
Tony Yap
Dancer, Choreographer
Tony Yap is a Malaysian-born, internationally acclaimed dancer, director, and choreographer based in Australia. A core performer with IRAA Theatre (1989–1996), he appeared in numerous international festivals across Europe and Australia. In 1993, he founded Mixed Company, now Tony Yap Company, developing a distinct dance language influenced by psychoanalysis, Asian shamanic trance, Butoh, and vocal-visual experimentation.
He directed works such as Icarus, Print of a Pulse, Narcissus's Dream, and St Sebastian, with Icarus and Narcissus’s Dream both nominated at Melbourne’s Green Room Awards.
Tony has collaborated with institutions and artists in Indonesia, Austria, Italy, France, Malaysia, China, Japan, and more. In 2005, with support from AsiaLink, he began a trance-focused research project in Indonesia and Malaysia, culminating in the performance Evocation of a Lost Body. He later co-created RIAU, inspired by nomadic tribes in Indonesia, and received funding from the Australian Ministry of Culture for The Buddha Body Series, which evolved into Rasa Sayang, a critically acclaimed 2010 Melbourne production.
He is the founder and artistic director of the Melaka Arts and Performance Festival in Malaysia.

