Siaya Thomas

is a young visual and movement based director whose work overlaps the intersection of cultural documentation, fashion communications and creative direction. Utilising a multitude of mediums to create striking and captivating imagery, Saiya’s work often reflects his rich cultural upbringing. Producing art that is paying homage to those before and striving to find what is next.

Having trained in Hip Hop culture styles for over half his life and then going onto study contemporary and classical styles; Saiya’s passion for directing was sparked during his time at The BRIT School. Filmmaking has become a big part of his practice - where Saiya embeds and incorporates many differing techniques into his work, from many disciplines.

Saiya is exploring how his film language is fit for stage, going back to his roots and utilising skills from across all mediums to develop a new body of work.

Laurie Case

Laurie Case is a London-born dance artist whose love for intricate and gestural movement led her to discover Threading.

Having trained in contemporary dance, Laurie’s entry to Threading came from a natural curiosity with finding detail, complexity and unusual pathways with the body. It has since grown to become the heart of her practice, and she’s spent the last four years developing her own choreographic approach to the concept.

Her on-screen work includes music videos for artists such as Dodie, Merrick Winter and Haley Blais, as well as 'Splinter', a short film she wrote and choreographed, directed by Bertie Gilbert. She’s particularly interested in combining Threading with film, dialogue and narrative, and is now exploring how these elements can exist together live on stage.

Alongside Justin De Jager and Sael Heesemans, Laurie is a founding member of Threading Theatre, a company and community based across London and the Netherlands

is a young visual and movement based director whose work overlaps the intersection of cultural documentation, fashion communications and creative direction. Utilising a multitude of mediums to create striking and captivating imagery, Saiya’s work often reflects his rich cultural upbringing. Producing art that is paying homage to those before and striving to find what is next.

Having trained in Hip Hop culture styles for over half his life and then going onto study contemporary and classical styles; Saiya’s passion for directing was sparked during his time at The BRIT School. Filmmaking has become a big part of his practice - where Saiya embeds and incorporates many differing techniques into his work, from many disciplines.

Saiya is exploring how his film language is fit for stage, going back to his roots and utilising skills from across all mediums to develop a new body of work.

Francesca Rose Miles

is a British dance artist, DJ and cultural producer specialising in hip-hop and club cultures. A First-Class Dance Studies graduate, she has trained in street dance and locking in the UK and Sweden, and worked with companies and artists including Boy Blue, ZooNation, Far From The Norm, Breakin’ Convention and Linda Hayford.

An active house and locking battle dancer, Francesca also DJs across house, UK garage, jungle, grime, jazz and soul. Her work is rooted in cultural preservation, including research and writing on sexism in hip-hop dance battles and her role as Narrator and Musical Director for Mixmag’s Jack Union, exploring UK House Dance history.

Solène Filion

is a multidisciplinary street and commercial dancer driven by authenticity, emotion, and power. Her practice explores Waacking, Hip Hop, House, Commercial, Waving and Animation.

A member of Boy blue Asymmetry company and AMS.co, Solène has performed internationally and presented her choreographic work in Montreal, Toronto, New York and Quebec City.

She has also competed and won battles both in person and online.

Her current artistic research explores the connection between movement, musicality, the brain and the nervous system, using playful cognitive and movement-based exercises to challenge instinct, coordination and creative decision-making.

Theophilus O. Bailey

Theophilus O. Bailey is a London-based theatre director, movement director and multidisciplinary artist whose practice investigates human behaviour through movement, text and image.

Coming to directing through hip-hop, Krump and contemporary performance, his work explores what the body communicates when words are no longer enough. His credits span the National Theatre, Royal Court, Donmar Warehouse and Bush Theatre, with collaborators including Ryan Calais Cameron, Milli Bhatia, Maddy Corner and Alison Faulk.

A 2022 Black British Theatre Award nominee for Movement Direction, Theophilus is developing a directorial practice centred on physical storytelling, new writing and reimagining classical texts through contemporary performance languages.

Outlawz

Outlawz is a London-based dance crew specialising in Hip Hop and a range of other styles. Rooted in battle culture, performance and community, we are passionate about creating spaces where dancers can express themselves, challenge one another and grow together.

As a collective, we have had the opportunity to work alongside established organisations such as Boy Blue and ZooNation, while individual members have also developed their practice and performed professionally across the wider dance and performance industry. These experiences have shaped our identity and strengthened our ambition to continue developing as artists and as a collective.

Our next stage of artistic development is focused on exploring the connection between our brotherhood and our relationship with dance. We want to investigate what it means to move, create and perform together, and how our shared experiences, individuality and relationships can influence our artistic voice and that celebrates the energy, culture and connection that brought Outlawz together in the first place.

Julia Cheng is an internationally recognised creative director and choreographer working across theatre, dance, film and large-scale live performance. Her critically acclaimed choreography for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club in London’s West End and on Broadway was nominated in the 2022 Olivier Awards (Best Theatre Choreographer) and the 2025 Chita Rivera Awards (Outstanding Choreography) and won The Stage Debut Awards (Best Creative West End Debut) in 2022.

In 2025, her choreography for Fiddler on the Roof at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre was again nominated at the Olivier Awards (Best Theatre Choreographer) and WhatsOnStage Awards (Best Choreography). Following sold-out runs at the Barbican Centre and a major UK tour, the production will tour across Australia in 2026.

Cheng is currently Associate Artist at the Southbank Centre as part of a three-year residency, which will culminate with her new full-length production and in autumn 2026 will premiere her new work Entress for Scottish Ballet in a double bill alongside Crystal Pite. Previously, she was Resident Artist with the Philharmonia Orchestra through her company House of Absolute.

Known for her striking physical language and musicality, Cheng’s work combines cinematic scope with emotional precision, reshaping classical and contemporary forms through musical structure and sculptural movement.

Her ever-evolving choreographic practice moves between culture, personal narrative and collective experience. Widely recognised for bridging contemporary movement, theatre and live music, Cheng has emerged as one of the defining choreographic voices shaping the future of interdisciplinary performance.

Ivan Michael Blackstock is an Olivier Award-winning artist, director, choreographer, and cultural innovator whose multidisciplinary practice challenges how Black performance, culture, and identity are represented.

Born and raised in London and shaped by street culture, Jamaican heritage, theatre, film, and lived experience, Blackstock works across dance, music, film, visual culture, immersive performance, and digital worlds. His work explores identity, power, masculinity, faith, and representation, moving fluidly between underground culture, major institutions, and global popular culture.

He is the creator of TRAPLORD, the landmark hip hop theatre work that won the 2023 Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production. His choreographic work also includes Beyoncé’s Black Is King and the Grammy Award-winning Brown Skin Girl. His screen work has featured on NOWNESS, Dazed, and Channel 4’s Random Acts.

Blackstock is the founder of ALTRUVIOLET and CRXSS PLATFXRM, platforms through which he develops cultural projects, creative partnerships, and new models of artistic production. His collaborators and clients have included Nike, Red Bull, Soho House, UAL: Central Saint Martins, Sadler’s Wells, and 180 Studios, where he served as Artistic Director.

He is currently an Associate Artist at Southbank Centre, and continues to develop work across live performance, immersive technology, gaming, film, stunt performance, martial arts, and digital world-building.

Through his expanding creative universe, Blackstock is building a new model of cultural authorship one that brings together performance, technology, community, and storytelling to shape how contemporary culture is experienced and shared.