The energy and bright light of spring is intensified as we warmly welcome our guest choreographers in residence Tommie-Waheed Evans and Ching Ching Wong , who were part of the amazing Summer Dance Intensive 2021 faculty. Both renowned artists will be creating new work for premiere performances next season in November 2022. Read more below, and learn more about our choreographers by clicking here!
Tommie-Waheed Evans
Tommie-Waheed Evans
2021 Guggenheim Fellow Tommie-Waheed Evans is a queer black dance maker, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, amidst racial divide, gang warfare, and earthquakes. His work explores blackness, spirituality, queerness and liberation. He began his formal training with Karen McDonald before receiving a fellowship at the Ailey School, and a Master of Fine Arts in Choreography from Jacksonville University. He has toured and performed nationally and internationally as a company member of Lula Washington Dance Theater, Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Philadanco.
Since 2004, he has created more than 50 original dance works that range widely in scope, length, tone and subject matter. waheedworks, his Philadelphia based dance company, is the primary vehicle for his creative research. The company’s mission is to create a radically collaborative body of work that speaks to the human condition. His work brings together urban street dance styles and contemporary dance vocabulary through bold and raw movements propelled by gospel music and polyrhythmic sounds. He has also been commissioned to create works for BalletX, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, PHILADANCO, Verb Ballets, Ballet Memphis, The University of the Arts, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Louisville Ballet, among others. He has received accolades and honors including 2020 Center of Ballet and Arts resident fellow, 2019 Princess Grace Honoraria Award in Choreography, New Music Project Grant, Howard Gilman Foundation Fellowship, Joffrey Ballet Winning Works 2019, and Ballet Memphis New American Dance Residency 2019.
Ching Ching Wong
Ching Ching Wong
Born in Manila, Philippines and raised in Los Angeles, CA, Ching Ching Wong credits her lifelong teacher Alia Harlan Kaneaikala for instilling in her the love for dance. She is the recipient of Princess Grace Award in Dance (2015), was listed in Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch (2017), and is currently represented by Movement Talent Agency.
Her freelance career includes collaborations with ZviDance, LED, Brendan Duggan, PARA.MAR, CARLON, Safety Third Productions, YYDC, SALT Contemporary Dance, Heidi Duckler Dance Theater, WHYTEBERG, The Assembly, Katie Scherman, Joe Kye, and Mimi Haddon.
Ching Ching is assistant and répétiteur for Swiss based choreographer Ihsan Rustem re-staging his work throughout the US and Europe. She is also founder of Project Salamat, global outreach program, and The Experience, an international workshop series.
For seven seasons, she danced for Northwest Dance Project in Portland, Oregon where she has originated roles in creations by Felix Landerer, Lucas Crandall, Ihsan Rustem, Sarah Slipper, Alejandro Cerrudo, Jiri Pokorny, Wen Wei Wang, Didy Veldman, Danielle Agami, Patrick Delcroix, Alex Soares, Kate Wallich, Pedro Dias, Gregory Dolbashian, Yin Yue, Loni Landon, Rachel Erdos, amongst others.
Ching Ching is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine BFA in Dance Performance minoring in Education and Psychology & Social Behavior. There, she was fortunate to work with the late Mr. Donald KcKayle. She is also a certified classical Pilates instructor through The Pilates Center in Boulder, CO.
Currently, she is the inaugural Artist in Residence for Heidi Duckler Dance and honored to have the opportunity to collaborate and integrate within Los Angeles communities. In addition, she is thrilled to be in her first creation with Backhausdance.