ARTISTS & COMPANIES

Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi [Poland]

Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi was born in Cracow, Poland in 1986. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] She graduated from the Animation department at the Polish National Film, Theater and Television School in Łódź, and in Psychology at Warsaw University. In her work she is interested in exploring new ways of using animation, by applying traditional stop motion techniques to non conventional materials. In 2010, she directed a stop motion animation titled “Protozoa” and she experimented with macrophotography for  her film “Carnalis”. Moreover she directed “Ab Ovo”, a claymation movie in 2013 and she released “Locus” in 2016 working with puppet animation. [/read]

Anne Holck Ekenes [Norway]

Anne Holck Ekenes has studied at the Laban Centre London where she did her BA (Dance Theatre), [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] and she did a Masters in performance, dance for camera and choreography at the Laban Centre. As a dancer, Anne performed with Transitions Dance Company, performing pieces by choreographer Jamie Watton, Rosemary Lee, Roger Sinha, Allen Kaeja, Noa Dhar and Amanda Miller. Anne has also performed with AttikDance, touring the acclaimed dance piece “Breathing In” by Lois Taylor. Anne established Panta Rei Danseteater in 2000. Since its establishment, PRD has enjoyed recognition for providing fresh, exciting and inspiring performance and teaching programs. The company will tour England, Wales, France, Italy, India and Germany in 2017 with four different productions. Anne is a mentor for the leadership program, Dannelsesprogrammet, for The Savings Bank Foundation DNB. She has been a project leader for The House of Dance in Oslo, investigating the potential for a national network for dance. She is on the board for DansiT in Trondheim and on the election committee for The Dance Information Centre in Norway. As the Artistic Director for PRD, Anne leads the dance project TILT. This is the largest dance project that the Savings Bank Foundation DNB has funded in its long history of funding arts, culture and social entrepreneurship. [/read]

Ashley Wright [Australia/France]

Born in Australia, Ashley trained at the Australian Ballet School and Victorian College of Arts. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]At age 17 she joined Royal Ballet of Flanders under the direction of Kathryn Bennetts and in July 2012 moved on to work with Ballet Opera de Lyon, France. Ashley has worked with many renowned choreographers such as Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Anne Terasa de Keerstmaeker and Maguy Marin and has been involved in numerous creations. Ashley has achieved notable choreographic success through works including ‘Better Left Unsaid’, created in 2009 for Royal Ballet of Flanders ‘Coupe Maison’ evening. The piece won 2nd prize and the Audience Choice Award at the Copenhagen International Choreographic Competition later that year. Her second work ‘Ominous Parallels’, featured in the 2010 Interdans Festival, Belgium. In 2011 she created ‘Knee Deep Sleep’ for Royal Ballet of Flanders, reworked in 2012 to become a finalist at the International Choreographic Competition in Hannover. 2015 saw the World Premiere of ‘The Elephant has left, This Room’ a piece for Ballet Opera de Lyon, working alongside Belgian composer Joris Gielen and light designer Tanja Rühl. Later that year she began freelancing as both dancer and choreographer basing herself in Berlin, Germany and working frequently with project company Emanuel gat Dance. In September 2016 ‘Because it isn’t going to come to a beginning’ premiered at the Tanz Theater International festival Hanover, Germany as past of the ‘Think Big’ residency. Ashley is completing a new full length work ‘VWA’, a collaboration with Harris Gkekas and Drummer Didier Ambact for La Biennale de la Danse.[/read]

Bea Debrabant [France]

