PHILADELPHIA: New Paradise Laboratories (NPL) has announced KC Chun-Manning as the organization’s new managing director. She will succeed Inger Hatlen.

“We are thrilled to welcome KC into the body of New Paradise collaborators,” said artistic director Whit MacLaughlin in a statement. “She brings an acute intelligence and a rich experience to the job. We look forward to working with her to advance NPL’s mission as a pioneer in the field of performance.”

Chun-Manning holds an MFA in dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a B.A. in Latin American studies from Trinity College. She is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique. Chun-Manning served as the company manager for Pasión y Arte Flamenco Company, where she helped to produce the Philadelphia Flamenco Festival. She has also served on the faculties of Temple and Drexel Universities, teaching dance technique, composition, aesthetics, and somatic practice. She has taught for Dance for Parkinson’s Disease and for the Cancer Support Community Philadelphia. Chun-Manning co-founded the Open Floor Project in Cambridge, Mass. and codirected the Drink to This! summer arts program in Hartford, Conn. She currently teaches the Alexander Technique at the Pig Iron School for Advanced Performance Training.

“I am honored to work with such a creative and highly respected team of multidisciplinary thinkers, innovators, and art-benders,” said Chun-Manning in a statement. “This is a significant time for them and a pivotal point in their ongoing success. I am excited to contribute to their Next 20 Campaign with a fresh sense of investigation and possibility.”

New Paradise Laboratories is an experimental ensemble which aims to reshape conventional ideas of theatre, and create visionary experiences onstage.