Muhammad Fairul Azreen Bin Mohd Zahid
- MFA in Dance (Choreography and Performance), New York University, Tisch School of The Arts, Department of Dance, USA.
- BA (Hons) Performance (Ballet & Contemporary), National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (ASWARA), Malaysia
- Diploma in Dance, National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (ASWARA), Malaysia
Fairul Zahid holds a master's degree (MFA) from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. He was a principal dancer/choreographer at ASK Dance Company, Christina Noel and the Creature NYC, The Nutcracker New York City Ballet, LaneCo Arts NYC, as well as an artistic director of Asia Duo Dance Company.
Fairul was a lecturer at several universities in Malaysia including the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (ASWARA) and University Technology MARA (UiTM). He was also invited as guest lecturer/choreographer by several universities including Minzu University, Capital Normal School (Beijing), University of Philippines, Temple University Philadelphia among others.
Fairul has produced several full-length and mix-bills performances for tours in Beijing, Los Angeles, New York, Jakarta, Indonesia, Philippines and Chicago. He is a prolific and versatile choreographer/dancer working in the disciplines of contemporary ballet, Malay dance, Chinese classical dance, Indian classical dance and jazz.
In his work, he has collaborated with local and international artists including Riki Von Falken, Gideon Oberzanek, Un Yamada, Ena Herosie, Pamela Pietro, Sean Curran, Netta Yerusalmy, Patrick Suzeu, Jeff Tsei, Brigel Gjoka, Pamela S.Pietro, Yachao Zhu, Herbert Alvarez, Akram Khan, Elena Laniog, Lane Gifford, Hala Shah and Crystal Pite.
Fairul was a top 20 finalist of So You Think You Can Dance 2008 (Malaysia). In 2020, he won the Best Group Performance in the Cameronian Arts Award for the theatre production of Oedipus under the FiTA Theatre Assemble and was nominated for Best Choreographer for TRANSCENDENCE, an evening of contemporary dance performance. In 2018, his work CanSur was awarded best group performance at the Cameronian Arts Awards and nominated for best choreography in 2018.
Fairul is currently pursuing his PhD at the University of Malaya (UM) Malaysia, focusing on practice as research.
Research and Practice
- Presenting Traditional Dance ‘Tari Silat’ At The Tertiary Level Using Social Media As An Alternative Performance Platform For Community Engagement In The 21st Century, Conference: Harnessing A 21st Century Approach To Performing Arts: Technology, Practice, Education & Research (2022)
- The Use Of Social Media In Teaching And Learning For Dance Education At The Tertiary Level, Conference: Virtual Symposium on Teaching and Learning (2022)
Current Research and Practice
- The intertwined of a political issue in making choreography: Using text implementation on corruption issues in Malaysia (2022)
- Exploring the hybridity of multimedia visual design in aspect and bringing the culture into Performing Arts (2022)
Research Interests
- Choreography
- Political in dance
- Dance and new multimedia
- Contemporary dance
- Dance education