Bea Debrabant born in France, has always mixed physical and musical education. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]She started playing the flute and drums when she was 6 years old. She did a 5-year degree in Physical Education at the Academy of Sciences, Sports and Technologies in Lille (France). This pushed her at the age of 23 to melt these two disciplines and she started to dance. She got to La Manufacture des Arts, a French dance academy, where she practiced various dance forms. After having graduated in contemporary dance, she assisted Vendetta Mathea in different performances like “Homme/Animal”. She joined the company and travelled between La Manufacture des Arts and the United States to perform and teach. Between 2009 and 2011 she created 3 plays entitled “Parachutes Ending” where she performed as a soloist, in a quartet named “Avec ou Sans” and a duet “Matiere Androgyne”. In 2013 Bea Debrabant settled in Belgium and met Anton Lachky. She integrated his company in the piece “Mind the Gap”. Two years later, she joined hip hop dance companies, X-press directed by Abderzak Houmi and worked with Afid Zeckhnini. Then she took part in the productions “Homo Urbanus” and “Mind’s Mausoleum” with Untamed directed by the Brazilian choreographer Ricardo Ambrosio. She is also the co-founder of the group 2^2 with Audrey Pascal and they created together Bea’s solo entitled “Esperanza”.
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Buoyant Performing Arts [India]

Buoyant Performing Arts is a dance company, artistically led by Saurabh Sureka.[read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] He did his intensive studies and research in dance and movement in Bangalore and New Delhi under recognized dance companies and artists. He is also a graduate in Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A.). He is the force behind the company producing dance performances in various dance styles, and a wide range of accessibility and educational projects. The company has 10 artistically versatile dancers who are a part of the Repertory Company. Buoyant Performing Arts, being a non-profit International Dance Company in Eastern India, extends itself into the realm of arts education and community service by providing community classes in various dance forms for children and adults such as dance workshops or fitness classes. The company is also involved in various innovative projects like Professional Training programs for potential dancers and Dance-For-All which connects the arts with under-priviledged and challenged youth. The Dance-In-Education program reaches schools and the All-Artist-Collaboration pairs dancers, photographers, contemporary artists, musicians, theatre artists to work together with the company dancers and choreographers. The non-profit part of the company is also dedicated to supporting exceptional artists creating alot of opportunities and inviting them despite various background. The company is associated with international artists such as Nicole Lam (USA), Pascal Hulin (France), Daniel Glaska (USA), Janet Reed (USA) and many more. [/read]

Crystal Yukumoto [USA]

Crystal Yukumoto was born in Hawaii and began her classical ballet training in Europe. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]She received her BFA and Masters of Education degrees from Texas Christian University. She has danced professionally with domestic and international dance companies such as: Ballet Frontier, Commedia Ballet Theater, Contemporary Ballet Dallas, Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth, New World Ballet, North Texas Ballet Theatre, and Skånes Dansteater in Sweden. Crystal has taught ballet at various studios in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex as well as for the Swedish National Ballet School in Malmö, Sweden. Before moving to Hawaii, she on faculty at the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts (FWAFA), helping to create the Elementary Dance Program, as well as being the Director of the Junior Dance Company. She has also taught ballroom dance through the Dancing Classrooms North Texas program, and is a 500 hour RYT certified yoga instructor. She currently teaches for Prisma Dance and Ballet Hawaii. [/read]

Diya Naidu [India]

Diya Naidu is an independent dancer and choreographer from Bangalore. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]Her works are inspired by explorations of gender, old age, existential angst in urban chaos, Bardo in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy among others. In 2015 she was a resident at the Facets choreographic residency of the Attakkalari Biennial and made her piece “Today Don’t Insist on Leaving”. The same year she was ProHelvetia’s artist-in-residence in Zurich where she created “Red Dress Waali Ladki”. In 2016, she developed “Hand and Face Project” which won a Jury Award at The Prakriti Excellence In Contemporary Dance Awards. In 2011 she was joint awardee of The Robert Bosch Young Choreographer’s Award under which she created her first solo “Nadir”. She was a member of The Attakkalari Repertory Company for many years, after obtaining a Diploma in Movement Arts from the same. In 2016 she acted in her first play “A Brief History About Your Hair” by Deepika Arwind. Now she has choreographed and is performing in The Company Theatre’s – KHWAAB SA, directed by Atul Kumar. She teaches at LshVa and Shoonya art spaces, Bangalore. She is interested in developing a module that imparts tools for creative expression, mindfulness, collaborative activities, conceptual thinking, body awareness and more, to corporate employees, to enrich their life experience and well being.[/read]

