Fang-Yu Shen

Fang-Yu Shen was house choreographer of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam in 2013 and 2014.

She studied modern and traditional dance at the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan and has danced in works by Trisha Brown and others. She also worked as an assistant to choreographer Susanne Linke. Shen was the first student to complete the Master's degree in choreography and movement composition at Folkwang University in Essen in 2011.

Her influences therefore combine different cultures and movement forms, from her roots in traditional Chinese dance to Kungfu and Pina Bausch. She brings these together with her associative and spiritual way of working into a unique blend of her own. This was recognized early on: she won the Prize of Criticism at the International Choreographer Competition in Hanover in 2011 and in 2012 she won the 2nd Choreography Prize there. The jury called her work "extraordinarily fascinating for its combination of dynamics and speed with form-conscious precision."

Fang-Yu Shen made her debut with Scapino Ballet Rotterdam in 2013 with the choreography Countless in Reversing Gear she created for TWOOLS 15, in which she focuses on the elements of nature in a dance language that undulates back and forth between the tranquility and power of earth, water, fire and air. As resident choreographer, she made Let it Spin (part of The Great Bean) and Smashroom too (for TWOOLS 16).