Closer

Tuixén Benet

Tuixén Benet is a Filmmaker/Choreographer from Barcelona now based in Los Angeles. With a background in live performance and choreographing for music videos and commercials she’s now focused on creating her own experimental films, a selection of which was curated at the DA2 of Salamanca as a retrospective of the artist. Her works Aloma i Mila, Lazarus and Solution for Sadness have screened at Cinedans Fest, Leeds International Film Festival, Cucalorus, Palm Springs ShortFest or Dance Camera West among others, and granted her an award for the Outstanding Contribution to Dance Film at Choreoscope.

She’s been nominated on multiple occasions for Best Choreography at the UK Music Video Awards for her work on the music videos of artists such as Tame Impala, Juanes, Polo & Pan or Two Door Cinema Club. She directed the live show of chilean artist Javiera Mena’s world tour with teams of performers in Chile, Mexico and Spain. Benet was the co-director of the dance company Les filles Föllen, Best New Talents by the Dance Association of Catalonia 2011, with performances at Mercat de les Flors, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), Le Lieu Unique, KUMU Art Museum of Estonia and Zoofest Montreal among others.

She graduated in Choreography and Interpretation Techniques at the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona and earned an MFA in Film Directing at California Institute of the Arts, where she co-taught CineDance alongside Francesca Penzani. She’s continued her education in the field with a course on Body Poetics by MasterLav and a Certificate in ChoreoCinema by Agite y Sirva.

Gheremi Clay

Gheremi Clay is a choreographer/performing artist specializing in choreographic works ranging from concert to commercial style dance. Gheremi has studied theater, dance and vocal performance in his hometown of Saint Louis, Missouri and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in both New York and Los Angeles.

Flea Rock

Flea Rock was born in Miami, Florida, and now lives in Los Angeles. A member of Skill Methodz, First Class Dream Team and Street Masters crew, he gave himself his breaking name when he was 12 years old because, in his style of dancing, he jumped around a lot like a flea.

Flea Rock is one of the most well-known and respected breakers in the world. He’s won a lot of competitions with his crew, including 2on2 titles like Circle Kingz and the B1 Battle in Japan. He’s toured with everyone from Rihanna and Gwen Stefani to Mariah Carey and Chris Brown, and performed for luminaries such as Michael Jordan and Predident Barack Obama. He was also one the actors in the Step up 3 movie.

Outside of breaking, Flea Rock makes music, producing and rapping under the name, Nike Messiah. He’s also building his own clothing line called First Class Clothing. As well as this he continues acting on the side and is the proud father of two B-Boys.

Sara Silkin

Sara Silkin is a French-American-Tunisien artist who holds her BA from UCLA and her MFA from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, where she was awarded The John Houston Directing Scholarship and Kodak Grant. She is currently the Artistic Director of the Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar. She choreographed the Emmy-winning short film “Jibaro” from “Love, Death, & Robots.” She has collaborated with AI artist Refik Anadol on the LA Philharmonic’s 100th Anniversary at The Walt Disney Concert Hall. Sara has choreographed and movement directed for brands: Samsung, Nike, Converse, Sandro, and many more.

Mike Tyus

Mike Tyus is an award winning dancer, choreographer, and creative director from Los Angeles California. He has been performing and creating dance works for the stage and screen for over 15 years. As a performer Tyus has worked with Cirque Du Soleil in “IRIS” at the Kodak Theater in LA and “KOOZA” as “The Trickster” - “a devilish ringleader”. Tyus Joined Pilobolus Dance Theater in 2013 performing works by Sidi Larbi Cherkoui, Penn & Teller , and Isreali choreographers, Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollack, while also creating company repertory that is still performed today. He is a founding member of Jacob Jonas The Company and an Associate Producer for Films.Dance, a platform focused on dance film creation through unconventional collaboration. Tyus’ passion for performing inevitably lead him to choreographing his own work. His dance works derive from techniques and styles from his past. Circus theater, acrobatics, ballet, and greco-roman wrestling are abstracted and synthesized to create something unique. He has created works for dance companies, museums, pop-stars, and universities alike. Recently he’s worked with The Broad Museum, The Wende Museum, Visceral Dance Chicago, Chicago Repertory Ballet, Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, Manhatten Youth Ballet, Ziru Dance, Utah University, Vasser College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CLI by Teddy Forance, and The Lines Ballet Training Program. In 2020 Tyus directed and choreographed a dance film called ELSEWHERE on Whim W’him Contemporary Dance Company that is now being showed on PBS. He also choreographed a Facebook commercial directed by FKA Twigs that now lives in the MOMA’s archives because of its cultural significance. Tyus’ has choreographed music video’s for Nigerian Pop-Star Adekunle Gold and new comer Anna Margo, bringing art-world sensibilities to pop culture. In 2020 Tyus created, Mike Tyus & Co, a dance company that focuses on the creation of Tyus’ work with over 13 films and the creation of a piece called “Hunger” developed at Orsolina28, a dance residency in Moncalvo Italy.

As a creative director Tyus has developed branded campaigns for Vaara, Anthropologie, Veuve Clicquot, Club Monaco, SONY, Apple, and Abercrombie & Fitch, focusing on the relationship between dance and commerce and utilizing his large social media following to help share the joy of dance worldwide. Community and Creation are at the core of Tyus’ mission and continue to drive his efforts in crafting work that feeds the human spirit and reflects the times in which we live.

Luca Renzi

Luca Renzi is a choreographer, movement /creative director and video artist. He was born in Bern, Switzerland and is based in Los Angeles. He trained at the University of Zurich under Jochen Heckmann (Germany) and Andrea von Gunten. He is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts with his Masters of Fine Arts in Dance with a concentration in Choreography & Dance / Technology under the direction of Sean Curran.

Luca was a member of the Vivo Ballet Contemporary dance company in New York. Luca was on tour with recording artist INNA from Rumania, danced in music videos for Jackson Wang and directed Music Videos for Soaky Siren. Recently he is assisting Mike Tyus & Co. in Videography & Choreography.