Our Story
Kin Nguien is an award-winning choreographer, performer, and Artistic Director originally from Ukraine and currently based in Toronto, Canada.
As a first-generation Vietnamese-Ukrainian artist, Kin draws from her multicultural upbringing and lived experience to create bold, story-driven work that explores identity, cultural bias, mental health stigma, belonging, and human connection. Influenced by both her European upbringing and Vietnamese-Asian heritage, her choreographic practice is rooted in curiosity, mindfulness, and a desire to build worlds through movement.
Kin is the co-Artistic Director of KINAJ.co, Artistic Director of Sync&Flow Dance Company, and a member of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists. Her work spans commercial dance, film, and dance theatre. Her accomplishments include international recognition and awards in dance and film, with choreographic work presented through organizations and platforms including Toronto Dance Theatre, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Red Bull Dance Your Style, and more. She is currently choreographing a theatre production with Toes For Dance, set to premiere in November 2026.
Through season 3, Kin's current artistic ambition is to help bridge choreography and street-style communities by fostering meaningful connection, cultural respect, and artistic exchange. Through community activations, educational programming, performance, and collaborative initiatives, she aims to create spaces where dancers can deepen their understanding of street-dance culture while expanding their artistic voices.
AJ Velasco is the Competitive Director of Sync & Flow Dance Co., bringing over a decade of experience across competitive dance, film, live performance, and dance theatre.
His training spans a wide range of styles and practices, with a strong foundation in street styles — alongside contemporary, partnering, freestyle, and improvisation. This versatility shapes his approach to choreography, performance, competitive strategy, and dancer development.
AJ brings extensive experience within the competitive dance landscape, from leading and developing award-winning competitive work to adjudicating competitions across Ontario, Canada. His perspective is informed by both sides of the competitive stage — understanding what it takes to prepare dancers for high-level performance while also bringing the critical eye and industry knowledge of an adjudicator.
As Competitive Director, AJ continues to developing the season, guiding competitive strategy, supporting choreographers and dancers, and creating an environment where artists can learn, play, challenge themselves, and thrive.
Heading into Season 3, AJ is looking forward to working alongside the team to grow, win, and soar — developing together as artists and competitors while building a culture that lasts far beyond the competitive stage.
Monika Lê is a multi-disciplinary creative, visual storyteller, and movement artist based in Toronto/Tkraronto with family roots in Việt Nam.
Monika is an award-winning designer, placing 1st out of 140 participants worldwide in Adobe’s Creative Jam in 2022 and has worked with organizations such as Harry Rosen, Tokyo Smoke, and Pride Toronto. With her academic background in Critical Studies in Equity & Solidarity from The University of Toronto, she approaches her work through an intersectional lens considering accessibility, community, and empathetic design.
As Sync&Flow’s Marketing & Communications Director, Monika strategizes and creates with intention, detail, and a holistic perspective. She is passionate about world-building behind the scenes with the Marketing team and fellow Directors to explore dance in a multi-channel experience.
When Monika is not moving pixels or rewatching old ABDC compilations, she trains in the street styles of House, Dancehall, and Punking/Whacking/Waacking. With 10+ years in the Toronto dance community, Monika is excited to continue growing with and soaring into new heights for Season 3 with Sync&Flow.
Kat Castro is an interdisciplinary artist, embodiment guide, creative director and producer with a background in mixed-media/visual arts, and sustainable design. She currently works in project management at Lonely Planet, where she supports creative teams, coordinates complex workflows, and builds systems that make collaboration a little easier.
Kat has been movin’ and groovin’ for over 12 years. Her experience as an artist continues to shape how she understands creative communities, collaboration, and the work that happens behind the scenes.
For S3, Kat is excited to bring her creative background and operations experience together in support of Sync & Flow. In her role, she’ll be focused on building stronger architecture, improving communication and organization, and making sure the infrastructure behind the company can support its artists and continued growth. She’s looking forward to hyping the team up behind the scenes and helping make the season run as smoothly as possible.
Zo has been dancing for nine years, with deep roots in the competitive team scene. Her journey began in post-secondary with UHHU, where she found her creative voice and her love for competition as an art and sport; choreographing, and eventually directing. From there, she pursued further teams, programs, and training, sharpening both her artistry and her leadership.
Her training spans Vancouver and Toronto, learning under some of the best in both cities. Most notably, with Northside, she fulfilled a lifelong dream of competing at Vibe Dance Competition, and has performed on stages all around the world.
