About the Company

Le Ballet Fou creates original choreographic works based on our language, Cardinal Movement. Through movement, but also through music, dramaturgy, philosophy and history, we explore the different ways in which we exist in the world.

Cardinal Movement ©

Cardinal Movement © is a movement language derived from anatomical principles and dance, focusing on three key elements: alignment, coordination and investigation. It explores the sequence of minute actions the body must undertake to perform a movement in a sustained manner, focusing on the "first movement", when a body moves from "resting" to "doing". The method can be applied to everyday activities (walking, lifting, bending) as well as to complex forms of movement (dance, martial arts, partnering, acrobatics), helping to develop more refined coordination, connectivity, and enhanced movement performance (posture, stability, flexibility and strength).

Applied to the company's work, Cardinal Movement enables us to create innovative and relevant choreographic pieces. More than a language, it's a specific way of connecting to the world, and the basis from which Cardinal Movement and Company communicates, teaches and creates.

Who We Are

  • Artistic Director and Choreographer

    Assaf Salhov is a choreographer, performer, and therapist working in New York City. He is the Artistic Director of Le Ballet Fou and the founder and creator of Cardinal Movement ©. He began his career with Vertigo 2 Dance Company and later studied Choreography and Performance at SEAD Salzburg and SNDO Amsterdam. Following his studies, Assaf performed at the Cameri Theater and was assistant to the director/choreographer Yehezkel Lazarov.

    In 2015, Assaf moved to New York, where he joined Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More and created Cabaret evenings for The McKittrick Follies. He performed with Sleep No More through their closing shows in 2025. As a director and choreographer, he has developed over fifteen works showcased in Israel, Europe, and New York. With Cardinal Movement and Company, Assaf’s work has been presented at Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Shed in NYC, LA Dance Festival, Fondation Etats-Unis (Paris), Suzanne Dellal Centre (Tel Aviv), and on international tours to Sweden, Denmark, and Spain. He also choreographed for Grammy-winning artist Silvana Estrada.

    Recently, Assaf premiered an immersive theater show at the former Beaux Arts Studios in New York City and completed a residency with Cardinal Movement and Company for their newest piece at the Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium in Denmark. Recently, the company premiered two new works at Movement Research at Judson Church and Arts on Site in NYC.

  • Managing Director and Performer

    Nikki Holck is a dance artist, educator, and director from Honolulu, Hawaii. She is the Managing Director at Peridance Center in New York City and the Director of Peridance’s Certificate Program. Nikki studied at Queen Emma Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, and Canada's National Ballet School, after which she began her dance career with the National Ballet of Canada. Upon moving to New York, she joined Peridance Contemporary Dance Company. Nikki has been a collaborator with Kaimera Productions (Paris/NYC), Superhero Clubhouse (NYC), and Company RAu (Istanbul). Nikki is currently working in collaboration with choreographer Assaf Salhov as Managing Director and dancer for Le Ballet Fou.

    *Photo: Kuo Heng-Huang

Artists

  • Dancer

    The Birth of the Ghost

    Evelyn Chen is a dance centered performer and director based in NYC. A graduate of SUNY Purchase and attendee of Springboard Danse Montreal, she joined PunchDrunk’s critically acclaimed Off-Broadway immersive show, Sleep No More, performing from 2015-2024. In 2021 she originated the role of Silas, in Hotel Wonderland, an immersive production in Amsterdam, NL. Additional selected performance credits:

    Immersive Theater: Carmen (Pensacola Opera Festival), Disremembrance, Life and Trust. Dance: H.T. Chen & Dancers, Bill T Jones, Lar Lubovitch, Doug Varone, Merce Cunningham, RubberbandDanse, Kevin Wynn, LeeSaar and more. Theater: Metamorphoses, by Mary Zimmerman, directed by Isadora Wolfe-Poulson for the Berkshire Theatre Group, SUPERTERRANEAN, directed by Mimi Lien and Dan Rosenthal for the Pig Iron Theater Company, Romeo and Juliet, directed by Louis Butelli for Lincoln Center Education.

    Photo credit: Chris Ash

  • Dancer

    The Birth of the Ghost

    Shannon Harkins is a New York City-based dance artist. She began her training at the Washington School of Ballet and attended Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Massachusetts. Upon graduating from SUNY Purchase with a BFA in Dance, she has choreographed for Brooklyn Ballet, Battery Dance Festival, Norte Maar’s CounterPointe series, Monet’s Garden - The Immersive Experience, and Dixon Place. She strives to create work that combines enhanced classical technique with added nuances, theatrics, and humor.

