Kristián Mensa

Mr. Kriss
Born
Kristián Mensa

(1997-10-21) October 21, 1997
Prague, Czech Republic
OccupationsDancer, illustrator, actor
Years active2015 - present
Career
Current groupOpatow Flavours
Websitewww.mrkriss.com

Kristián Mensa (born 21 October 1997), better known by his stage name Mr. Kriss, is a Czech actor, dancer and illustrator based in Prague, Czech Republic.[1] He is the winner of 2019 Red Bull Dance Your Style - Czech Republic.[2][3] He was also listed on the Huffington Post's 20 Under 20 list of gifted young innovators of 2018, as well as The World's Smartest Teens in 2018.[4][5] In 2021, he received the Silver Medal of the President of the Senate of the Czech Republic for "youthful courage and inspiration".[6] Mensa's art work has been reviewed by prominent news agencies around the world including Bored Panda, Designboom, Metro, BuzzFeed, etc.[7]

Early life and education

Mensa was born in 1997, in Prague, Czech Republic, in a family with African ancestry. His grandfather was from Kumasi, Ghana.[8] He received his primary education from ZŠ s RVJ K Milíčovu, an elementary school in Prague. He attended Gymnázium Na Vítězné pláni, Prague from 2011 to 2018 where he completed his secondary education. In 2015, Mensa attended Arvada High School in Colorado, USA as an exchange student.[9] From 2018 to 2019, Mensa attended University of Europe for Applied Sciences in Berlin and joined Vysoká škola kreativní komunikace (VŠKK) in the late 2019 where he studied Visual Effects and Animation.[10]

Career

Illustration

Mensa started his professional artistic career in 2015 with his solo exhibition, Brewed Awakenings, in Arvada, Colorado. From 2015 to 2019, he exhibited his art works throughout Europe at multiple solo and group exhibitions.[11] Mensa is recognized for humanising architecture and layering colourful, tangible objects atop his simple drawings.[12] His work and point of view came to the attention of Huffington Post, where he appeared in their 20 Under 20 list of gifted young innovators of 2018.[4][13] Mensa was also listed in The World's Smartest Teens in 2018 by The Best Schools.[5]

Over the years, Mensa collaborated with and created art works for renowned brands such as Heinz, Pilot, Red Bull, Adidas and WWF-UK.[14][15] His art work has been featured in Bored Panda,[16] Designboom,[17] CCMA TV3,[18] Metro.co.uk,[19] DeMilked,[20] Huffington Post,[4] BuzzFeed,[7] The Tax Collection,[21] MyModernMet,[22] Awesome Inventions,[23] Courrier International,[24] Art Sheep,[25] AfroPunk,[26] Red Bull[2] and Arch Daily.[27]

Dance career

At the age of 16, in 2014, Mensa participated in King Of The Kidz World Finals in Amsterdam where he finished in top 16.[28] In 2017, Mensa won the dance competition, Break Central Vol. III in London.[26] Subsequently, in the late 2017, he finished at the first place at Juste Debout in Bratislava and at Mindless - Experimental Dance Battle in Luxembourg.[29][30]

During Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, Mensa performed alongside Mikolas Josef who represented the Czech Republic.[31] Also in 2018, he performed at I Love This Dance in Paris, France.[32] At the 2019 Red Bull Dance Your Style - Czech Republic, Mensa, competing as Mr. Kriss, won the first place and qualified for participation in the first-ever Red Bull Dance Your Style world finals that took a place in Paris on October 12, 2019.[33][34] Earlier that year, Mensa also won Break Central Vol. V in London.[35]

In 2020, Mensa performed alongside Kylie Minogue for her music video of the song "Magic". Prior to that, Mensa has also performed in the music videos of several prominent musicians such as Rita Ora, Skyline and Baynk.[36][37]

From 2020, Mensa has been affiliated with Uppercut Dance Theater and was invited to perform at Breakin' Convention festival with his solo work Found Lost.[38] He has also collaborated with choreographers Akram Khan and Yoann Bourgeois and worked with musician Hania Rani.[39][40] He has danced commercially for brands including Louis Vuitton and Zara, and alongside artist Armand Amar.[41]

In 2025, Mensa co-created and performed in a contemporary stage work titled OO-LI alongside Korean dancer-choreographer Haeni Kim.[42] The 60-minute piece brings together 30 dancers to explore themes of identity, constraint and coexistence, fusing breakdance and hip-hop dance with a soundscape of neo-classical and electronic compositions by Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm, alongside live ambient music.[43] The work at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul, South Korea as part of the Sync Next 25 festival.[43][42] Also in 2025, Mensa performed in Steps at the Smetanova Litomyšl festival, a performance pairing modern dance with classical music alongside Haeni Kim and a string quartet led by violinist Daniel Matejča.[44]

