UMA stems from 8 years’ experience sharing with young urban artists and performers and bringing forward alterity. A laboratory where creativity is imagined, experimented and lived out in a different way, off the beaten track. A school revolving around innovation, emancipation, trust, the senses, and what makes sense.

Youth is a time for experimenting, for learning, a time when anything is possible. Young people need to be listened to and supported to find answers to their doubts and their questions relating to their future and their upcoming projects. Transmitting art is a challenge, a huge opportunity if teaching can be handled as a creative activity rather than transmitting established knowledge. It is therefore for and thanks to artistic creation, resonating with the challenges and innovations of the professional world, that young students, teachers and guest artists are developing UMA and are fueling its activity through their diverse talent, experience and aesthetics.

The training courses, workshops, master classes, performances and shows offered at UMA are all material available for everyone to enjoy artistic creation.

Welcome to UMA!

Nicolas Musin

Nicolas Musin began his career at the Paris Opera Ballet before joining the Monte-Carlo Ballet and the Hamburg Ballet – John Neumeier, as a principal soloist. During that same time, he created numerous choreographic works produced throughout the world. In 2000 he founded his own dance company in Vienna, which he directed and toured for more than 10 years, while multiplying collaborations and experiments in other creative fields such as fashion, design or architecture.

Later based in Geneva, he collaborated with Flux Laboratory artistic space and with the School of Art and Design HEAD – Genève, before co-founding La compagnie Urbaine in 2014 and becoming its artistic director. The show ZUP, first encounter of its kind between arts, urban sports and digital arts, saw the day of light in 2017 on the Plainpalais Skatepark in Geneva and lead to further creations, notably for the Youth Olympic Games, Lausanne 2020, or at the Théâtre National Populaire in Villeurbanne (Lyon, France) in 2021.

A pure product of classical choreographic education, Nicolas Musin has never stopped looking for other ways of expression as for him, the choreographic field goes beyond that of dance. Transversality is an essential component in the construction of his pedagogical and creative projects.

Athlète et coach de parkour depuis 10 ans, Maxime a collaboré avec Nicolas Musin dans le cadre de créations pluridisciplinaires.

Charles Luong is a freerunner from La Chaux-de-Fonds, recognized as part of the world elite in his discipline. From a very young age, he established himself on the international freerunning scene, notably finishing 11th at the World Championships — a remarkable achievement that placed him among the top competitive parkour athletes worldwide.

Kevin Bringolf is a traceur and parkour coach in French-speaking Switzerland, and a member of the Urban Move Academy (UMA) team, where he is notably involved in parkour activities.

Chany Jeanguenin is a professional skateboarder, master skateboard coach, international competition judge, sports event producer, photographer, and a Kung Fu master (second-degree black belt and red belt), as well as a Tai Chi practitioner. Throughout his sporting career, he traveled to more than 30 countries to promote his sponsors through demonstrations, competitions, and commercial events. He took part in around twenty internationally recognized video projects and appeared on the front pages of major action sports media such as Transworld Skateboarder, Slap, Thrasher, Big Brother, Skateboard Mag, and The Berricks website. He has earned numerous skateboard championship titles, including:

• 2nd place, Best Trick Contest, Skatepark of Tampa Pro (2001)

• 1st place, Amateur Vert, Houston, Texas – Shut Up and Skate Half-Pipe (1993)

• 1st place, European Amateur Championship, Half-Pipe, Antwerp (1992)

• 4th place, World Cup of Pro, Münster (1992)

• 1st place, Swiss Skateboard Championship overall ranking in Half-Pipe; 2nd in Mini-Ramp and 3rd in Street (1991)

• 1st place, Swiss Skateboard Championship in Half-Pipe and 3rd in Street (1990)

Since 2019, he has been working as a skateboard coach and tour manager at Alaïa Chalet in Crans-Montana.

Florian Maillet is a skateboarder and multidisciplinary performer. He regularly takes part in creations that combine skateboarding, parkour, and urban dance. He has notably performed in productions such as Archipel and Ollie.

Daniel Navarro is a skateboarder and skateboarding instructor based in Geneva, who has been actively involved for several years in teaching and promoting skateboarding among young people.

Degen Tesfaldet, also known as Blood, discovered Krump at the age of 14 in the streets of Geneva through the founders of the Krump movement in Switzerland, the Warriorz.

Still a student at the time, he was quickly drawn to this urban dance form he had never encountered before. Driven by passion, he immersed himself fully, learning the fundamentals, codes, vocabulary, and everything that shapes Krump culture. He joined the Warriorz Fam and made his mark alongside some of the best krump dancers in Europe.

His thirst for learning and curiosity quickly allowed him to evolve and develop a style of his own. Recognized for his technique and creativity, Degen stands out and continues to deepen his art and knowledge.

Lorenzo Vayssière, known as “Sweet,” is a dancer-poet and performer born in the Val-d’Oise, in Eaubonne, where he began dancing at the age of 15. He primarily draws on b-boying, a common practice from which he gradually breaks away to achieve singularity and reach full artistic fulfillment. This journey has shaped the pure quality of his dance, based on a striking mastery that blends the embodiment of contrasting states and energies, precision of movement execution, the art of letting movement breathe, and ultimately dancing life itself—its highs and lows—with enthusiasm.

