Mekbul Jemal Tahir is an international choreographer, dancer, and teacher. He is one of the founding members of Adugna Community Dance Theatre Company, which is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Since completing a five-year training program accredited by Middlesex University (UK) in 2001, he has been performing and teaching African contemporary dance, contact improvisation, and community dance and theatre in Ethiopia and abroad. Among others, his projects have included the 2005 Kin-Addis Project in the DRC, Ethiopia, and France, and the 2006 Can Do Can Dance Project in Hamburg, Germany. In 2007, he performed a lead role in As the Mother of a Brown Boy, which opened at Chickenshed Theatre Company in London and later traveled to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it was nominated for two awards.

Most recently, he was an invited participant in two international dance workshops at L’Ecole des Sables, Toubab Dialew, Senegal, under the direction of Germaine Acogny. He is also one of the dancers who were selected to study Germaine Acogny’s dance and certified to teach her technique.Now a resident of Massachusetts, he divides his time between work with Adugna in Ethiopia and projects in Africa, Europe, and the United States.

Sibusiso, or Dr Sbu as he is also called, is a South African dancer and choreographer. He specialises in a subculture from South Africa called Pantsula. Within his line of work he choreographs, performs, facilitates events and teaches pantsula culture. Sibusiso is currently active with his own produced and choreographed dance piece “Uhambo Lwamakhehla” which premiered in South Africa February 2024. Additionally, he also made a significant contribution to the choreography of the Swedish/South African dance production “YEBO YES!” which premiered in Sweden 2021. Sibusiso has toured extensively, sharing his knowledge of Pantsula culture through workshops, battles, performances, seminars and lectures all over the world. He is the founder of Dance Rejuvenate Society (DRS) and operates DR SBU’S LAB, a hub for footwork located in Orange Farm, South Africa.

Athena Lucie Assamba is a multi- and interdisciplinary artist, an emerging performer and choreographer in dance. Their practice is rooted in traditional and contemporary African dances and in Street Dances. Being of Cameroonian origin, their initiation into traditional Dance began in their homeland. Then in 2019, Athena discovered the street dance community more deeply, which allowed them to learn and practice different dance styles such as Waacking, Dancehall, as well as various African urban dances such as Ndombolo, Mbolé, and Afro house. In 2020, they joined the professional dance group Afrodomtl, where they collaborate with its members to provide support to dancers in their initiation and professional practice of African and Afro-descendant dances, with the aim of promoting diversity in the Montreal and Canadian dance scene.

In addition, Athena is an emerging choreographer and artistic director. In 2023, they created 2 dance pieces: BOSEMBO, a piece about vulnerability and acceptance to be free, and NkulNnam, an interdisciplinary piece that aims to be a study on spiritual freedom, moving from the village to the moon via the club. These pieces were presented at Open Body, Festival Phénoména, and Ausgang Plaza in Montreal, respectively. In 2024, they created a duo piece entitled African Celestial Beings, which highlights the art and spirituality of African masks and mask dancers, particularly among the Bamiléké people of western Cameroon. Parallel to creation, they are currently training at the Nyata Nyata center of philosopher Zab Maboungou, continuing to explore the ancestrality of movement in African dance by revisiting its foundations. They also trained at École des Sables in 2024.

As a multidisciplinary artist, they express their art through various mediums such as styling, music and singing, and movement. They describe their art as the product of the mysticism of the African essence: its spirituality, its culture, its imagination, and all its states of existence. Through their art, they explore ancestral and untransmitted knowledge.

A graduate in neuroscience, they explore different means of healing through movement and art.

Born in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Ordinateur is widely recognized as a pioneering force in Ivorian urban dance and the originator of the distinctive Magic Feet style, a technique celebrated for its speed, precision, and rhythmic complexity.

Identified early for his exceptional agility and creativity, he quickly rose within the coupé-décalé movement, contributing to its evolution both on the streets and on major stages. His collaborations with influential artists such as DJ Arafat helped amplify his visibility and solidify his role in shaping the visual identity of the genre during a critical period of its global expansion.

Now based in Europe, Ordinateur continues to extend his impact internationally through performances, masterclasses, and cultural exchange initiatives. His work goes beyond technique, rooted in a philosophy that positions dance as a tool for empowerment, transmission, and social connection. Through workshops and community engagement, he actively invests in the next generation of dancers, particularly within diasporic and underserved communities.

Balancing stage practice, pedagogy, and humanitarian efforts, Ordinateur embodies a generation of artists who are both culturally grounded and globally engaged. His explosive yet intentional style reflects not only artistic excellence but also a deep commitment to unity, resilience, and the transformative power of movement.

Kay, known as ‘The People’s Dancer,’ is a professional dancer originally from Taung in the North West Province of South Africa. His professional career began 17 years ago.
For the past five years, he has specialized in teaching Amapiano, primarily operating out of his base in Shanghai, China, where he focuses on the South East Asia region.

Kay has toured internationally in 2024, completing a two-city Russia tour and an East Africa tour (Kenya, Rwanda, & Tanzania); Featured in social music videos for SHOMADJOZI and MFR SOULS in South Africa and was a Top 10 finalist in the University of Johannesburg’s ‘So You Think Can Dance’ Competition in 2015 and featured on Turn It Out 2 in 2012.

Kay’s mission is to continuously promote and showcase the Amapiano culture worldwide through his dance and primary ambition is “To take South African dance culture to all possible international stages, imparting knowledge to whoever I come across about our multi-dimensional culture.” He has pioneered Amapiano dance culture in China and South East Asia.