AIR BODY SAD

Viktoria Andersson, Gorik Bellemans, Ruben Brown, Silas da Silva Roller, Alvilda Faber Striim, Kaelin Isserlin, Kevin Julianto, Sierra Kellman, Sofia Larriera, Ellie Vermunt

Choreography and Lighting Design: Malik Nashad Sharpe
Music Direction: Tabitha Thorlu-Bangura
Composer: Luke Blair
Set Design: Felix Villiers
Costume Design: Erik Annerborn

Malik Nashad Sharpe is a choreographer and movement director working with dance, dark fantasy, and horror. Creating primarily underneath the alias Marikiscrycrycry, he makes provocative performance works that are formally engaged with construction of affect, atmosphere, and dramaturgy from more marginal perspectives. He graduated with a BA in Experimental Dance with highest honours from Williams College, and holds a certificate in Contemporary Dance from Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Music and Dance, where he won the Simone Michele Prize for Outstanding Choreography. 

His works address violence, alienation, horror, melancholia, belonging, and the horizon and his many works have been widely presented across the U.K., Europe, Canada, and the USA. His work  has been commissioned by The Yard Theatre (U.K.), Theatre La Chapelle (CA), Festival Trans-Amerique (CA), New Queers on the Block (U.K.), Marlborough Productions (U.K.), Dansehallerne (DK), MDT (SK), Attenborough Centre for Creative Arts (U.K.), Dance4 (U.K.), The Place (U.K.), Theatre in the Mill (U.K.), Fierce Festival (U.K.), CCN Caen (FR), Block Universe (U.K.), Dansehallerne (DK), MDT (SE), Cambridge Junction (U.K.), Roskilde Festival (DK), amongst many others. He has shown his work in venues including Battersea Arts Centre (U.K.), Montreal arts et interculturels (CA), Birmingham Hippodrome (U.K.), Edison/Betty Nansen Teatret (DK), Pia Bouman at Soctiabank Theatre (CA), University Settlement (USA), Schauspielhaus (AT), Insitute of Contemporary Art (U.K.), Kampnagel (DE), Tate Britain (U.K.), MDT (SE), Beursschouwburg (BE), Inkonst (SK), Project Art Centre (IE), Bora Bora (DK), Abrons Arts Center (USA), Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (USA), and in festivals such as ImpulsTanz (AT), Birmingham International Dance Festival (U.K.), Glasgow International Dance Festival (U.K.), American Realness (USA), Les Urbaines (CH), Skopje Pride (MK), Mayfest (U.K.) Audra Festival (LT), Side Step Festival (FI),  Edinburgh Fringe (U.K.), NottDance (U.K.), Roskilde (DK), amongst many others.

In the 16th edition of Festival Transamerique, he premiered High Bed Lower Castle (2022), a work co-created with Montreal-based choreographer Ellen Furey to critical acclaim with critics deeming it ‘bold, rich, dreamlike’ (Artichaut) and ‘remarkable, mesmerising’ (Westmount). And in 2023, he premiered his large-scale production of DARK, HAPPY, to the CORE  at Roskilde Festival to widespread critical acclaim, with critics calling the work, ‘jaw-dropping’ (******* in Scenenblog), ‘entertaining, good style, sexiness’ (***** in Politken), ‘quivering, smouldering, postapocalyptic’ (Seismograf), ‘exciting, challenging, intense’ (TBA.no), ‘grabbed my by the collar and reminded me of the radicality and wildness of Roskilde’ (Information.dk) In 2025, he joins Norrdans (SE) as lead choreographer, on which is new work AIR BODY SAD will premiere in October 2025.  His next British-made stage work co-comissioned by the The Place, Dansehallerne, Tanzhaus NRW, and MAYk will premiere in London in Spring 2026.