Since 2007, he has been an active member of the group Bad Trip, one of the most atypical all-style French dance groups. In 2010, he also joined the group Sans Limite, known for its strong presence in the battle scene and bringing together b-boys from Paris and Troyes. Constantly seeking self-transcendence, Lorenzo joined the urban/contemporary dance company Black Sheep in 2013, founded by Saïdo “Darwin” Lehlouh and Johanna Faye. He has since performed in the creations Wild Cat, Apaches, and more recently Témoin.

His ongoing and profound reflection on existential themes such as Art, Humanity, Authenticity, and Love highlights his open-mindedness and his approach to otherness—both personal and collective—whenever it provides the keys to transmission. In 2016, he joined the teaching team of Mouvmatik, led by Philippe “Physs” Almeida, where he taught b-boying at L’AID (International Academy of Dance, Paris).

Alongside Cedric “Stylez C” Borges, Lorenzo is also a co-founder of The Art Way, a movement aimed at helping dancers draw the best from their differences by starting from their personality and physicality. The idea is to raise awareness of the links between different dance styles and their proximity to Art, enabling individuals to open themselves to other aesthetics and better understand themselves. Conceived as a bridge, The Art Way brings together multidisciplinary artists from France, Switzerland, and Russia. The movement is associated with the hashtag #theartwaygalery, which curates inspiring works of all kinds of art so that everyone can find something meaningful. Through workshops and residencies with companies—such as Compagnie Kh, founded by Karim Khouader—The Art Way helps dancers free themselves from inhibitions.

Lorenzo’s creativity, combined with his strong identity, led to his affiliation in 2017 with Anne Nguyen’s company Par Terre, with which he took part in the creation process of the piece Kata and carried out various cultural outreach activities.

Driven by a new artistic impulse, he co-founded Selected View in 2019 with Rowdy “Legove” Lewing—a platform bringing together b-boys who share the same artistic vision and seek a state of grace through an approach to the unknown and the magic of the present moment.

Since 2020, Lorenzo has been based in Geneva, Switzerland, where he began working as a breakdance teacher at The Get Down School, a school specializing in urban dance. In October 2020, he organized his first event in Montreux: Tape Into It, a 1vs1 dance battle featuring an exhibition and interdisciplinary cyphers.

In 2021, he joined a local crew called Light Of The Underground and also began teaching breakdance at Centre IMPRO, a creative hip-hop dance school.

Additionally, since 2022, Lorenzo has worked as an artistic consultant, pedagogical coordinator, and breakdance teacher at Urban Move Academy, where he also serves as assistant creator to Nicolas Musin.

From his very beginnings, Imad Nefti has brought a poetic and simple language to hip-hop dance, shaping space, material, and rhythm in service of the dancer’s essence.

Early on, he defined himself as an artistic director who creates human experiences for the hip-hop community. He developed the ability to lead dance performers and to guide creative processes.

Imad Nefti stands out by creating his own pedagogy based on a multidisciplinary, flexible, and open structure. It challenges traditional conventions by using raw, simple tools and techniques to reveal the true pedagogical richness of hip-hop.

Hugo Flé is a dancer from urban culture backgrounds. A committed performer, he develops work that combines energy, musicality, and strong stage presence, and takes part in artistic and educational projects related to dance and transmission.

Valentin, born in Antibes in June 2000, is a versatile dancer and performer.

Trained at the Ballet Junior de Genève, he had the opportunity to explore the work of Olivier Dubois, Marcos Morau, Sharon Eyal, and many other renowned choreographers.

His first steps as a freelancer led him to work with Marcos Morau, Damien Jalet, Compagnie Linga, and Elisabeth Schilling.

He is currently a member of La Veronal as a dancer for Marcos Morau and also assists him in his creations at NDC Wales, Staatsballett Berlin, and the Ballet Junior de Genève. In parallel, he performs and collaborates with Damien Jalet on various projects between Paris and Belgium.

Nicolas Cantillon is a dancer, choreographer, pedagogue, and co-founder of Compagnie 7273. For several years, he has been developing a movement practice called FuittFuitt, a singular and organic approach to the body, shaped by diverse influences. This movement language spans styles such as classical, contemporary, urban, and traditional dances, and is characterized by precise work on isolation, coordination, and polyrhythm.

Matylda, born in Kraków (Poland), is a French-Swiss dancer and emerging choreographer. Trained through both figure skating and conservatory programs in Chambéry and Annecy, she revealed herself early on within an interdisciplinary collective supported by the Cité des Arts, where she explored performance, video, music, and visual arts. After a period at the Adage higher education school in Bordeaux, she developed an independent path combining performance and creation, notably with the piece Tu ne pleures pas?. Since 2024, she has been collaborating with UMA on several artistic and educational projects as a dancer-performer and instructor.