Photo: Michel Schnater

Born in the Philippines, multi-talented choreographer and dancer Marco Gerris grew up in Belgium and studied at the Studio Herman Teirlinck theatre school in Antwerp. Gerris has worked widely as a dancer, skater and actor, and was a judge in So You Think You Can Dance and The Freestyle Games. Since 2011, Gerris is a regular guest choreographer with the Dutch National Ballet. In 2000, he founded hip-hop dance company ISH Dance Collective, where he is currently artistic director. In 2019, the collective’s production Elements of Freestyle was hailed as one of the top 10 best shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. ISH Dance Collective have toured extensively internationally, performing in Suriname, Indonesia, India and South-Africa, as well as on Broadway, on London’s West-End and all across Europe.

Siebe van de Spijker is a skilled practitioner of urban parkour. Addicted to the freedom, speed and adrenaline of the sport, he dares to push his limits and steps over all his fears. At the age of eighteen Van de Spijker became Dutch freerunner Champion and has now become Dutch Speed Champion six times. In the last few years he had collaborated with companies such as Sony, InterSport and Mentos.

World-class basketball freestyle juggler Michael van Beek, also known as Michael Evolution, has 20+ years of live stage experience and was the first basketball freestyle juggler to bring the showmanship of the freestyle skillset to the world of theatre, variety and circus. During his career, van Beek has collaborated with prominent entertainment companies such as Cirque du Soleil, Teatro ZinZanni, GOP Varieté, UniverSoul Circus, URBANATIX, Wintergarten Berlin, Circus Afrika, Krystallpalast Varieté and many more. He also worked as body double and choreographer for legendary NBA athlete Kobe Bryant in a Turkish Airlines commercial, made it to the finals of the Dutch television show Beat The Best, received the Varieté Et Cetera award at Krystallpalast Varieté’s international festival Newcomershow, won the 2023 VIVA Fest World Circus Arts Championships and received a special award from Cirque du Soleil.

Former World Champion inline skater Sven Boekhorst started skating in the early 1990s in Den Bosch, Netherlands. In 2000 he topped all inline skating contests worldwide, including winning the Triple Crown (X-Games, Gravity Games and World Championships). In his years as a professional skater, he had a character based on him in the Aggressive Inline video game and performed for three weeks in a show on Broadway with a theatre company from Amsterdam. In 2006, Boekhorst established SB Events, a company providing professional skating shows for a range of events.

Jelle Briggeman is an athlete known for his high jumps. He has won impressive titles at several (inter)national competitions such as FISE and Winterclash, this makes him no stranger to the inline skating world. In 2015 Briggeman was scouted by ISH during the Dutch television programme The Freestyle Games, where he made it to the final three.

Photo: Eddo Hartman

Cellist Annie Tangberg is a versatile musician with a contemporary touch. She performed in several editions of the internationally renowned Cello Biënnale Amsterdam and toured with different groups to festivals all over Europe, as well as traveling to the USA, Middle East, Brazil, China, and Suriname. Originally from Oslo, Norway, Tangberg moved to the Netherlands where she completed a master degree in chamber music at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague. Besides playing in the Metropole Orchestra she collaborates with different parties like The West Side Trio, Metropole Orkest Cellos, the vocal group Vox Sturnus and ISH Dance Collective.

Professional dancer, teacher and choreographer Denden Karadeniz is the founder of Zero Dance Theatre, the first hip-hop / contemporary fusion company in the Netherlands where floorwork technique excels. Karadeniz began his career as a breakdancer and honed his skills at international dance venues in Los Angeles and Australia. His unique artistic vision combines breakdance with contemporary dance, resulting in innovative stage performances. Denden has showcased his dance skills in high-profile events such as The Ultimate Dance Battle, So You Think You Can Dance and Time to Dance. His artistic flair can also be seen in collaborations with various dance companies in renowned theatres. In 2022, he received the Young Amsterdam Award for excellence in the art of dance.

Bart van der Linden’s unique approach to Parkour has earned him the world championship title in 2016. With a combination of powerful, creative, and fluid movement Van der Linden has entertained and inspired many practitioners all over the world. For the past 10 years he has managed to stay on top of his game within the parkour community, solidifying his name as a true legend. He joined ISH Dance Collective in 2015 and has been reliable for delivering explosive action on stage.

Dez Maarsen became obsessed with BMX flatland, the art of doing tricks on the BMX without using obstacle, at a young age. He has fallen in love with the sport and the lifestyle that comes with it. For more than a decade Maarsen has claimed his spot in the world top of the BMX Flatland sport and in the entertainment business, performing and competing around the world at the highest level. He won multiple international competitions and performed at Eurovision Song Contest for millions of live viewers. For ISH Dance Collective, Maarsen played in Elements of Freestyle in The Netherlands.

While trained as a classical violinist, curiosity led Vera van der Bie to explore a variety of styles and instruments. She writes music for her electric string trio West Side Trio and the acoustic string quartet Quartet Quinetique, and tours the Dutch theatres with singer Flip Noorman. A musical omnivore, Van der Bie improvises, sings, and plays double bass, viola, or musical saw during shows. She worked with numerous artists: arranging, writing, and playing music for films, albums, commercials and live shows with solo-artists or bands as well as theatre and dance companies.

Arnold Put is a breakdancer and was introduced to breakdance in 1998. Two years later he formed a breaking crew with five other breakers called Come Correct. They competed in battles and became national Dutch champions in 2004 and 2005. He also became Dutch champion in 2005 in the individual battles of the Dutch Bboy Championships. After competing, his crew focussed more on making shows and are still performing to this day. In 2012 Put joined ISH Dance Collective and performed in theatre shows as Narnia, Grimm, Elements of Freestyle, Knock-Out and many more.

Pim Wouters was born in Den Bosch in 1994 and started skating in high school at the age of 13. Very quickly soccer was traded in for skateboarding and the skate life began. After winning several awards and a third place at the NK Miniramp in 2016 he joined the ISH Dance Collective.