  • Dancer

    The Birth of the Ghost and Feathers for Flesh

    Marcus Sarjeant is a 25 year old dancer from Southern California where he trained with Westside Dance Project, as well as attended the Orange County School of the Arts. In 2022 he graduated Summa Cum Laude from SUNY Purchase with a BFA in Dance. He has performed the works of choreographers such as Annamari Keskinen, Connie Shiau, Kayla Farrish, Hofesh Shechter, and Johannes Wieland. In addition he’s danced for many New York based companies and most currently is a member of Le Ballet Fou, Verbal Animal, and Eni Artist Collective.

  • Dancer

    Leslie’s career began at 18 in Paris by joining the Jeune Ballet Européen and performed works by  Emmanuel Vignoulle, Claude Brumachon and Anthony Despras.
    Post-graduation, she joined Emmanuelle Soum's project EVE88 and Kaori Ito's improvisation Brunch alongside composer Clément Ducol.
    In 2023, Leslie moved to the United States to dance for Roderick George and Gustavo Ramírez Sansano within Visceral Dance Company, where she later choreographed her first original piece DONJON64.
    In Los Angeles, she worked for Diavolo Dance Theater, Mike Tyus & Co, and Rosanna Gamson. She directed her first short-film as well, called YOU CAN’T REMEMBER YOUR NAME.In New York City, she performed in immersive shows by Vive at the reSOUND Museum, and at the opening collection of the GUCCI Changemaker's Gideon Gomm.

  • Dancer

    Feathers for Flesh

    Kyle Carr Scheurich was born in 1992 in New York. In 2010 he graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and the Performing Arts. During his time at LaGuardia High School he also studied at Manhattan Youth Ballet under the direction of Francois Perron. He graduated from The Juilliard School under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes, and joined Batsheva – the young Ensemble in 2014.  Kyle joined Batsheva Dance Company in 2016-2021, with Ohad Nahirin acting as both artistic director and house choreographer.  Kyle has performed with AMOC (American Modern Opera Company) for the stage premiere of Bobbi Jene Smith’s & Or Schreiber’s ‘Broken Theatre’.  In 2025 Kyle served as assistant director for AMOC’s ‘Rome is Falling’, premiered at Alice Tully Hall.

    Currently Kyle performs in various works, under the direction of choreographer Marlene Monteiro Freitas, co-founder of P.OR.K (Portugal).  Kyle is a teacher of the Gaga movement language and works as a stager/rehearsal director for Ohad Nahirin at universities and dance companies around the world.  Kyle is also an Ilan Lev Method practitioner & musician.

  • Dancer

    The Birth of the Ghost

    Boyu Huang is an artist born and raised in Taiwan. He works across dance, acting, photography, floral design, and interior design, and is deeply committed to exploring diverse forms of artistic expression. His performance experience spans theater, film and television, musical productions, concert choreography, commercials, and music videos. In addition to movement, he also explores voice and other media as integral parts of his creative practice.

    Boyu graduated from the Department of Dance at Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA). After several years of professional performance in Taiwan, he relocated to the United States in 2023 to further develop his performing arts career. That same year, he collaborated with Black Label Movement in Minnesota, participating in a full-length production with the company.

    In 2024, Boyu moved to New York City, where he continues his work as a freelance artist. He is currently collaborating with Assaf Salhov and performing The Birth of Ghost with Le Ballet Fou. In 2025, Boyu performed and toured in Sicily under the direction of choreographer Elisabeth Minutoli.

    His artistic journey continues to evolve across disciplines, geographies, and forms.

  • Dancer

    The Birth of the Ghost

    Ingrid Kapteyn is an international performer and creative collaborator with a BFA in Dance and The Martha Hill Prize from The Juilliard School. She was the Resident Director of Sleep No More NYC in 2024, and she has performed in dance and theater productions with Punchdrunk International (The Burnt City in London, Sleep No More Shanghai (original cast), and Sleep No More NYC), MacArthur Fellow Martha Clarke, The Metropolitan Opera, Brian Brooks Moving Company, Danielle Russo Performance Projects, Wally Cardona, Hilary Easton, Compagnie Yōkaï, Kelly Ashton Todd, Marla Phelan, Assaf Salhov, David Norsworthy, and Kristen Carcone, as well as in live immersive events for the fashion house Valentino, Anheuser-Busch, AMC, and Disney. As a choreographer and director, Ingrid has co-created, produced, and performed danceplays in New York, Chicago, London, and Shanghai with Welcome to Campfire (www.welcometocampfire.com).

    Ingrid has taught around the world, including for Springboard Danse, Juilliard Global Ventures/Nord Anglia Education (in Shanghai, Dubai, Switzerland, Qatar, and NYC), New York University’s School of Medicine, UNCSA, Playwrights Horizons, The Alvin Ailey School, Gibney Dance, Peridance, and Princeton, Bucknell, Rutgers, and Cornell Universities.