offer wonderful art.
Los Angeles Movement Arts (LAMA), currently directed by Jim Tsou, Nguyen Nguyen, Ashley Dragon and Da Xu, sprung from a shared passion for contemporary dance and the use of movement as a primary tool of artistic communication. The organization began as an idea in December 2007. LAMA's founding members wanted to provide resources to artists who wished to create and present contemporary dance to the community. They also wanted to collaborate with artists working in other mediums, such as music and theater. With this guiding vision, LAMA pooled the talents and efforts of numerous choreographers and performers and successfully mounted its first full-scale production, Momentum, in July 2008 at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center. In 2009, in addition to another successful production of Momentum, audiences also saw the creation of Catalyst, an annual theme-based experimental dance show.
ChoreoLive features Kelly Ann Sloan’s original choregraphy in collaboration with both professional dancers and advanced students from Southern California. Having danced professionally for over ten years with Cincinnati Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet, National Choreographers Initiative, and Raiford Rogers Modern Ballet, Kelly Ann uses her classical ballet base to express music in her own jazzy, humorous style. Kelly Ann has created new works for Cincinnati Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Island Moving Company in Newport, RI, and was a featured finalist at Ballet Builders in New York City and the Choreography Under the Stars Showcase in Palm Desert. ChoreoLive’s talented dancers bring a unique blend of technique, personality, passion, and abandon to the stage in every performance.
Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet Company was founded in 2003 by Jose Vences, former dancer with the acclaimed Ballet Folklorico de Mexico in Mexico City. Grandeza Mexicana is a stylized folk dance company that performs throughout California and the US Southwest. The company has performed alongside such world-class artists as Luis Miguel, Jose Feliciano and Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan. The company has been featured in several PBS appearances and has gained recognition for its innovative choreographies and vibrant productions.
Spectr |
LA-based superhero multimedia artist SPECTR drew, danced and enjoyed music from an early age, thanks to growing up in an arts-loving family. As an adult, he has found his niche at the intersection of visual art, music and dance in the underground world of street art and warehouse parties.
T.S.O.U Dance Arts |
T.S.O.U Dance Arts was founded by Jim Tsou. Jim is a former principal dancer from the internationally renowned dance company, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. His choreographic work has been shown at various venues. Jim has worked as a professional fashion designer for over 20 years.
