Autumn 2025 Kawasaki Artists in Residence; Vikas Arun & Hilary Grumman & Alethea Alexander
At the start of Autumn Quarter, the UW Department of Dance began the first of five years of exciting events made possible by a generous gift from the Glenn H. Kawasaki Foundation. The Kawasaki Artist in Residence (KAIR) fund supports local and national guest artists, with the goal of giving students greater access to immersive residencies and performance opportunities. Each guest artist residency will take on its own unique shape, formed by the artistic visions of the wonderful guest artists, and the artistry of the students who bring those visions to life.
This fall the Department of Dance hosts three artists in residence, teaching the “Choreographic Workshop” courses: Vikas Arun, and Hilary Grumman, and Alethea Alexander. Their works will be presented at two free showings on December 4th, at the UW!
Vikas Arun
Vikas Arun is a multi-disciplinary dance artist, trained in both Western and Indian dance and percussion styles. He is the first South Asian to perform in the worldwide sensation STOMP, to be sponsored by the dancewear giant Capezio, and to receive a residency at the historic American Tap Dance Foundation. His performance credits are extensive ranging in international tours, on TV such as So You Think You Can Dance, as well as in commercials.
Vikas is the the founder and co-director of his bi-coastal dance company Project Convergence, that combines American tap dance and classical Indian Bharatanatyam dance. Vikas’ own dance training informs an interest in convergence and collaboration. In his choreographic work, he seeks to start a conversation; taking two dance forms that seemingly have little to do with one another, and making them collide in such a way that draws out the best of their individual rhythmic and narrative offerings.
Vikas is also a well-sought after dance educator. His residency at the UW Department of Dance explores the medium of body percussion - both as a means of movement and of making music. Within the space of the classroom, Vikas’ students overlap their dance and percussive skills in polyrhythmic harmony, emphasizing the value and symbiotic relationship of movement and music.
Undercurrent, Hilary Grumman and Alethea Alexander
Hilary Grumman and Alethea Alexander are highly respected Seattle-based dance artists, educators, and community organizers. Hilary co-founded Undercurrent in 2017–a floorwork dance technique she has continued to develop over 14 years of research, informed by extensive international floorwork training and biomechanically sustainable movement methods. In 2023, Alethea Alexander joined Hilary in creative partnership, and has since contributed to Undercurrent’s evolving pedagogical and choreographic scope.
Hilary and Alethea’s collaborative performance projects within Undercurrent have been presented and supported by organizations across Washington, including 4Culture, Cornish College of the Arts, Velocity Dance Center, and more. Undercurrent has also held intensives, workshops, and presented work across the United States as well as internationally.
As dance educators, Alethea and Hilary approach training as an opportunity to cultivate community, curiosity, and embodied exploration. They work to create a shared movement language with their students grounded in sustainable, innovative physicality and attentive internal dialogue. The resulting floorwork practice is marked by care, rigor, and precision–supporting dancers in expanding the perceived limits of what is possible within the realm of dynamic movement.