Gustavo Monteiro [Portugal]

Graduated in 2014 from the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD) in Austria under direction of Susan Quinn. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]In 2012, SEAD rewards Gustavo with a “Mentors’ Award” in recognition of his outstanding work as a student and dancer. As a professional dancer/performer, between 2010 and 2014 he was involved in creations with Michicatzu Matzune, Hubert Lepka and with Rootlessroot and Martin Nachbar as a Bodhi Project Company member. In 2015, Gustavo worked with Marco da Silva Ferreira for the opening ceremony of “Loulé. European City of Sport”, and with Cie LaFlux for a piece with premier in Paris. In 2016, he performed the piece “Assim, tipo…dança contemporânea.” by Tiago Rodrigues/Companhia Instável and from mid 2016, Gustavo joined Compagnie Thor under the artistic direction of the choreographer Thierry Smits for the creation of the piece “Anima Ardens” and subsequent world tour. In 2018, Gustavo is going to work again with Compagnie Thor for a new creation. As a choreographer, in 2015, he started developing his own work with Francesca Perrucci. On that year, they created “Looking for the face I had before the world was made”. For 2016, they are created “Persona”, that will have premier in Portugal at Teatro Municipal do Porto. During these two years, they had as support, research and creation artistic residencies at WorkSpaceBrussels in Belgium, DansiT in Norway, Companhia Instável and A22 in Portugal and Espace Darja in Morocco. For the up-coming creation, Gustavo is going to collaborate with the Belgium dancer Peter De Vuyst and with the laptop experimentalist, sound and visual artist Vitor Joaquim.[/read]

Javier Picazas [Spain]

Industrial and automatic electronic engineer [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]interested in the fields of robotics, home automation and 3D. Currently head of projects in an energy consultancy called “Efficient Projects” realizing projects of domótica and energy efficiency with clients like Telofónica or Ilunion, coordinating teams during all the phases of project. He have collaborate in several dance projects using kinect sensors to create real time interactive audiovisuals.[/read]

Lin Yu-Ju [Taiwan]

Yuju Lin holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Taipei National University of the Arts.[read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] She is a former Clould Gate 2 dancer and now is a freelancer dancer/choreographer. Lin currently collaborates with Shuyi and Dancers, and she started her independent creative work in 2010. In the same year, she and Luxury Logico were invited to be artist -in-residence in Treignac France, where Yuju created “The Basement” and worked with Luxury Logico to create the Treignac Project-‘I AM in France’. In 2013, Yuju visited Japan for the Yokohama Dance competition with her Solo “for Now-in the movement”. In the same year she collaborated with JinYao Lin to perform “Le Petit Cosmos” at École National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 2014 she was supported by the Ministry of Culture Artist in resident grants to visit Cité des Arts. In September her video art work “Dry to Wear” was displayed in Rue Francaise – Chantons aux Vaches in Paris. Her recent work includes “Sponge”, “Seed”, “At”, “A Little Bit Naked”, etc.[/read]

Nicole Lam [USA]

Nicole Lam, born and raised in Hawaii, USA, is a ballet instructor, dancer, choreographer, and founder of Prisma Dance. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]With thirteen years of ballet training at Hawaii State Ballet and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance at the University of Hawaii, Nicole has gone on to study modern, hula, sign, jazz, Tahitian, and hip-hop. Nicole Lam has performed and taught for local, national, and international dance schools in Kenya and India. She is currently the owner and Artistic Director for Prisma Dance. [/read]

Ohad Naharin [Israel]

