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Michael John Harper

Random Dance (U.K.)

Michael-John Harper was born on the island of Jamaica in 1987 and moved to Florida, U.S.A, at the age of seven. An avid Musical Theatre student in high school, his dance talent was uncovered under the direction of Lori Sessions. He pursued his passion for dance and began his training at Michael's Academy for the Performing Arts. After graduating high school in 2005, he attended New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida as a scholarship student and graduated in 2009 with a B.F.A in dance. He then joined Ailey II in New York and in 2010, became a member of Wayne Mcgregor|Random Dance (now Company Wayne McGrgegor) where he remained until 2015. Michael-john has toured the world extensively with performances in respected venues such as M.O.M.A and the Guggenheim, his dance experience also includes creative residency at the Palucca Schule in Dresden, Germany, with focus on Forsythe improvisational techniques; Scholarship student at the Alonzo King Lines Ballet in San Francisco, California; and performances at the 2009 Contemporary Dance Festival in New York with the Thang Dao Dance company. Moving to Berlin in 2015, Michael-John has worked for the Bayerische Staats Oper in Munich, Germany, in the Opera "The Fiery Angel" under the direction of Barrie Kosky and choreography by Otto Pichler and has also performed his first solo work, "Portrait of The Unknown Man" at Dock 11 in Berlin, under the direction and choreography by Yannis Adoniou and Stavros Apostolatos. Michael-John has been featured in magazines such as Numero Homme, GQ Style, Dazed, I.D, Kinfolk and appears in the designer, Patrik Ervells' F/W 14 campaign. Mr. Harper has been photographed and filmed by photographers such as, Daniel Sannwald, Matthew Stone, Bertil Nilsson, Matt Lambert, Jacob Sutton, Rick Guest and Benjamin Huseby. Along with editorial work, Michael-John made his runway debut in Milan, Italy, in the Ermenengildo Zegna F/W 16 fashion show with designer Stefano Pilati, featured in designer Edward Buchanans' "Sansovino 6" F/W 16 presentation and featured in designer Grace Wales Bonners' S/S 16 presentation in London, where additionally, he provided movement direction and choreography. Michael-John is currently based in Berlin as a freelancer.