Jitti Chompee / Choreographer


Born in 1974 Bangkok, Thailand, Jitti Chompee graduated Chemical Engineering from Chulalongkorn University. He was trained in classical ballet by David Shields and William Morgan at Varaporn-Kanchana Ballet School. He was awarded a scholarship from the Jean M. Wong School of Ballet in Hong Kong, and later a full-time scholarship at the Ailey School in New York, USA.

Jitti Chompee founded 18 Monkeys Dance Theatre and Unfolding Kafka Festival. He brought his productions to participate in many international dance festivals; among which were the George Town Festival and Rain Forest Fringe in Malaysia, Festival Tanztendenzen in Greifswald Germany, One Table Two Chairs – Euro-Asia Young Performing Artists Cross-Cultural Exchange and Education Program in Hong Kong and Kafka Symposium in Tokyo Japan. He was also a guest choreographer for the Nederlandse Reisopera (Les pêcheurs de perles) in the Netherlands and in Teatro San Martin with Escalandrum (Astor Piazzolla) in Buenos Aires Argentina.

He was invited by the Institut Français de Fès, Morocco 2013 for the residency artist program, where he premiered Tightrope Walker and again at Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris 2014 supported by The French Embassy Thailand and Institut Française. In 2016, Jitti has been granted a residency by the Kylian Foundation and Theatre Korzo in Den Haag, Netherlands, in which he will bring Red Peter to Ho Chi Minh International Dance Festival, ChangMu International Performing Arts Festival, South Korea and CaDance Festival in Den Haag.

In September 2021 Jitti was awarded the insignia of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres (Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Minister of Culture for his role in promoting the performing arts in Thailand. This distinction recognizes his profound approach in merging traditional Thai dance with contemporary dance through his choreographic works. It also acknowledges his success in inviting high-quality international performances to Thailand through many editions of the Unfolding Kafka Festival.

Anucha Sumaman / Guest Artist


Growing up in a very traditional Thai family, Anucha was encouraged to pursue classical Thai arts. He has studied khon dance since the age of 12 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in traditional Thai dancing. Currently, he is a principal Thai classical dancer at the National Theatre Thailand. He has joined the company since 2010.

Kanokporn Vorapharuek / Project Manager and Producer


Kanokporn Vorapharuek (Im) was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand. She pursued her undergraduate study in Dance at California Institute of the Arts and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2019. For several years she has trained with Jitti Chompee as an apprentice and has joined the company since 2019. Currently she is also assisting him as a project researcher for Embodying Traditional Masks.