Dancer, choreographer, and Nude Floor founder Shayna Cua talks about how her love for dance led her towards her life’s purpose
“I truly couldn’t escape art,” dancer, choreographer, and Nude Floor founder Shayna Cua reveals.
The dance studio, now in its fifth year, has expanded into a larger space reflective of the creative community Nude Floor has since built. Amid the flurry of long-time collaborators and dancers coming in and out of the studio, surrounded by the space’s warm, skin-toned curved walls, Cua recalls the trajectory of her career, moving not just from abroad back to Manila but also from working in corporate back to art.
“There were moments that I thought I [was] done with being an artist, but I realized that art has a way of pulling me back. During a period in my life when I thought I would finally focus on finance and other corporate fields, I found myself being called to a life of movement,” she says. “Although I tried, I finally came to understand that I truly couldn’t escape art.”
Becoming a choreographer, dancer, and later on the creative director of Nude Floor proved to be an unexpected turn in Cua’s life. Her Chinese-Filipino upbringing brought with it the expectation to pursue finance as a career. In Australia, she took up finance and accounting at the University of Melbourne, and later lived in New York to take a finance program at the Stern Business School.
But it was also her life in Melbourne and New York that led her to develop an interest in dance. In these cities, she saw how dance was consumed and practiced, and was riveted by how contemporary dance exists with a palpable sense of freedom, honesty, and intentionality.
For Cua, it was eye-opening to experience first-hand how dance as a discipline is not limited to specific genres and styles. She found herself absorbed by the rawness, power, and authenticity of contemporary movement. Beyond the conventional understanding of dance in pop culture, Cua immersed herself within New York’s dance ecosystem, a pivotal experience that allowed her to find her personal artistry and aesthetic sensibility, and develop her own dance vocabulary.
While living in the diaspora, she found her personal identity intertwined with her relationships within New York’s thriving dance scene. It made her understand that community is important in the practice of contemporary movement.
When it was finally time for her to return to the Philippines, Cua felt that her understanding of dance, which is deeply informed by her immersion in Melbourne and New York, was rather dissimilar to the prevailing dance culture in Manila. At that time, Cua felt that the local dance scene did not function like a cohesive ecosystem, evidenced by a somewhat cliquish dynamic between dance studios and the competitive nature of dance as a whole. Her initial experience of the local dance scene prompted her to establish a creative space dedicated to contemporary movement that encourages freedom, authenticity, excellence, and, above all, the building of a safe and thriving community.
“Dance is beyond movement of your body. It is about having a deep connection with yourself. When you are honest with yourself, your body is able to express and move freely. This is when you get to feel the most alive.”
Now celebrating its fifth anniversary, Nude Floor continues to serve as a nurturing space for the growth of dancers, movement artists, and choreographers of all creative persuasions and backgrounds.
In this interview, Cua sits with visual artist and curator Patrick de Veyra to provide a peek into her life as a movement artist and her journey to building a home and a safe space for movement artists in Manila.
Please introduce yourself and Nude Floor to us.
I’m Shayna Cua and I am a movement artist and founder of Nude Floor, a space where movement artists can thrive and collaborate across diverse art forms. Through workshops, classes, and community gatherings, we cultivate artistic skills, facilitate collaboration, and enable creative expression through unique, experiential exhibits.
Kindly walk us through your daily routine and creative process as a dancer, choreographer, and visionary behind Nude Floor.
My daily routine changes every single day but always begins with a cup of coffee in the morning. There isn’t really a daily routine for me. As a creative, my routine changes every day depending on what project, class, or client I have. As a dancer, choreographer, and creative director for Nude Floor, everything I do is intertwined.
First of all, I need to get into a space. Whether it be a physical or mental space, I need to feel comfortable and inspired within that space. The feeling, energy, and atmosphere of a space dictates how I feel, how I function, and what I create. So number one is finding that space before I begin anything. My creative process as a choreographer always starts with the big picture and what I want the whole choreography to feel like. From there, I can dissect and go smaller.
