Biography

Makisig Akin (They/Them) is a choreographer, dancer, artist-activist, and transgender Filipino visionary, born and raised in the Philippines. Currently living and working between Berlin, Germany, and Denver, Colorado, USA, Akin’s artistic practice is deeply rooted in honoring intersectional identities, reconnecting with ancestral wisdom, and decentralizing Western ideologies in dance-making. Their work seeks to reimagine the creative process—how can choreography empower dancers with agency over the evolution of the work? How can a community be built beyond identity while still honoring it?

Akin holds a Bachelor’s degree in both Cognitive Science (specializing in Neuroscience) and Dance from the University of California, San Diego, and earned a Master of Fine Arts in Dance Choreography from the World Arts and Cultures/Dance program at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2019.

With a rich background in martial arts, Akin intensively trained in Northern Style Chinese Martial Arts, Mei Hwa Chang Quan (Plum Blossom Long Fist Kung Fu), under Grandmaster Wu Ti-Pang and Master Jason Tsou. Through this mentorship, they also explored Yang Taiji Quan, Taiji Qigong, Chen Taiji, Chen Cannonfist, Praying Mantis, and Pigua forms. Seeking to integrate non-Western epistemologies into their work, Akin is developing a way of dancing that embodies the sensibilities of martial arts. Their movement practice weaves together contemporary dance with the philosophies of Kung Fu, Filipino Martial Arts, and other Southeast Asian traditions, such as Qigong and Taiji, to explore the depth and physicality of the moving body.

Their diverse physical background spans Filipino Traditional Dance and Martial Arts, Kung Fu, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Contact Improvisation, Authentic Movement, walking meditation, bouldering/climbing, and contemporary dance. In both their teaching and performance, Akin channels the sensibility of martial arts, fostering a movement practice grounded in liberation, presence, and embodied knowledge.

At its core, Akin’s artistic journey is a means of continual learning, unlearning, and rediscovery—a way to deepen their understanding of self and interdependence in an ever-evolving world.