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.

A parkour athlete and coach for 10 years, Maxime has collaborated with Nicolas Musin in multi-discipline productions.

Chany Jeanguenin is a professional skateboarder, master skateboarding coach, international competition judge, sports event producer, photographer, as well as a master of Kung Fu (second dan black belt and red belt) and Tai-Chi.  During his sports career, he has traveled to over 30 countries to promote his successive sponsors through demonstrations, competitions and commercial events. He has been featured in over 20 international videos and has been featured on the front page of major sports media titles such as Transworld Skateboarder, Slap, Thrasher, Big Brother, Skateboard Mag and The Berricks Website. He has earned numerous Skateboarding Championship titles: 

• 2nd place best trick contest Skatepark of Tampa Pro (2001) 
• 1st place, Amateur Houston Texas Shut up and skate half- pipe (1993) 
• 1st place at Europe Amateur Championship, half-pipe Antwerp (1992) 
• 4th place World Cup of Pro Munster (1992) 
• 1st place at the Swiss Skateboard Championship in half-pipe, 2nd in mini-ramp and 3rd in street (1991) 
• 1st place at the Swiss Skateboard Championship in half-pipe and 3rd in street (1990) 

Since 2019, he is Skateboard coach and Tour Manager at Alaïa Chalet (Crans-Montana). 

Diego discovered rollerblading in the year 2000, at the age of 10. From then on, he began practicing the sport, training day and night at the Plainpalais skatepark. At 13, he started traveling across Europe to participate in international competitions and make videos. 

In 2010, he became the vice-world champion of the AIL league, then world champion in 2013 during a 10-month world tour. In 2022, he won the official title of world champion in freestyle rollerblading in the Street category at the World Skate Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since then, he has participated in various international competitions, including the European Championships, where he placed 3rd, as well as other events around the world. 

Today, Diego is dedicated to producing high-quality videos for his sponsors and personal projects. A lover of his sport, he has been teaching rollerblading for over 10 years, sharing his passion with the next generation. 

Lorenzo Vayssière, known as “Sweet,” is a dancer-poet performer born in Val d’Oise, Eaubonne, where he began dancing at the age of 15. He primarily draws from b-boying, a common practice from which he distinguishes himself to reach individuality and achieve absolute fulfillment in his art. This gives his dance its pure quality, based on a striking mastery of opposite states and energies, the precision of movement execution, and the art of making it breathe. He dances life, with its ups and downs, with enthusiasm. 

Since 2007, he has been an active member of the group Bad Trip, one of the most atypical dance groups in France across all styles. He also joined the group Sans Limite in 2010, characterized by its activism in the battle scene, which brings together b-boys from Paris and Troyes. Always seeking self-improvement, Lorenzo joined the urban/contemporary dance company Black Sheep in 2013, founded by Saïdo “Darwin” Lehlouh and Johanna Faye. He performed in their productions Wild Cat, Apaches, and more recently Témoin. 

His constant and deep reflection on existential themes such as Art, Humanity, Authenticity, and Love reveals his open-mindedness and his approach to otherness, which can be seen both in a personal and collective approach, providing him with the tools necessary for transmission. In 2016, he joined the teaching team of Mouvmatik, led by Philippe “Physs” Almeida, where he teaches b-boying at AID (Académie Internationale de la Danse, Paris). 

Lorenzo is also the co-founder, alongside Cedric “Stylez C” Borges, of the movement The Art Way: a project aimed at helping dancers make the most of their differences, starting from their personality and physicality. The idea is to make dancers aware of the connections between different dance styles and their proximity to Art, so that everyone can open up to new aesthetics and learn to understand themselves better. The Art Way aims to be the bridge for this dynamic, bringing together multidisciplinary artists from France, Switzerland, and Russia. This movement is associated with the hashtag #theartwaygalery, which gathers all types of inspiring art so that everyone can find something that resonates with them. The Art Way frees dancers from inhibitions through various workshops and interventions within companies during residency periods, such as with the Compagnie Kh, founded by Karim Khouader. 

