The 2024 pre-jury consists of:
- Astrid Boons – Performer and choreographer
- Simon Bus – Performer and choreographer
- Polina Skarga – Experimental battle dancer
- Micaela Taylor – Artistic director and founder of TL Collective, dancer and choreographer
- Mischa van Leeuwen – Founder RIDCC, former dancer at Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, choreographer
Astrid Boons
Astrid Boons (1988, Belgium) is a choreographer and performer. She is currently a resident choreographer at Korzo in The Hague. As a dancer Astrid worked with Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Nederlands Dans Theater 2, Dansgroep Amsterdam, and Dansgroep Krisztina De Châtel. Astrid received the BNG Bank Dance Award and Piket Art Award for choreography. In 2020 she was named artist to watch by NRC newspaper. In 2021, she was nominated for the prestigious Prize of The Netherlands Dance Days for choreography. Her work has been produced by Korzo Theatre, Nederlands Dans Theater, Dance Theater Heidelberg, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Conny Janssen Danst, Dans I Nord, among others.
Simon Bus
At the age of 12 Simon Bus (Hoensbroek, 1989) shows himself heavily impressed by the eccentric power moves of Kujo the Crazy Water Buffalo. He grew up in Limburg and was part of the fusion crew Limbonesia between 2004 and 2006. Soon he is in the Dutch b-boy Championship and doing numerous international competitions and shows. In 2013, he graduates from the Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts & Design (Video-Visual Communication). Despite keeping studies and dancing strictly separate, his b-boy name Statue betrays that he brings his ‘sense of image’ to the breakdance scene. In 2014, during The Dutch Dance Days, he won the Open Your Mind final. For Simon, breakdance is synonymous with uniqueness and originality. As a b-boy, he develops his own movement language from where being a maker is just a small step. Exploring the extreme possibilities of his own body, he increasingly investigates other bodies. The starting point for his work is a mix of fascinations for the discomfort of everyday existence and the springiness and expressiveness of the body. The game between having control and losing control is a recurring element in it.
Polina Skarga
Polina Skarga, 23, born in Ukraine but now living in Amsterdam, is a versatile dancer and choreographer. She received her master’s degree in choreography from Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University and has a broad background in various dance styles, including contemporary, experimental, dancehall and folk dance, in addition to classical and street disciplines. Polina has impressive achievements, including winning the Open Your Mind (OYM) festival in the ‘2 on 2 experimental’ category in 2022. She also has solid experience in solo performances and won the title ‘Improvisation Solo’ at the Ukrainian championship The Challenge. Her striking performances, such as Self-Portrait in 17.55 Minutes and Exploring Own Boundaries, illustrate her ability to combine emotion and story with her dance movements. In addition, Polina has collaborated with several creative groups and dance crews, including CULT and PIZDEC, where she has contributed to the cultural development of Ukraine.
Micaela Taylor
Micaela Taylor is a dancer, choreographer and artistic director and founder of TL Collective. Trained in hip-hop and ballet, she has created her own dance genre called Expand Practice, expressing emotion from the core and creating varied physical forms and textures as an expression of one’s authentic self. Her idiosyncratic style of exaggerated facial expressions, gestures and athletic theatricality sets her work apart. Taylor created her own technique, building The TL Collective entirely from scratch. She received the Inaugural Springboard EMERGE Choreographic Award, was named in Dance Magazine’s ‘25 to Watch’ in 2019, and graced the cover of Dance Magazine in April 2020. Most recently, she received San Francisco’s Audience choice Award for ‘Best Solo Artist’, 2022.
Former pre-jury members
- Angela Herenda
- Shailesh Bahoran
- Andrey ‘Drosha’ Grekhov
- Maria Chiara Mezzadri
- Matthew Pawlicki-Sinclair
- Tim Persent
- Dario Tortorelli
- Alida Dors
- Daan Vervoort
- Maya Roest
- Floor Eimers