Naharin was appointed Artistic Director of Batsheva Dance Company in 1990 and has served in this role except for the 2003–4 season, [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]when he held the title of House Choreographer. Naharin has choreographed close to 30 works for Batsheva and its junior division, Batsheva – The Young Ensemble. Naharin’s compelling choreographic craft and inventive have made him a favorite guest artist in dance companies around the world. His works have been performed by prominent companies and garnered him many awards and honours for his rich contributions to the eld of dance: Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government (1998), New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Award for “Anaphaza” (2004), a Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa by the Weizmann Institute of Science (2004), the Israel Prize for dance (2005), a Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa by the Hebrew University (2008), the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement (2009), an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the Juilliard School in New York (2013), and many others. In addition to his work for the stage, Naharin has pioneered Gaga, an innovative movement language. the movement is now the primary training method for Batsheva’s dancers and also attracted a wide following among dancers around the world and appealed to the general public in Israel, USA, Europe and Australia, where open classes are offered regularly. [/read]

Rhythmosaic [India]

The Rhythmosaic-Sengupta Dance Company works under the creative stimulation of director Dr. Mitul Sengupta and Artistic Director, Ronnie Shambik Ghose. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]Mitul Sengupta is a recipient of National Nrityo Shrimani Award, a National Scholar in Kathak dance from Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India, a Fellow in Kathak dance from Kalakritti Sanskritti Foundation, New Delhi, and a psychologist. Ronnie Shambik Ghose is a graduate from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with a major in Music Theatre Dance, and a scholar from Offjazz Nice. They are both empanelled artists of ICCR. Rhythmosaic-Sengupta Dance Company’s artistic approach follows a distinctive philosophy in the traditional disciplines of movement art with a strong foundation in contemporary movement from around the world. Recent works include “Buddha – The ‘Why’ within”, “Swan Lake – revisited”, “White Lotus – Black Sand”, “Bells of the Changing Times”, “Desolate” and “Skin”. The company has toured in India, China, Thailand, Russia, France, Denmark, Sweden and Belarus. Rhythmosaic School & Dance Institute offers regular classes in Kathak, Classical Ballet, Jazz Dance, Tap Dance and Contemporary Dance. Rhythmosaic aims to provide an intense technical and aesthetic training so that the students gain a strong knowledge of these dance forms. The school provides additional training to the students through workshops by guest lecturers and facilitators from countries like France, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Switzerland.[/read]

Surjit Nongmeikapam [India]

Surjit Nongmeikapam (Bonbon) is an Imphal, Manipur-based choreographer and artist. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] He has participated in many international and national artist residency programs and dance festivals. His works have toured in Switzerland, France, Singapore, Belgium, Japan, USA, Germany, Spain, Portugal and UK among others. His work “OneVoice” (solo) was nominated for a short piece award in 2013 at Theatre Spektakel Festival, Zurich. His piece “Nerves”, an ensemble with 5 performers including himself, won PECDA (Prakriti Excellence in Contemporary Dance Awards) in 2014. Recently, his new work “Folktale” got an award for PECDA 2016. Surjit Nongmeikapam is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Nachom Arts Foundation (NAF) , Manipur. NAF has been developing many different projects in Manipur relating to contemporary performing arts.[/read]

Tien Hsiao-Tzu [Taiwan]

Born in 1984 in Taiwan, Hsiao Tzu Tien graduated from National Taiwan University of Arts in the Master of Fine Arts in dance. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]Now she is an independent artist, having worked with Shu-yi dancers company, Century Contemporary Dance Company and also other independent choreographers, performers and physical designers for theatre. In 2007, she won a scholarship to the American Dance Festival (ADF). She choreographed/performed in the project of ‘Young Star, New Vision’ sponsored by National Culture and Arts Foundation in 2008, 2010 and 2012 where she presented “Frost”, ”Road”and “Traveler”. In 2009 she joined Asian Performing Arts Festival and performed “Chocolate” by Mikuni Yanaihara of Nibroll and “Pub” of Century Contemporary Dance Theater. An individual production she did for the final project of graduate school, “Pause”, won the Special Prize of the Taiwan Creative Dance Competition (2009). In the 2011 and 2014 editions of the ‘Next Choreography Project’ held by Chou, she presented “Stem” and “They dig a hole under their eyes”. In 2015, she joined the exchange program between Taipei and Melbourne in Dance Massive and Taipei Arts Festival. In 2016, she got a grant from the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan to be a resident artist in the Cité des Arts in Paris.[/read]