Her approach to movement and leadership is fuelled by her education and work in the mental health sector, driving her goal of building a space where dancers are pushed within a trauma-informed, holistic lens. As a dancer, choreographer, and musician first, her style is intentional, patient, pocketed, specific, -”ooey-gooey yet fast” - shaped by her east-to-west coast training and a music-first approach to choreography.
Zo steps into Season 3 as choreographer for the company and creative lead for the competitive stream, bringing a diverse, well-rounded edge shaped by her expansive competitive experience. She is excited to contribute to a space with like-minded individuals, working towards a collective goal, and doing it all with silliness, respect, and care at the forefront.
Kailey has been dancing since she was 5 years old. She began her dance journey with studio training in styles like jazz, ballet, and tap before discovering a love for hip-hop.
In university, she built on this interest by joining and eventually directing FLUX, a choreography-based dance team at the University of Toronto. Her preferred movement style focuses on flow and expansion, but she holds an equal admiration for intricate, pictures-focused dancing.
Kailey joined Sync & Flow in S1 and feels privileged to be able to contribute to the team’s growth. Coming into S3 of Sync & Flow, she’s looking forward to elevating the team’s calibre of execution as well as contributing to team operations on both logistic and creative ends.
Yihong has been dancing since high school and has always been open to exploring different styles. Over the years, he has learned across different movement styles and enjoys the process of picking up new textures, grooves, and ways of performing.
In Season 3, Yihong will be continuing in his marketing role, bringing more content ideas, creative chaos, and fun marketing thoughts to the team. He is excited to help showcase Sync&Flow’s growth, community, and personality throughout the season.
Chester has been editing videos ever since he was young. Whether is was personal short films, vlogs or dance videos-- he loved telling stories. He is currently working with operations for Kaizen Dance Initiative, and as a video editor for Grooves Performance.
Chester also brings his love of dance having previously competed with dance teams including; Vie Division (Hamilton), C2 Genysys (Toronto), Generations (Waterloo) and Kaizen Dance Initiative (Brampton/Vaughan). Having a passion for both arts, he wants to continue improving his craft to share stories that inform and inspire others.
For this upcoming season, Chester is excited to see how Sync and Flow's creativity and skills will come together. As the video editor, he will continue to experiment with details, storytelling, and creating dynamic and meaningful content.
Alex (.kie) is.a producer and DJ who crafts lush, melodic soundscapes that blur the lines between the familiar and the new. With a style rooted in ambient, cinematic, and lo-fi textures, his music is laidback yet deeply engaging, carried by groovy, head-nodding drums and synth-driven atmospheres.
As a DJ, .kie draws from Hip-Hop, R&B, Garage, Soul, Funk, Drum & Bass, and House, while incorporating influences from contemporary Asian music culture, including City Pop, K-Pop, and East and Southeast Asian Hip-Hop and R&B. His genre-fluid sets create a harmonious experience that feels both timeless and fresh, blending recognizable sounds with unexpected directions.
You may find him playing at venues such as Big Trouble, Midnight Market, Don Don Izakaya, The Lunch Lady, and more.
He’s now happy to have found a space where he can continue to pursue his passion of music while still being able to stay involved and contribute in the dance community.
He’s excited to see how far the S&F family will grow this season and how they will move to the sounds he creates.
Jano’s relationship with movement started in high school, self taught in front of a bathroom mirror, working things out on his own before he ever set foot in a studio. That curiosity grew in post-secondary, where he joined a competitive dance team and learned what it meant to train and perform alongside others.
That experience shaped the path he’s on now. Over three years as a personal trainer, mentored by Karl Flores and trained through hands-on work with traditional sport athletes,
Jano built a strong foundation in strength and conditioning. Eventually, he combined his two passions, dance and fitness, and stepped into coaching dancers specifically, bridging athletic performance with the demands of the art form.
Being a dancer himself means he understands the demands from the inside, not just the movements, but what it takes on the body to sustain them. That’s the difference. Built for dancers, as a dancer.
For the past two years, he’s trained dancers with the same intention elite athletes bring to their sport. Jano is excited to share his knowledge of traditional sports training, programming, and mental toughness to the Sync&Flow team.
Raph has been dancing since she was three, training across styles from international folk to hip-hop, ballet, and contemporary. During Raph’s undergraduate and master's studies in kinesiology and physiotherapy, she focused specifically on choreography and street styles.
Today, she bridges her expertise in sport physiology, rehabilitation, and strength & conditioning to build programming that helps dancer-athletes prevent injuries through a science-backed approach, while also elevating their performance and athleticism year-round.
