GBA Lifestyle News
Dancer; artistic director (Asia), I AM Concepts
Siobhan Dumigan is a familiar name to the professional dance community in Hong Kong. Having worked for a few years as a freelance dancer and choreographer, she is the artistic director in Asia for I AM Concepts, an all-female creative powerhouse founded by New York-based director Kate March (project manager Karina Curlewis was featured in The Loop HK 30 Under 30 2016).
“Not dancing professionally just made me realize how strong my passion for dance, creativity and healing was.”
Dumigan grew up in Hong Kong with a Shanghainese mother and Irish father, and moved to Australia to study for a bachelor of fine arts in dance. “I wasn’t always so good with expressing myself through words, and I still struggle sometimes to find the words for my emotions — so dance has always been my form of self-expression.”
After working in Brisbane for a year, she moved back to Hong Kong and became a personal trainer at Fitness Compass. She moved on to working as a CrossFit coach and pilates instructor at CrossFit Typhoon, all the while keeping up her freelance work in dancing.
“I needed to take all the commercial jobs to pay the bills — and lost my passion for dance after doing that for two years,” she admits. She began working as an instructor at BounceLimit, but had a change of heart. “Not dancing professionally just made me realize how strong my passion for dance, creativity and healing was,” she says.
In early 2017 she started her role as artistic director for I AM, performing in shows while also running a series of workshops, I AM Creative, which she says is a space for guided movement and journaling. Participants are encouraged to dance, then document their thoughts on paper. “I AM stands for authentic creative voices, and that is so important to me.”
Her first job? “My first full-time job was as a personal trainer in Brisbane, Australia. Prior to that I had done a bit of English teaching and modeling.”
Her role model? “Right now it’s Bibi McGill [guitarist and musical director of the Suga Mamas, Beyoncé’s backing band]. I met her in October, and wow, she is inspiring on so many levels. She is a proud African-American, and strives for the truth to be told and heard. She is an amazing guitarist and DJ, and has such a brave, strong, powerful yet gentle energy that really resonates with me.”
