NORMGROUND

Leah Harpin is a movement artist from Birmingham, UK, currently based in Manchester, whose passion for music and dance began at an early age. Inspired by music, art, writing, culture and community, she strives to let these influences enrich her creative practice. Leah began her training in hip hop and street dance styles with Marshon Dance Company, where the strong sense of community played a significant role in shaping her artistic expression, deepening her love for dance. In 2021, she began her professional training and will be graduating this summer with a BA Hons Degree in Professional and Commercial Dance. The journey so far has been beautiful, and she looks forward to what lies ahead. 

Adhish Arul is a South Asian dance artist, choreographer, and facilitator renowned for blending South Asian culture with street dance styles, modern African dance, and hip-hop dance theater. His distinctive fusion work has led to high-profile performances with organizations like Breakin' Convention, Red Bull UK, The Place, Sadler's Wells, etc. alongside major achievements, including winning Red Bull Bring the Vim. As a versatile creator, he has curated and choreographed powerful original pieces like "Dreamcatcher" and "Cross-cultures," while simultaneously driving inclusivity as an educator with youth theaters and the Royal Academy of Dance.   

Alejandro Villalobos Favela is a Mexican-American dance artist, choreographer, and movement educator rooted in the borderlands of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez and now based in London. His practice bridges street dance with contemporary movement, driven by a passion for physical research, musicality, and human connection. Holding a degree in Business Administration from UTEP and currently pursuing an MA in Dance Performance at the London Contemporary Dance School, Alejandro's work explores identity, culture, and the expressive potential of the body. He has performed, taught, and collaborated across international stages, seeking spaces where technique, creativity, and community meet.   

Martina Miodini (Milan born, 2001) fell in love with dance at a very early age, starting with ballet and then slowly adding on more and more styles. Raised between Milan and Luxembourg, she started working in the commercial industry as a teenager, to then move to The Netherlands and get her BA in Dance - Urban Contemporary Department- in Fontys Academy of Performing Arts. Over the years she realized her main purpose in dance is to keep the culture and tradition alive while also exploring and pushing the boundaries, which is why she’s getting closer and closer to the experimental world. She’s now a freelance dancer mainly based in Milan, with a strong interest in theatre, contemporary and street dance culture and the fusion of the two. 

I’m Obinna, 28 years old, son of a German mother and a Nigerian father. I grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany, where I discovered my undying love for dance. Now I live in Marseille, France, still dancing. Ideally, I’d like to spend my life shaking my hips till nothing but bones is left. 

Kenza Deba is a Belgian dancer and choreographer deeply rooted in the krump scene. She is active in battles and has also performed in theatre productions including Mimi’s Shebeen by Alesandra Seutin and Fire Next Time by Pitcho Womba Konga. In 2024, she created her first personal piece with Kassy Bondoko, Kaza, exploring the complexe relationship of hair with Black women. Beyond performing, Kenza is committed to transmitting krump culture through workshops dedicated to the younger generation.

Gloria Kapako is a Zambian Norwegian dancer, choreographer, and psychology student based between Paris, France, and Oslo, Norway. 
 
Her artistic landscape is heavily inspired by her research and questioning of the space of the in-between, informed by her experience as a person of diasporic identity. A dancer whose artistic identity is shaped and inspired by movement, both in the body and on a global scale, she moves between the spaces of Paris, Brazil, Oslo, and Senegal. 
 
She is an unconventional artist who, through dance, researches and shares stories. Her dance practice is rooted in club and street dance styles, mainly House dance and Hip Hop, while also exploring and deepening her understanding of the specificity and aesthetics of West African contemporary dance techniques, particularly Agency Technique, and drawing deep inspiration from the Afro-Brazilian Sylvestre Technique. 
 
Her work stems from a need to move—to move beyond layers, to move beyond spaces. Through this, she explores movement in all of its versatility, combining her passion for the psychological phenomenon of the subconscious mind. She asks: What can dance reveal about who we were before we were born, our ancestry, who we are now, and what we carry? 

Sandra Sadhardheen is a French choreographer, dancer, and krump artist based in Brussels. 

Her practice spans contemporary dance, krump, hip-hop, and Kalaripayattu (Indian martial art). These diverse influences shape her artistic language, reflecting both her cultural heritage and her perspective on the world. Krump lies at the heart of her practice, serving as a powerful and deeply personal means of expression. On the battle scene, she is known as Anokha aka Girl G.
 
As a performer, she has collaborated with numerous choreographers and companies, including Joseph Yvann Toonga (Just Us Dance Theater), Grichka Caruge (Art Track), Gabriel Um (Cie 1.5), Tamara Gvozdenic (Le Facteur), Carmela Acuyo (Cie Vendaval), Éric Oberdoff (Cie Humaine), as well as Collectif BAL, Krumpfest Collectif, and A/R Collectif. 

Supported by Collectif 1.5 in Nantes, Sandra premiered her first choreographic work, Urja, in 2022. The solo has since been presented in around twenty performances. 

In February 2025, she founded Compagnie Sadhar and continued her choreographic research with Essence, a duet through which she develops a distinctive choreographic voice - grounded, expressive, and visceral - at the intersection of urban and contemporary dance.