Raph is also excited to lead in-depth injury prevention workshops as the team kicks off the season, covering the core concepts behind dancer health and performance, proper warm-up and cool-down protocols, and how to avoid overtraining.
Michelle Wong is a versatile dancer with over a decade of competitive and performance experience, having trained in a range of styles including hip hop, wh/aacking, and heels. She has had the pleasure of dancing and training with teams across the GTA, including Origins, UHHU, and K9 Collective. After a five-year hiatus from dance, Michelle returned to the stage with Sync&Flow, excited to once again challenge herself as a dancer and grow alongside her team.
As a lover of a good spreadsheet, colour-coded itinerary, and simply getting shit done, Michelle is excited to lead competition and event operations for the upcoming season. From keeping the details organized to ensuring the chaos stays (mostly) under control, she’ll be working behind the scenes so the team can focus on showing up and hitting the stage. For S3, she looks forward to creating memorable experiences and helping everyone feel supported and connected.
Carmen Lee (she/her) is a Hong Kong–born and raised dancer and choreographer currently based in Toronto, Canada.
Rooted in curiosity and a deep appreciation for street dance culture, Carmen has trained across w*acking, campbellocking, popping, house, and hip hop. Carmen was a member of Funkyverse during the crew’s Canada’s Got Talent run, where the team received two Golden Buzzers and ultimately finished 3rd. Aside from street dance, Carmen has trained extensively in ballet for 12 years.
As a choreographer and creative, Carmen has worked with ADDO Company as a Creative Lead, presented work with Toes For Dance as part of the Common Ground Festival, and co-choreographed for Pride Toronto. Her commercial and artistic work has also included collaborations with artists such as city-pop singer Cecilia.
As a Session Facilitator for Sync & Flow season 3, she aims to help cultivate a space grounded in connection, play, exploration, and a shared love of dance, while supporting the company’s commitment to the technical foundations, histories, and cultural integrity of street styles.
Outside of dance, Carmen is driven by curiosity and a love of learning. She is drawn to culture, community, and activism, and brings these values into the spaces she participates in and helps create. For her, dance is not only a practice of movement, but also a way to stay curious, exchange ideas, and connect with others.
Steven Chau (he/him) is a queer Hong Kong-Canadian choreographer, director, and performance artist based in Toronto. His work spans film, television, music videos, commercial campaigns, live shows, and competitive dance, blending cinematic storytelling, intricate musicality, and a bold theatrical edge.
Known for his detail-oriented movement and genre-bending style, Steven creates work that celebrates individuality, emotional depth, and impact. He has collaborated with Disney, Netflix, Universal Music, BMG, SiriusXM, New Balance, and *The Next Step* (S10), and has worked with artists including Queen Priyanka, Jimbo the Drag Clown, and ONE OK ROCK.
A standout moment in his commercial career was choreographing the Osmow’s 2025 Super Bowl campaign, where he cast and led a team of 50 dancers while bridging movement with branded storytelling on a national scale.
Steven is a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Media Production program and York University’s Cinema & Media Studies program, and continues to create work that defies convention, connects emotionally, and inspires change.
Steven hopes to bring a refreshing edge to S3 of Sync&Flow. He strives to diverge from his usual commercial styles, leaning into a more experimental approach toward his work with the team.
Tyler is a choreographer from Toronto who aims to articulate his love for music through movement. His choreography is heavily influenced by more than a decade of musical training and is known for its specificity in musicality, timing, and dynamics.
Tyler started dancing with VYBE Dance Company 13 years ago and became the founding director of The IX shortly after, gaining experience in choreography and set-building. Though he took a break from dance for a few years, he rekindled his passion for dance in 2024 through choreographing for VIE Division and training in Footnotes, including popping, hip hop, and other street styles. Eventually, Tyler found his way to Sync&Flow in its first season and contributed choreography for their recent performance at Summer Jam Dance Competition 2026 in Vietnam.
Now in Season 3, Tyler is honoured to officially step into the role of choreographer alongside other talented artists who inspire him to keep improving his craft. He looks forward to more creative exploration together and hopes his added perspective can elevate the team’s strengths to new heights.
SYNC & FLOW was founded on land and waters of the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Our privilege to live and build community on the land and waters was founded on the continued death, genocide and exploitation of Indigenous peoples whose own communities, histories, and deep connections with the land and waters were destroyed or damaged. Therefore, we continue learning and reflecting as settlers in acts of reconciliation and reparation; we respect and listen to the voices of Indigenous peoples in our company; and we encourage our settler clients and collaborators to make the same commitment to Indigenous communities, starting with learning about the land they are currently on.