Later that year, Mensa performed as a dancer-actor in Kirill Serebrennikov's theatrical production Hamlet / Fantômes at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.[45] He also appeared as a dancer in the "Ulysse Arctic" segment of the immersive 360° concert film and live project Cercle Odyssey, directed by Neels Castillon, which premiered in 2025 with performances in Los Angeles, Mexico and Paris.[46]

Film and acting

Beside being an artist and a dancer, Mensa is also an actor. He appeared in 2011's Czech film, Peklo s princeznou as a child artist. He has also worked in the Czech short film, Bo Hai in 2017 and Backstage in 2018. In 2020, Mensa appeared in a movie called Who is Mr. Kriss?, directed by Adolf Zika.[47][48]

His bachelor's graduation film, In Our Hands (2024), produced at VŠKK, is an animated short film fusing dance and animation to examine the relationship between the human body and the natural world. It was selected for the Grand Competition of Animafest Zagreb 2024, as well as several other international festivals including Anifilm Liberec, Animafest Athens, the Bucharest International Dance Film Festival — where it received the Special Jury Award — and the Environmental Film and Screenplay Festival 2024, where it won Best Experimental Film.[49][50]

Public speaking

In November 2017, Mensa spoke at the TEDxYouth@Praha in Prague.[51]

Accolades

YearAwardNotes
2018Huffington Post 20 Under 20STEAM Pioneers
2018The Best Schools – World's Smartest Teens—
2019Red Bull Dance Your Style – Czech RepublicWinner
2019Red Bull Dance Your Style World Finals (Paris)4th place
2021Silver Medal of the President of the Senate of the Czech Republic"Youthful courage and inspiration"
2022Forbes Czech 30 Under 30—
2024Bucharest International Dance Film Festival – Special Jury AwardFor In Our Hands
2024Environmental Film and Screenplay Festival – Best Experimental FilmFor In Our Hands