Van Huynh Company [UK]

Van Huynh Company was formed in 2008 as a creative base to support Dam Van Huynh’s work and collaborations.[read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] The company is the creative driving force of Centre 151, promoting arts/culture and community integration at every level. Developing his own methodology of torso division, Dam has carved out a unique choreographic voice. Selecting moments of everyday life, Dam transfers these elements in his work, expanding gestures towards new potential imagery. The result is a physically innovative dance creating a sense of surrealism, where the capacities of the human body are explored to their extremes and infinite details become prominent. The company aims to be a multifaceted hub where talent is nurtured and allow every artist involved to develop further. The wide range and variety of works produced by the company advocates for an inclusive dance community pushing the boundaries of contemporary dance. Their work has toured to Mexico, India, South East Asia, Europe and Ethiopia. Each work is unique and explores new creative territories to engage and challenge audiences. [/read]

Anna Kenrick [UK]

Anna Kenrick is YDance artistic director and leads intensive sessions of work. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]Graduated by the Northern school of Contemporary Dance, she joined in first place the Free to Dance project in 2007 at YDance. She created lots of pieces for noticeable events with the institution such as Glasgow Olympic Games Cultural Programme or the European Gymnastics Championships 2015. Working as a dancer, choreographer, teacher and educator Anna has worked for a range of companies and organisations including Anjali Dance Company, The Place, Dance House Glasgow and Ludus Dance Company. In 2011 Anna established the National Youth Dance Company of Scotland and has made a new work every year which has toured nationally and internationally including performances at Dance International Glasgow (DIG) 2015, Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival (CYDF) 2014, Sadler’s Wells Apex Rising 2015 and The Q Theatre, Australia 2016.

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Alfredo Miralles [Spain]

Alfredo Miralles (Madrid, 1987) is a contemporary dance performer and cultural manager.[read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] His work in performing arts production joins his two career paths: dance and project management. Since 2009 he works at the “Aula de las Artes” of Carlos III University in Madrid. He also writes and reflecting on dance, mainly working as a critic in SusyQ magazine. He is currently infused with the search of a suitable language on new technologies in conjuction with the art of movement.[/read]

AURA Dance Theatre [Lithuania]

AURA Dance Theatre promotes the expression of contemporary dance in Lithuania. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]Dance studio Aura, which was established by Birute Letukaite’s initiative in 1980, was registered as Kaunas City Theatre in 1995 and is directed by the prominent choreographer up till present. During the years of its existence, the theatre created and shaped the face of Lithuanian contemporary dance and trained a great number of professional dancers who are well-known worldwide. AURA is constantly working on various international projects incooperation with foreign and Lithuanian choreographers and artists of various fields. AURA represents Lithuanian contemporary dance in many foreign countries and constantly shares innovative ideas with the dance world. They host the International dance festival AURA, which is organized in Kaunas annually for 27 years, has eventually become an integral part of Kaunas city culture. AURA festival presents different kinds of contemporary dance. The festival is sponsored by Culture Ministry of the Republic of Lithuania and Kaunas City Municipality.[/read]

Birute Letukaite [Lithuania]

Dancer, choreographer and pedagogue, Birute Letukaite came to the dance world from the world of free calisthenics.[read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] For 10 years Birute danced with Expression Dance Company in “Sonata” directed by Kira Daujotaite. She gained her education and experience in many workshops in foreign countries. She has worked as a choreographer in sport and theatre schools, held Dance philosophy lectures in Academy of Physical Education, and for many years she has taught Dance history in Vytautas Magnus University. She develops creative activity enthusiastically joining creative initiatives, in different projects with local and foreign artists. In cooperation with the representatives of the drama genre, she has created choreography for 6 drama performances and a lot of choreographic compositions for various events. She has won several prices such as the “Golden Stage Cross” – for best choreography, “III grade Santaka Honor Award” for merits to Kaunas city, “Kaunas region Honor Award” for life merits and The Government Arts and Culture Prize for contribution to Lithuanian culture and art. In 1980 Birute established the dance studio AURA Dance Theatre, which grew into a professional, internationally acknowledged dance company. From 1990, even before Lithuania became independent again, for the first time Birute invited choreographers and pedagogues from abroad, organized dance workshops, as well as projects with artists from different art fields, seniors, people with physical and vision disability. Along with AURA Birute established a studio-school, where the best dancers in Lithuania are educated. Her performances “Extremum mobile” and “Aseptic Zone or Lithuanian Songs” for AURA Dance Theatre has been performed in more than 20 foreign countries and won first prize in Vitebsk (Belarus), Kalisz (Poland) international competitions. [/read]

