Sasha Kukin

Sasha Kukin is a graduate of the biology department at the Far Eastern State University, a graduate of the choreography division of the Leningrad Institute of Culture, and he also completed graduate studies at the Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography.

In 1990 the choreographer founded the first professional modern dance company in Russia - Sasha Kukin Dance Company - where until nowadays he still leads as an artistic director. He studied modern dance in the U.S.: technique and composition with Doug Varone, Ralph Lemon and Ron Brown; partnering with Creach and Koester; and contact improvisation with Wendell Beavers and Jules Beckman. As a choreographer, performer, and teacher he has taken part in numerous international contemporary dance festivals: ADF (North Carolina, U.S.A.), Glenwood Springs Dance Festival (Colorado, U.S.A.), the International Dance Improvisation Festival (Washington, D.C., U.S.A.), the festival "New Russia - The Human Spirit in Motion" (Denmark, Sweden) and others. Sasha Kukin has performed in concerts, performances, and dance projects along with dancers from the U.S.A. and Europe: in 1995 in a program with Johnna Drummer, in 1999 as an invited artist with the Dance Construction Company (Washington, D.C., U.S.A.), in 2001 as a participant in the major international project Aurora 2001 (Washington, D.C., U.S.A. and Tromso, Norway). He has taught modern dance technique, composition, and partnering in the U.S.A. (Denver arts schools, GeorgeWashingtonUniversity, University of Houston) and in Poland, Germany, Sweden,Norway,Wales, and Estonia.

Sasha Kukin is the only Russian choreographer to have set his own original compositions on American companies such as Kim Robards Dance and Dance Construction Company.