National Choreography Competition
About
In 2011, Western Michigan University Dance developed the “National Great Works Choreography Competition” to identify and promote emerging choreographers and bring their work to campus. A faculty committee will narrow the field of submissions to three finalists based on the following criteria: movement innovation, choreographic structure, and subject matter. The three finalists’ submissions will be screened and voted on. The winner will be commissioned to create an original piece for WMU Dance students that will premiere in the annual WMU Winter Gala Dance Concert. Faculty may als choose this work to represent WMU in the regional American College Dance Association adjudication. ENTER STARTING DECEMBER 3, 2025
Christa Smutek, 2024 Winner
Christa Smutek is the Artistic Director of Artistic Edge Dance Centre, Director of The Collective Movement, and Founder of Smutek Dance. A 2023 Ann & Weston Hicks Choreographic Fellow at Jacob’s Pillow, Christa holds a B.S. in Movement Science with honors from the University of Michigan.
Her choreography has been featured at major festivals including World of Dance Chicago, Spring to Dance St. Louis, and the Detroit Dance City Festival, earning multiple awards such as Milwaukee’s Dance MKE (2017) and Best Choreography at the Detroit Dance Exchange (2021). Smutek Dance has performed across the U.S., and her dance films Unchained and Sandcastles have received national recognition.
An educator and choreographer for over 17 years, Christa continues to teach, create, and perform throughout the country—currently balancing a residency with Oakland University.
Tsai Hsi Hung, 2021
Originally from Taiwan, Tsai Hsi Hung is a choreographer, performer, and Director of Queens Ballet Center/QBC Company in New York. A graduate of Taipei National University of the Arts, she has performed with Australian Dance Theater, Tasdance, and Chunky Move.
Hung received a Choreography Fellowship from the New Jersey Council on the Arts and was selected by the Joffrey Ballet for its Winning Works program in Chicago. Her choreography has been presented internationally, including at the METdance Company in Houston, the Martha Graham Studio Theater, and NYU Skirball Center.
She currently teaches at Peridance Capezio Center in New York, continuing to expand her distinctive choreographic voice on the global stage.
BAIRA/MVMNT PHLSOPHY, 2019
BAIRA / MVMNT PHLOSPHY is a Detroit-based physical dance-theatre company founded by Shaina and Bryan Baira. Known for its athletic movement, emotional depth, and intricate partnering, BAIRA’s work explores human connection and shared experience through movement.
Formed in 2014, the company has been recognized with residencies and awards from Pentacle, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York. Now Resident Company at Wayne State University, BAIRA also leads international training intensives in Detroit.
Both Shaina and Bryan are acclaimed performers, educators, and members of The Feath3r Theory, merging dance, philosophy, and community in all they create.
Baira Photos: Effy Grey (left); John Lacko (right)
Brendan Duggan, 2017
New York-based choreographer and performer, Brendan Duggan, was selected as the fourth NCC winner in spring 2017. Duggan was a Co-Founder and Co-Director of LoudHoundMovement (LHM), a contemporary dance collective based in Brooklyn. Mr. Duggan created "HAUNT" in close collaboration with fifteen dance students to music by Losciil. “HAUNT” represented the department at the regional ACDA adjudications where it was selected for performance in the conference’s final Gala Concert. It was also performed as part of the department’s inaugural NYC showcase at Gibney Dance.
James Gregg, 2015
In spring 2015, Montréal-based dancer and choreographer, James Gregg, was selected as the third NCC winner. Gregg was the recipient of the 2015 Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship Award and the winner of Ballet Austin’s 2014 New American talent choreographic competition. Gregg created “Out of the Dark” for six WMU dancer students to an original sound scape by Jordan Moser.
Gabrielle Lamb, 2013
New York-based choreographer and performer, Gabrielle Lamb, was chosen as the competition’s second winner in spring 2013. Lamb was a winner of the 2009 National Choreographic Competition of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and the 2013 Genesis International Choreographic Competition of Milwaukee Ballet. Lamb created “Ritournelle” (2014), a work using a compilation of musical selections from “Ritournelle” by Colleen.
Lauren Edson, 2011
The inaugural winner of the National Choreography Competition was Lauren Edson. Edson danced with a number of companies, most notably Trey Mclntyre Project, and won the Northwest Dance Project’s first annual Pretty Creative’s International Choreographic Competition in 2009. Edson came to WMU in Fall 2011 and created “Foreground” (2012) to music by Dustin O’Halloran and Grizzly Bear. After its premiere in the Gala Concert at WMU, “Foreground” was selected to represent the department at the American College Dance Association East-Central Conference and was then selected to represent the region at the ACDA National Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.