Lorenzo’s creativity, combined with his strong identity, led him to join Anne Nguyen’s company Par Terre in 2017, where he participated in the creation process of the piece Kata and contributed to various cultural initiatives with the company. 

Seeking new artistic momentum, he co-founded Selected View in 2019 with Rowdy “Legove” Lewing: a platform that gathers b-boys who share the same artistic vision and seek a state of grace through exploring 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 for The Get Down School, a school specializing in urban dances. He organized his first event in October 2020 in Montreux: Tape Into It, a 1vs1 dance battle with an exhibition and interdisciplinary cyphers. 

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

Additionally, since 2022, Lorenzo has been working as an artistic consultant, educational coordinator, and breakdance teacher at the Urban Move Academy, where he also holds the position of assistant choreographer to Nicolas Musin. 

Degen Tesfaldet alias Blood met Krump at the age of 14 in the streets of Geneva through the founders of the Krump movement in Switzerland, the “Warriorz”.   

While still a student, he was quickly caught up in this urban dance that he had never heard of before. Passionate, he learns the basics, the codes, the vocabulary and everything that encompasses the Krump culture.  

He joined the “Warriorz Fam” and made his mark among some of the best krumpers in Europe. His thirst for knowledge and curiosity allow him to evolve and develop his own style. Recognized for his technique and creativity, Degen stands out and never stops deepening his art and knowledge.  

Tyler was born and raised in Annecy. Since birth, he has been 100% immersed in Funk and Hip-Hop music, a passion passed on by his father. As a logical consequence of his childhood love of music, he fell in love with Popping, this culture and its battles (KOD, OldSchoolNight, Last One Stands, Feel The Funk…).

Self-taught, he taught himself the basics of popping and perfected the art of movement, thanks in particular to the support of Imad Nefti, and worked with a view to taking part in the competitions that so inspired him. He learns from his greatest inspirations (Mr.Wiggles, Popin Pete, Junior Boogaloo, Walid, Slim Boogie…) and and develops a complete, unique, free dance.

In 2012, he met Dickson Mbi (Still by Russel Maliphant, BBC Young Dancer, Olivier Award: Outstanding Achievement in Dance) and Brooke Milliner (Summer Dance Forever Popping Finalist), who would become important mentors in his journey. He joined their group Fiya-House (London) and has been a member for over 10 years.

He took part in a large number of competitions, progressing continually through hard work and, despite being far from the nerve centres of the popping culture, he managed to rise to an international level.
Despite being a long way from the nerve centres of popping culture, he managed to raise himself to an international level, so much so that his dance took him all over the world from the age of 16 (Winner MSB Battle Gloucester, Double Winner Battle P.O.P Paris, Semi-Finalist Battle BAD Paris, Finalist Pop City London, Top 4 Funkology Hong Kong, Top 8 Groove’n’Move Geneva…).

Since he first started out, Imad Nefti has been bringing poetry and simplicity to hip hop dancing, composing spaces, substance and rhythm, all in the name of the very essence of the dancer.

He defined himself very early on as an artistic director organizing human experiences for the hip hop community. He developed the ability to direct performance dancers and pilot creative processes.

Imad Nefti stands out, having created his own teaching method based on a multi-discipline, flexible, open structure. It defies traditional conventions with the use of raw, simple tools and techniques, revealing hip hop’s true educational assets.

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 works by Olivier Dubois, Marcos Morau, Sharon Eyal, and many other renowned choreographers. 

His first steps as a freelancer gave him the chance to work with Marcos Morau, Damien Jalet, Cie Linga, and Elisabeth Schilling. 

He is currently part of Cie La Veronal as a dancer for Marcos Morau, and he also assists the latter in his creations at NDCWales, Staatsballett Berlin, and the BJG in Geneva. In parallel, he performs and collaborates with Damien Jalet on various projects between Paris and Belgium.