Choreographer and teacher Navinda “Lodfai” Pachimsawat, who won the Aggregate Award at the competition in 2009, will lead 141 dancers to compete with over 1,500 dancers from 10 countries, including China and Australia.

“We’ll be presenting 73 different routines in Kuala Lumpur, including classical, modern and contemporary dance, as well as national showcases and a lyrical character show,” Navinda said.

The studio has participating in the regional contest 11 times. Last year, the studio won 53 awards including the Best School Award – one of the biggest awards.

Navinda has been dancing since she was five. She was the first Thai to win the Aggregate Cup in the Asia Pacific Dance Competition and was one of three Asians earning scholarships in the Dance Web programme at the Vienna International Dance Festival.

“We’re now focusing on rehearsing, designing new costumes and preparing in other ways for the competition in Kuala Lumpur,” she said. “And, since we’ll be representing Thailand, we really hope to be bringing a bunch of awards home.”

Navinda with her mother Walapa, who runs Bangkok Dance Company, also got some financial support from the Culture Ministry’s Office of Contemporary Art and Culture to participate in the 19th edition of the competition in Malaysia.