I love collaborating with other movement artists. As a collaborative choreographer, I acknowledge that oftentimes it is through other artists’ bodies that a movement or choreography is achieved. With Nude Floor’s growing community, I am so lucky I get to work with such talented people who all share the same values as Nude Floor: passion, authenticity, excellence.
As a dancer, it is so nice to be able to jump into a class and learn something new or get to be that body for another movement artist’s vision to be expressed. I like to be fluid and adaptable. I believe that we constantly have to grow and change and learn new things to find more ways we can express [ourselves] through our bodies. I think that is the reason why with Nude Floor we offer such a wide array of classes and styles that we feel each individual can learn something about themselves in each class.
What made you fall in love with dance?
Personally, I’ve always viewed dance as a deeply artistic endeavor. While some approach it as a competitive sport or through a very technical lens, I’ve been drawn to the capacity of dance to allow for self-expression and authenticity. Dance became my refuge during a challenging period in my life—a pivotal moment that steered me towards exploration, immersion, and gratitude. Early on, dance offered me a sense of liberation. In dance, focusing solely on learning and feeling uplifted, I found respite from life’s noise. It also introduced me to lifelong friends.
What prompted you to envision, build, and creatively direct Nude Floor?
My passion intensified during my stay in New York, the city where I discovered endless possibilities in movement, not just in dance but in all forms, too. Later, after briefly leaving dance for fashion, I found myself immersed in Manila’s vibrant creative scene. I noticed a divide between dance and other artistic disciplines, which sparked my vision for Nude Floor. Returning to the Philippines, I felt the need to create a space that expresses how I personally view dance as an art form. This initiative aimed to merge dance with various art forms, foster collaboration, and celebrate individuality. Initially a personal dream, Nude Floor has evolved into a community-driven platform, uniting diverse artists and nurturing collective aspirations.
Jillian Billard, author of “Body Politic: 10 Radical Artists Who Use Dance as a Medium” discussed how the 1950s and ’60s were a period in modern art history when dance permeated the visual arts in a big way. It was a period marked by alienation, anxiety, and uncertainty as a result of the Cold War. Dance allowed the body to become the stage where the public and the personal (and the political) meet. As an artist whose primary language is movement, what, for you, is the unique function of dance in the 21st century?
Although the periods in history may be different, I think the function of dance in the ’50s and ’60s, and the 21st century is almost the same. As you know, dance became even more popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period marked by alienation, anxiety, and uncertainty. And even after the pandemic, the sense of alienation, anxiety, and uncertainty are still very true today. For me, dance is an escape, a release, and a means to slow down and connect with yourself. Dance in the 21st century allows us to disengage from the rapid pace marked by social media and technological advancements and permits us to be truly present in the moment. There is power that comes with being able to express oneself through movement and being able to create stories with our bodies.
Nude Floor celebrated its fifth year this year by inaugurating an inspiring new space that allows for more individuals to learn, practice, and fall in love with dance. What ethos do you wish to cultivate within the Nude Floor community moving forward?
Our ultimate goal is to be a platform where every creative can find their authentic voice and thrive in a space of artistic freedom with no boundaries. The curved walls of our space represent this very idea: freedom without boundaries. Moving forward, we want to continue to cultivate collaboration, authenticity, and innovation of movement art, and further explore ways we can connect with ourselves and others through movement.
“Dance in the 21st century allows us to disengage from the rapid pace marked by social media and technological advancements and permits us to be truly present in the moment. There is power that comes with being able to express oneself through movement and being able to create stories with our bodies,” says Shayna Cua.
Looking back at the last five years, your brand of dance education has positively impacted Nude Floor’s diverse community. Can you share with us specific stories that illustrate how dance has transformed the lives of your students?
I don’t want to speak for the community. I think the goal of our dance classes is first to make dance accessible and also continue to educate, train, and encourage people to find their own movement and what makes them feel good, and how they like to express themselves. All while creating and fostering a space that is conducive to this. To answer this question, I invited two of our dancers, Kim Vicente and James Wong, to share about the impact of Nude Floor in their personal journeys.