References

  1. ↑ "Noha za uchem i tanec hlavou dolů. Český tanečník Kristián Mensa boduje svým uměním ve světě". reflex.cz. Reflex. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 Tracy Kawalik. "MEET KRISS, THE CHAMP OF RED BULL DANCE YOUR STYLE CZECH REPUBLIC 2019". redbull.com. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Red Bull Dance Your Style ovládl Kristián Mensa". protisedi.cz (in Czech). Proti šedi. 20 September 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 the Huffington Post. "20 Under 20: Meet The Next Generation Of STEAM Pioneers". huffingtonpost.co.uk. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  5. 1 2 TBS STAFF. "The World's 50 Smartest Teens—2018". thebestschools.org. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Koudelka, Jiřičná nebo Suchý. Osobnosti dostaly od Senátu Stříbrné medaile". iDNES.cz. 28 September 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  7. 1 2 Sami Main. "Check Out This Super Creative Teen Instagram Artist". buzzfeed.com. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  8. ↑ Šimečková, Aneta (2 November 2020). "Neuvěřitelné taneční kreace, které obdivuje celý svět". cnn.iprima.cz. CNN. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  9. ↑ "Co říká Kristián Mensa na svůj rok v USA?". afs.cz/. AFS Intercultural Programs. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  10. ↑ "Le magicien du quotidien". mrkriss.com. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  11. ↑ Lecomte, Manon (21 July 2016). "Des illustrations qui jouent avec des objets du quotidien". iletaitunepub.fr. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  12. ↑ "PeepShow - Episode 168 Kristián Mensa". mall.tv. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  13. ↑ David, Kryštof (11 May 2017). "Kristián Mensa (@mr.kriss) s vlastní výstavou World by Kriss ve VNITROBLOCKU". czechmag.cz. Czech mag. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  14. ↑ Štingl, Michal (19 October 2015). "Kristián Mensa se inspiruje přehlíženými předměty". ctidoma.cz. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  15. ↑ Gregor, Marek (9 February 2018). "Kristián Mensa: Český kluk, který hravými kresbami mění svět". reflex.cz. Reflex. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  16. ↑ "I Use Everyday Objects To Create Fun Illustrations (Part 3)". boredpanda.com.
  17. ↑ Designboom. "kristián mensa adds fruit to give his illustrations an extra punch". designboom.com.
  18. ↑ CCMA TV3. "Des de Praga, en Kristián Mensa ens ensenya les seves habilitats i gran creativitat en el camp de la il·lustració... i de la música!". Retrieved November 17, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ↑ Jessica Bateman. "12 amazing pictures of stuff being other stuff". metro.co.uk. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
  20. ↑ DeMilked. "TCzech Artist Uses Everyday Objects To Create Fun Illustrations". demilked.com.
  21. ↑ The Tax Collection. "Kristián Mensa - Artist Spotlight". redbull.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-08. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  22. ↑ Sara Barnes. "Teenage Artist Playfully Adds Everyday Objects to Complete Clever Illustrations". mymodernmet.com.com. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  23. ↑ Awesome Inventions. "Kristian Mensa Creates Cool Illustrations Using Everyday Objects". awesomeinventions.com.
  24. ↑ Courier International. "Illustration.Kristian Mensa, le magicien du quotidien". courrierinternational.com. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  25. ↑ Maria Sofou. "Kristián Mensa's Funny Illustrations On Everyday Objects Will Definitely Make Your Day". art-sheep.com.
  26. 1 2 Eye Candy. "RAD CREATIVE OF THE DAY: PRAGUE-BASED ARTIST AND DANCER KRISTIÁN MENSA SHARES LIGHTHEARTED, MIXED-MEDIA ILLUSTRATIONS". afropunk.com. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  27. ↑ Alya Abourezk. "Artsy-Instagrammer is Turning the City Into an Urban Storybook". archdaily.com. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  28. ↑ David, Kryštof (12 October 2015). "Po světovém úspěchu představuje Kristián Mensa vlastní výstavu (rozhovor)". czechmag.cz. Czech Mag. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  29. ↑ "Kristian Mensa aka Kriss (République tchèque)". lequotidien.lu. Le Quotidien. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  30. ↑ "Prague Artist Sessions II: Kristián Mensa". thefeeduneed.com. 17 April 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  31. ↑ Granger, Anthony (26 April 2018). "Two dancers to join Mikolas Josef on stage". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  32. ↑ SDK Europe. "Experimental Breaking - CZ". sdkeurope.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  33. ↑ Kristina Grgicevic & FraGue Moser-Kindler. "The first-ever Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final has announced its line-up. Find out which dancers will compete in Paris, France on October 12". redbull.com. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  34. ↑ Hrdia (17 September 2019). "Tanec První ročník taneční soutěže Red Bull Dance Your Style zná svého vítěze, stal se jím Kristián Mensa aka Kriss". Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  35. ↑ Panenka, Jaroslav (22 August 2020). "Možná zítra uvidím ve vidličce žábu, říká kreslíř a tanečník". metro.cz. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  36. ↑ "Working with names such as Rita Ora, Kylie Minogue, BAYNK, Cirk La Putyka, National Danish Performance Team and Uppercut Danseteater". mrkriss.com. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  37. ↑ "BAYNK 'Come Home'". basefm.co.nz. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  38. ↑ "Kristián Mensa". DAP Festival. 15 April 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  39. ↑ Ryman, Mateusz (11 May 2023). "Hania Rani z nowym singlem! - posłuchajcie "Hello"". JazzSoul.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  40. ↑ "Kristián "Mr. Kriss" Mensa | Peridance Center Faculty". Peridance Center. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  41. ↑ Sandlin, Jennifer (6 May 2023). "Kristián Mensa incorporates everyday objects into his art". Boing Boing. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  42. 1 2 Kim Se-jeong (29 July 2025). "Disconnect to reconnect: Contemporary dance 'OO-LI' to explore identity - The Korea Times". www.koreatimes.co.kr.
  43. 1 2 Dong-hee, Hwang (8 August 2025). "Two dancers collide in dance about 'uri' -- us and cages that confine". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  44. ↑ "Mr. Kriss: Steps". Smetanova Litomyšl. Retrieved 1 March 2026.
  45. ↑ Bury, Laurent (8 October 2025). "Hamlet/Fantômes d'après Shakespeare au Châtelet – Fragments d'un discours hamléteux – Compte rendu". Concertclassic (in French). Retrieved 7 April 2026.
  46. ↑ "Cercle Odyssey". Neels Castillon. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  47. ↑ Závozda, Petr (21 November 2021). "Dokument o pardálím tanečníkovi Mr. Kriss uspěl na milánském festivalu | Kultura". Lidovky.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  48. ↑ Pšeničková, Jana (12 December 2021). "Who is Mr. Kriss? Výjimečný tanečník se dokáže složit jako preclík". Forbes (in Czech).
  49. ↑ "In Our Hands". Animafest Zagreb. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  50. ↑ "Focus on Czechia at Animafest Zagreb 2024". Czech Film Center. 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  51. ↑ "TEDxYouth@SKOLAEUPRAHA "...ticho..." a mír v našem nitru". ted.com. November 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
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