About Graduation Show

The graduating students of our BA (Hons) Contemporary Dance programme at London Contemporary Dance School take to the stage at The Place one last time before stepping out into the world as emerging dance artists

This year, the culmination of our students' three-year artistic and academic journey is showcased through pieces by five industry-leading and renowned choreographers: Ekleido (Hannah Ekholm & Faye Stoeser); Joseph Toonga; Léa Tirabasso; and Monique Jonas.

These graduation shows promise to be a vibrant convergence of creativity and dedication, offering a glimpse into the future of contemporary dance.

Join us in celebrating these aspiring dancers as they leap towards their next great adventures in the world of dance.

Meet the Choreographers

Ekleido

EKLEIDO is a choreographic duo made up of Hannah Ekholm and Faye Stoeser choreographing for live performance and film. They have both individually had extensive dance careers within the contemporary dance world, commercial industry and underground club/street dance scenes.

Their work takes influences from both their vocabularies combining contemporary dance and underground club/battle styles including New Way Voguing, bone-breaking and threading.

The name is a fusion of the words Echo and Kaleidoscope as well as the word Eido which in Greek means to perceive or discover, which represents the work they are creating.

Their work has been performed at venues and festivals including Glastonbury Festival, Breakin’ Convention at Sadler’s Wells, Latitude Festival, Ballet Nights at Ministry of Sound, Secret Garden Party, The Place, Lilian Baylis, Dance Festival Croydon, Fairfield Halls, Stanley Arts, Dance.Film.Performance

Joseph Toonga

Joseph Toonga, hailing from Cameroon and raised in East London, is an inventive and visionary choreographer rooted in the vibrancy of hip-hop culture, crafts and performs compelling dance productions deeply entwined with contemporary narratives. His distinct choreographic style fuses the essence of hip-hop with genuine life experiences, challenging societal norms, dismantling racial stigmas, and sparking transformative conversations.

Acknowledged for his outstanding talent, Joseph was honoured with the Best Choreography Award at New York’s Reverb Dance Festival, showcasing his innovative approach within the hip-hop dance realm.

Renowned institutions such as the Dutch National Junior Ballet, Ballet BC Annex, National Youth Ballet/Bundes jugend ballett, Richard Alston Dance Company, Junior Ballet Madrid (Elephant in the Black Box), and East Wall (with Hofesh Shechter) have sought his choreographic brilliance, showcasing his diverse expertise across various dance forms.

As the appointed Royal Ballet’s Choreographic Residency artist for 2023/2024, Joseph’s contributions transcend boundaries, harnessing the power of hip-hop to reshape societal narratives. A driving force behind Just Us Dance Theatre and Artists4Artists, he remains steadfast in his commitment to cultivating innovation in both hip-hop and contemporary dance while nurturing the next generation of exceptional talent.

Léa Tirabasso

Before creating her own work, Léa Tirabasso worked as a dancer across Europe. Choreographically, she is interested in notions of humour, dysfunction, exhaustion, brutality and the value of instinct within the performance practice. Her work has toured nationally and internationally, including to Aerowaves Europe, Tanzmesse Düsseldorf, Avignon Festival and Seoul International Dance Festival. Tirabasso was awarded the Arts and Literature Prize from Institut Grand Ducal Luxembourg in 2016, and the Lëtzebuerger Danzpräis in 2023.

Monique Jonas

Monique (she/her) began dancing with the Chance to Dance programme before training at the Arts Educational Schools London. She completed her training at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, and received her Masters Degree from The London Contemporary Dance School, passing with distinction in 2017.

Monique joined the Richard Alston Dance Company as an apprentice in 2016 and has toured extensively, both nationally and internationally with RADC, until their final performance in 2020. She is currently touring in Mathew Bourne’s New Adventures’ production of Nutcracker!

Externally, Monique founded her own dance company, Jona Dance. She has been choreographing, movement directing, teaching and producing work both online and in person, with the aim of amplifying silenced voices through contemporary dance in the UK. Jona Dance have created for Ballet Black, Rambert School, Pegasus Opera, Reebok and London Fashion Week to name a few. She looks forward to her next creation with Serendipity Leicester.

Monique is also a contemporary tutor at English National Ballet School and teaches as a guest for London Contemporary Dance School, National Youth Ballet, Dilek Taptik School of Dance, Artistry Youth Dance and New Adventures to name a few.

Over the years, Monique has worked with Rambert Dance Company, Sally Marie, Hubert Essakow, Arcade Fire, Theo Adams Company, Clod Ensemble and commercially on the Brit Awards, BBC Drama; The Pursuit of Love, Marvel and Jamie Cullum.

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