Miriam Engel is an Israeli and international choreographer, dancer, actress, and entrepreneur who lives and works in Jerusalem. She has been creating and performing for the past 20 years in Israel, Europe, the USA, Africa, and the Far East, initiating international projects and collaborations around the world.
Engel’s works are characterized by a unique interpretation and design, rich virtuoso performance, and by the adaptation of the Israeli experience in its entire diversity into interactive, universal, and place-dependent work. As a Jerusalemite, she draws artistic and intellectual inspiration from the complexity and multicultural nature of the city where she also acts as a cultural entrepreneur: in addition to founding and managing the Jerusalem International Solo Dance Festival, she founded the Angela Dance Company in Jerusalem – an artistic body that serves as a home for contemporary activity that stages original dance works alongside international projects. She also developed the concept project LoveINg Your City, which documents true love stories from cities around the world through original dance and performance works in public, staged, and digital spaces.
Engel is a member of the board of directors of IUPA, a member of the Choreographers Association, and served as artistic director at Mazia. Alongside her original productions and many performances, she is invited to create, perform, and teach in various institutions around the world.
As an active choreographer and dancer, Ming-Shen Ku has settled her base in Taiwan since 1987. Ms. Ku’s works are influenced by many Western and Eastern dance styles, a merging development from her diverse backgrounds. After teaching for 25 years, Ming-Shen Ku retired as the Dean from Dance School of Taipei National University of the Arts. She has received Wu San Lien award, a life time achievement award in 2009, and National Award for Arts in 2020.
Since 1992, Ms. Ku became deeply involved in Contact Improvisation and introduced it to Taiwan, later spread it around Asia. She founded her dance company “Ku & Dancers” in 1993 to present new works and promotes the concept of improvisation. Since 2011, Ku and Dancers established a biannual international improvisation festival “i-dance Taipei”. Over more than a decade, i-dance network become a known improve festival around Asia.
