EMERGING ARTISTS
MONDAY KUNOO
My name is Monday Moo Kunoo but everyone calls me Monday. I am 21 years old, I represent the Karen community, in Burma and since 2018 I have been an emerging artist with L2R. I like to volunteer my time teaching Sunday school kids dancing, and babysitting my nephew. I also help assist with L2R’s Wyndham class.
Being an emerging artist means a lot to me because it gives me the opportunity to speak for the youth that struggle to be heard. It’s also important to me because I get to work with other emerging and teaching artists, helping me to gain new skills in dancing and teaching. Being an emerging artist gives me the confidence to dance with my head up. I really enjoy working as a dancer and helping others to dance. I hope to gain more skills as an emerging artist while undertaking the internship with L2R in 2019.
L’WEL GAY ‘LIGI’ MOO
L’wel Gay ‘Ligi’ Moo is a dancer, performer and L2R emerging artist. Ligi’s passion for dance was ignited at the age of 12 when he started training with L2R. His involvement with L2R has fostered his love for dance and hip hop culture, and his involvement has given him the opportunity to perform regularly, as well as many opportunities to teach and perform across Victoria.
Ligi’s family is from Myanmar and he was born in Thailand, migrating to Australia 2000. He completed his VCE in 2017 at Braybrook College, earning certificates 1 & 2 in VET Dance. Ligi also a member of the ‘Young Masters’, a talented crew of break-dancers known for their high-energy street performances, which can be seen weekly in public spaces around Melbourne’s CBD.
Ligi currently works with L2R as an emerging artist and facilitator refining his skills while carving a bright future. Ligi is an Assistant Teacher for the Breaking @ Braybrook program.
NASTARAN ‘NASTA’ GHALHGHOVAND
Nasta is a dancer whose passion for dance started at the age of 13 when she started training with L2R. Fostering Nasta’s love for dance and hip-hop culture has given her the opportunity to do performances across Victoria and make an appearance on ABC TV show ‘The Floor is Yours’.
Nasta’s family is from Iran, and she was born in Iran and migrated to Australia in September 2012. She completed her VCE studies in 2017 at Rosehill Secondary College. Nastaran is currently studying Bachelor of Criminology at La Trobe University, where she pursues her love for criminology. She continues to be a student of different styles of dance.
Nasta is currently part of L2R’s youth committee (MoB) where issues and concerns about the organisation are discussed. She also works with L2R as an emerging artist and facilitator refining her skills while carving a bright future. Nasta is an Assistant Teacher across multiple L2R programs.
MAYA HAJIZADEH
I am Maya Hajizadeh, I was born in Iran and migrated to Australia in August 2013.
In 2014, I studied VCAL at St. Josephs Flexible Learning School. Here I met Jacinda and she introduced me to Hip-hop dance and have been part of L2R ever since.
Dance is in my blood and I can’t live without it. To me dance is a vessel to release my feelings.
My training includes hip hop, house, urban, dancehall, waacking and street jazz.
In 2016, I became an Emerging Artist and have been employed to assist Panda Squad and the Hiphop program at Western English School.
I am excited to see where dance takes me in the future.
VAN BIAK ‘VB’ THANG
VB is a dancer, performer and L2R emerging artist. VB joined L2R in 2011 and has grown as a dancer and a young leader to the next generation. VB joined VET dance during his time at high school, where he fostered an interest in expanding his dance from hip-hop to other styles including jazz and contemporary.
VB is also a member of the ‘Young Masters’ crew – a group that formed out of L2R’s Breaking @ Braybrook program. You can see the Young Masters crew perform most weekends in the Melbourne CBD streets, where they have built a reputation as one of the city’s most popular busking attractions.
MONICA AUTIAK
Monica Autiak was born in South Sudan, arriving in Australia in 2017. Since then Monica has been part of the Next Gen 3019 crew in Sunshine and has performed at the L2R experience in 2018. In 2019 she joined the Emerging Artists as one of the youngest members in the collective. Being included in L2R’s Pathways program Monica aspires to increase her artistic capacity in dance and collaborate with other artists/dancers.
Having been part of L2R since 2017 when her brother accompanied her to class. Monica’s love for dance started at the age of 5 with goals of being a professional dancer and to teach. Her interests include Hip Hop and Afrodance.
As a student, Monica is pursuing a career in Medicine wanting to attend Melbourne University with dreams of being a doctor.
RITO HUYNH
Rito Huynh is a dancer, musician and an L2R emerging artist. Arriving to Australia in 2010 from Vietnam, his journey in dance began in 2012 at the age of 12 through L2R where his passion for the art form of dance expanded through hip hop culture. Since then he has developed his artistic practice through classes, training and performing.
As a Bboy he has been mentored by teacher Bboy Nasa under L2R’s “Breaking at Braybrook” program. Through this community, Rito and his peers have formed the Young Masters Crew performing regularly in Melbourne’s city activating public spaces through their iconic busking show.
In 2019, Rito has been employed through L2R’s Pathways Program wanting to further his professional capacity in dance and connect to industry. Rito’s further aspirations included bringing Young Masters to the world and working in community arts being a youth arts mentor in an organisation such as L2R.
LONOWON KOKEH
Lonowon was born in Liberia in 1998 then shortly moved to Guinea. In November 2009, Lonowon migrated to Australia where he is now based in Melbourne’s west. In 2018 Lonowon completed VCAL year 12 at Braybrook College where he also studied VET dance.
Lonowon has been dancing with L2R since 2011 and has been identified as an L2R Emerging Artist. He is one of the original members of the Young Masters Crew which is a male break-dancing crew that has emerged out of L2R. Dance gives Lonowon the opportunity to feel free and have fun with his friends. Lonowon is looking forward to finishing his VCAL schooling so he can focus on pursuing his passion for theatre and dance. Through the L2R Pathways Program, Lonowon hopes to develop strong leadership and mentoring skills, as well as continue to develop his dance techniques across break-dancing, hip hop and ballet.
Jumess Dinanga
My name is Jumess Dinanga, and I'm an emerging artist based in Melbourne’s west. I have various artists' mediums and i’m originally a dancer however, the medium that i’m mainly focused on at the moment is spoken word/poetry and am currently exploring this through research based practice.
Being expressive and helping people through my spoken word are two of the things that I want to achieve. Due to living in a multicultural land my spoken word/poetry are mainly focused on the topic of human treatment and or cultural acceptance to raise awareness. I enjoy experimenting by being around people who are the opposite of me and exploring everything about one particular idea and adding my own flow to it.
I seek my inspiration from videos, other artists, and other social tools such as performances, gigs etc...my hopes for the future is to explore different techniques, being expressive and creative and to find my voice in the art world.
VAN BAWI LIAM SANG
I am a breakdancer and a musician based in the Western suburbs. I moved to Australia in 2015 and joined L2R in early 2016 .
One of my main goal as an artist as that to gain more self-confidence and encourage other people as well. Also, I want to earn my name out in the community or maybe even worldwide. I always like to try and explore new things. I like to meet people and make a connection with them.
Sometimes I listen to music and ideas just came up and write it down and try it. Sometimes when I train together with the boys they give me an idea of what I could do or I can try something similar to what they’re doing.
I see my inspiration from people, social media or even from nature. My hope for the future as an artist is to enter dance competitions starting from local through to higher national and even international levels.
