Dam Van Huynh

In 2014 Dam went on a research period in his home country Vietnam, allowing him to rediscover his culture through contemporary dance. Following this experience, he built new links with the Community Centre for Refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (VLC) based in Hackney, East London supporting the development of Centre 151 an independent charity, promoting culture, arts and community inclusion and becoming Director of the organisation in 2016.

His working methodology combines a multitude of performative practices, drawing inspiration from voice, sound art and performance art allowing him to ask pertinent questions on what it means to be human. At the core of his practice is a reflection on his lived experience, from being a child refugee of the Vietnam War to the artist he has become today. Embedded in questions of migration and collective action, his work adopts a critical stance on contemporary issues. With each new piece he has developed and extended his own choreographic language, challenging systems of power and inequalities through movement and sound.

redManhattan Photography / Exquisite Noise

His touring productions include Graffiti Bodies XV (2026), Moving Eastman (2024) reflecting on issues of marginalisation, Exquisite Noise (2024) celebrating the power of coming together, Re:birth (2022) & DEP (2017) redefining ownership of his story, In Realness (2022) calling out inequalities within society.

Dam is a Robert Rauschenberg Residency Fellow 2025. He is the recipient of One Dance UK Artistic Innovation in Dance Award 2026. He was a Place Prize finalist 2008, a Resident Artist at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) in 2010-12, Associate Artist with Dance United (2012-14) and received the Asian Arts Award for Best Direction at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2018 for his piece DEP. His choreographic works have been performed internationally and include commissions such as Groovething for CEPRODAC presented at Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico).

Developing a deep artistic connection with vocalist, composer, movement artist Elaine Mitchener since 2009, they have together expanded the possibilities of performance through the use of sound and body. Their collaborative work has been presented at the Barbican, Southbank Centre, ICA, Welcome Collection, Ruhrtriennale, Radialsystem, Donaueschinger Musiktage, MaerzMusik, Hellerau, Berliner Festspiele, Korzo Theater, Ultima Festival, Spill Festival.

Artists he has worked and collaborated with include: David Toop, George Lewis, Es Devlin, Nitin Sawhney, Tom Morris, Lee Hall, Ensemble MAM, The Rolling Calf, Pat Thomas, Hannah Kendall, Tansy Davies, Rie Nakajima, Dai Fujikura, Jason Yarde, Kimie Nakano, Laure M. Heindl, Matana Roberts.

He was Head of Contemporary Dance at HKPA (2019-23) and Associate Director of Dance Bridges Festival, India (2015-25). Dam graduated from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee and has worked as a performer with various companies and choreographers including The Nevada Ballet, Merce Cunningham, Portugal’s Companhia de Dança Contemporânea, Richard Alston, Phoenix Dance Theatre.