As a movement director, he has worked widely across the British theatre sector, including on the productions of Henry V (Shakespeare’s Globe/Headlong), Bootycandy (Gate), Closer (Lyric Hammersmith), The Glow (Royal Court), Scandaltown (Lyric Hammersmith), Two-Character Play (Hampstead Theatre), Fairview (Young Vic), and Effigies of Wickedness (Gate/English National Opera), A View from the Bridge (Headlong/Chichester Festival Theatre/Bolton Octagon),  Mates in Chelsea (Royal Court), and Ada (National Youth Theatre). He has also movement directed fashion campaigns for top-tier brands, like Converse, and Doc Martens, films such as The Man In My Basement (Protagonist Pictures), and has choreographed music videos LYZZA, BOX, chi, Deto Black, p-rallel, Bianca Scout, Chinchilla, and Shy Smith. He has consulted countless artists in movement dramaturgy and choreographic practice around the globe. 

In 2019, he was named a Rising Star in Dance from Attitude Magazine, and in 2022 he was featured on the prestigious Forbes 30 under 30 list for his unique and pervasive choreographic achievements. In 2023, he was nominated for the Premio Cunha e Silva Prize at Galeria Municipal do Porto (PT).

He is currently an Associate Artist at The Place, and a former studio resident of Somerset House Studios. He has held artistic residencies at Sadlers Wells, Barbican, Performance Situation Room, Fabric, Duckie, and Tate Modern. He was recently a guest teacher in dance and performance at the Stockholm University of the Arts in Sweden. He lives in London, U.K. 

Photo: Oscar May

Tabitha Thorlu-Bangura is a curator from London, specialising in music and contemporary culture. She’s the founder of interdisciplinary platform Sabi Arts, and was at the helm of the internationally celebrated NTS Radio for twelve years, most recently as Director of Music & Programming. Her interdisciplinary arts practice has also been turned toward music direction in film and contemporary dance. She was the music supervisor for The African Desperate, the debut feature film by artist Martine Syms, for the solo show Goner by dancer and choreographer Malik Nash Sharpe, and for the short film A Radical Duet by Onyeka Igwe. She was the host of the TTB show on NTS for over ten years, and also DJs under the same name at forward thinking clubs and live performance venues across the UK and Europe.

Luke Blair is a London born musician, composer, and producer. Releasing music since 2007, he has become a mainstay of the UK electronic music scene, both under his solo monikers Lukid and Refreshers, and as part of the duo Rezzett with Jackson Bailey. These projects have taken him around the world, with performances at festivals such as Sonar (Barcelona) and Dekmantel (Amsterdam), at institutions like Tate Modern and the ICA, and a live soundtrack for a CavEmpt show in Tokyo. He has also produced remixes for artists including Omar Souleyman and Radiohead.

In addition to these projects, Blair composes for film, television, and other media. Notably, he wrote the score for the BFI-funded feature Personal Best, ESPN’s documentary series 30 for 30, and the BBC short documentary Mary. He has created original music for Palace Skateboards, Dior, and Arsenal FC, and composed scores for the American Ballet Theatre and Goner, a dance piece by Malik Nashad Sharpe that toured internationally in 2023/24.

Since 2012, Blair has hosted a monthly show on London’s NTS Radio.

Felix Villiers is a London-based artist and spatial designer working across sculpture, art direction, and industrial design.

Since graduating from Goldsmiths in 2017, he has developed a multidisciplinary practice creating performative environments for musicians, dancers, and live events, while bridging fine art with commercial and editorial contexts.

His spatial design projects include Blind at the Age of Four by Jack Warne, GONER by Malik Nashad Sharpe, 111 by Louis Carnell, and Emilia Lumney’s SS23 Campaign. He has also contributed to music videos for Joy Orbison & Joe James, Metro Zee, 404 Guild, and NUKULUK, with the upcoming documentary Coordination Game set for release.

Villiers’ exhibition history spans London, Athens, and online platforms, including The Worm at the Core (2022) and Floorr EXH 6 (2021). His work has also featured in publications such as The Cold Almanac and Art, Design and Neurodiversity.