Compagnie Humaine [France]

Founded in 2002, the Compagnie Humaine gathers artists of all backgrounds to develop ambitious multidisciplinary projects.[read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] Its choreographer and director Éric Oberdorff creates in a subtle way pieces with universal themes putting human being at the heart of creation. The Compagnie Humaine has created more than twenty pieces which are performed on tour in France and abroad. It became in a few years a recognized actor of its territory’s artistic and cultural life. Attached to the democratization of contemporary dance and very committed in the sociocultural fabric, the company is also strongly involved in educational, professional training and transmission missions, particularly towards the youngest. [/read]

Dam Van Huynh [UK]

Originally from Southern Vietnam, Dam Van Huynh is a UK based dancer/ choreographer.[read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] Raised and educated in the United States, Dam graduated from The Boston Conservatory of Music and Dance. Dam has worked with various companies and choreographers including The Nevada Ballet, Merce Cunningham, Portugal’s CeDeCe, Richard Alston and Phoenix Dance Theatre. Dam was appointed Artist-in-Residence at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2010/12 and Associate Artist with Dance United in 2012/14. He founded Van Huynh Company in 2010 and his latest creations are ĐEp, Gesundheit! and Groovething. Dam’s choreographic works have been performed internationally and include commissions by National Dance Company of Mexico, Unlock Dancing Plaza – Hong Kong, the British Museum, Adugna Dance Company/Gemini Foundation – Ethiopia and Fóramen M. Ballet – Mexico. Over the years, Dam has collaborated with many composers, musicians and directors including Nitin Sawhney, Es Devlin and onedotzero for a production supported by the British Film Institute, and more recently with David Toop, Rie Nakajima and vocalist Elaine Mitchener. In 2014 the British Council supported Dam’s research period in his home country Vietnam, allowing him to rediscover his culture through contemporary dance. Following this experience, he has built new links with the Community Centre for Refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (VLC) supporting the development of Centre 151 and becoming Artistic Director of the organization in 2016. He is the Associate Director of Dance Bridges Festival – biennial dance festival taking place in Kolkata, India – currently preparing for the 2017 edition.
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Eric Oberdorff [France]

Born in Lyon, Eric started practicing martial arts very early. He studied dance at the National Conservatoire of Nice and at the Rosella Hightower International Dance School of Cannes,[read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] before joining the Paris National Opera School of Ballet. He was then hired by the Salzburg Landestheater Ballet and the Zürich Opera Ballet and the Ballets de Monte Carlo. He toured around the world, dancing in choreographies by Kylián, Balanchine, Forsythe, Maillot, Uotinen, Armitage, etc. In parallel to his performing career, he continued his martial arts practice and studied acting as well as staging. As a matter of course he started to choreograph and participated between 1993 and 2000 to several “Young Choreographers’”events in France and in Switzerland. Since 2002, Eric is the director and the choreographer of the Compagnie Humaine for which he created twenty projects performed in France and in Europe. He is frequently invited to create or to re-stage pieces of his repertoire in France and abroad for internationally renowned organizations including Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Ballet National de Marseille, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, etc. Eclectic artist, eager to explore all possible elds of expression, Éric is involved in projects within various artistic areas: plays, operas, lms and documentaries, photography, universities researches, think tanks, etc. In 2010, he co-founded the European network ‘Studiotrade’, and since 2015, he is the curator of Studiotrade’s Platform within the frame of the International Dance Festival of Cannes. [/read]