Kim Vicente: I’ve been with Nude Floor for five years. Nude Floor introduced me to a form of dance that I have always been looking for. In my 10 years of dancing, I have never found a space that brought out the authentic dancer within me. As a dance student, the quality of teaching, learning, and sharing that I experienced over the years strengthened my relationship with dance and, ultimately, with myself. Nude Floor as a community has blessed me with lifelong friends that I wish to share my life journey with. For me, Nude Floor is a sanctuary that brings out the best and happiest in me. It is also a space that pushes me to own my creativity through movement.
James Wong: I’m a dancer and dance instructor here at Nude Floor and I’ve been with Nude Floor since it started. Nude Floor basically saved my career as a dancer and dance instructor. Nude Floor also expanded my career in a sense that during my more than a decade of teaching, for the most part, I just taught street dance for the competitive scene. The artist within me was craving something more. It was great timing since Nude Floor was looking for instructors back then. Nude Floor became the space where I shared my personal artistry in dance. Right now, as an instructor in Nude Floor, I feel safe, happy, inspired, and grateful.
You have built and nurtured an inspiring and safe space that celebrates inclusivity, community, freedom, and the transformative power of movement. What else do you intend to accomplish for Nude Floor in the next five years?
I would always say that it is the community that built this safe, nurturing, and inspiring space. Without each and everyone’s energy and commitment to their artistry and to one another, we wouldn’t have been able to last five years. It has been so nice to connect with like-minded people, and we are all excited for it to continue to grow.
Last year, we put on a show called “The Gallery.” It was something we were proud of and the first big event to really solidify what Nude Floor is all about in terms of our artistic vision and how we intend to move forward. We want to create immersive experiences for people to witness art in a different way, invite people to feel and interact rather than just watch, and continue to innovate.
The creative prompt was the word “senses.” We had movement artists and visual artists. We featured sound and visual installations, photography, sculpture, and even had creative food components.
Within the next five years, we hope to make “The Gallery” an annual event. Beyond that, we plan to integrate and collaborate even further with artists from different disciplines and countries. We have recently just had two Australian artists hold a week-long residency at Nude Floor wherein they explored world-building and held movement artist development workshops.
Merce Cunningham, arguably one of the most important artists who radicalized dance in the 20th century, said, “You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive.” If you were to provide a quote about your core philosophy as a dancer, what would it be?
Dance is beyond movement of your body. It is about having a deep connection with yourself. When you are honest with yourself, your body is able to express and move freely. This is when you get to feel the most alive.
How do you creatively reset?
My husband and I regularly do small hikes as nature helps us reset. We also make it a point to visit contemporary art galleries in Metro Manila, listen to dope DJs, and hang out with other artists whose works tackle different creative processes like sculpture, painting, installation, and music. For Nude Floor, I find inspiration in the community, not just the dance community but the creative community as a whole. We have so much respect for one another, and I have met so many talented, creative, and inspired individuals who are bursting with ideas.
What makes you happy?
This is a big question! What makes me happy? I don’t know. I don’t think it’s just one thing. To be honest, it’s nice to be able to sit and think about my answer to this question. Number one is my husband and my dog Maya.
I love the people I work with at Nude Floor and the people I’m with in my other jobs. Being able to work with people that you can trust, create with, and have fun with is such a unique thing that requires a lot of time and shared experiences. It makes me happy that Nude Floor can provide some sort of income for us artists. I know how hard it is to be an artist in general but more so in Manila. It also makes me happy when I see people around the studio with that same feeling I have when I step into the space.
Why are you an artist?
There were moments when I thought I was done with being an artist but I realized that art has a way of pulling me back. During a period in my life when I thought I would finally focus on finance and other corporate fields, I found myself being called to a life of movement. Although I tried, I finally came to understand that I truly couldn’t escape art. I feel my best when I’m creating, whether it be coming up with concepts for events, films, choreography, or teaching a class. I feel the most alive when I can see my creative vision come to life and [when it] is experienced and absorbed by others.
Nude Floor is located at 3F Ayala Malls Circuit, Makati. 0906-511-1948. www.nudefloor.com