Ido Tadmor [Israel]

Ido Tadmor is a great figure of Israeli culture and represents his state as an “Ambassador of Dance” for thirty years. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]In 2011 he won the “Landau Prize” for life achievement, being rewarded for his commitment to the artistic development of his country. Ido endorsed various positions that led him to become an internationally renowned dancer and choreographer. He joined the Bat Dor Dance Company after having graduated from the Bat Dor Dance School. Later on he became the lead dancer in Bat Sheva Dance Company for many works created by famous choreographers from all over the world. Ido was invited to perform as a lead dancer in Lar Lubovitch well known Dance Company in New York. As a choreographer he did pieces on his own but also collaborated with great internationals such as Hans Van Mannen, Ohad Naharin, Lar Lubovitch, Alvin Ailey, and many others. Ido Tadmor had the chance to teach in many companies around the world and in prestigious dance schools through Europe such as Artemis in Amsterdam or the Dance Academy of Rome. He also ran the Israeli Ballet for a few years before getting his own company for thirteen years. He also took part in the dance competition “So You Think You Can Dance” in Israel as one of the main judges. All these experiences allowed him to win numerous prizes and also to gather many grants from “public bodies and foundations encouraging cultural activities in Israel”.
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Kalina Duwadzińska [Poland]

Kalina Duwadzińska was born in 1985, [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] graduated in Choreography and dance techniques at the Academy of Music in Łódź. During her studies, Kalina developed her art and technique under the best Polish dance pedagogues. She studied Indian classical dance Bharatanatyam and Carnatic Music with Hari Padmam in Chennai and with Kapil Sharma in Delhi and various other forms of dance and movement during numerous workshops, courses and as a member of performing groups. Kalina has performed in Poland and throughout Europe, as a solo dancer, as well as a member of the Mohini Indian Dance Group – a dance ensemble that performs promoting the art and cultures of India. Since 2006 Kalina, as an instructor of various dance and movement forms, has been cooperating with dance schools and cultural centres in Poland, where she shares her passion, knowledge and experience. She creates beautiful and deep, minimalistic dance pieces such as “Jesteś?” in 2013 and “Before silence” in 2014 and collaborates as a choreographer working on interdisciplinary art projects. The spectacle “Odklejanie” in 2015 has been presented on the stage of The Grotowski Institute in Wrocław.[/read]

Luis Manuel Fernandez [Spain]

Luis is a PhD student in Social Communication [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]at San Pablo CEU University. In 2015 he graduated in Documentary and Transmedia report at the Carlos III University and the Spanish Institute of Radio Television. Futhermore, he graduated in Audiovisual Communication in 2014 and Journalism in 2013 at San Pablo CEU University. Luis is currently working in collaboration with the newspaper ABC (supplement La U). He have collaborate in several dance projects as film maker and editor.[/read]

NYDCS/YDance [UK]

YDance is the national dance organisation for children and young people in Scotland and works through key partnerships in education, culture, health and sport,[read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] to provide a range of high quality dance experiences across 3 main areas of work – Developing Talent, Education and Participation. In 2011 the National Youth Dance Company of Scotland (NYDCS) was created to give the opportunity to young dancers to tour nationally and internationally with advanced pieces.The company recruits 13 Scottish talents between 16 and 21 and showcases them in national and international performances. “Members are selected for their strong technical and performance skills and their ability to be creative”. Anna Kenrick is YDance artistic director and leads intensive sessions of work. She created The National Youth Dance Company to give the chance to young performers to tour with high level pieces, such as perfoming in the 2014 edition of The Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival, The Q Theatre in Australia in 2016, and many other places. Company members also work with other well-known choreographers, including 2017 guest choreographer, Yael Flexer. NYDCS has travelled all over the world to work creatively with other dance companies and perform.
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Pia Holden [Norway]

Pia Holden studied at Ballet Academy in Gothenburg and Joffrey Ballet School in New York. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] She has danced for New York Dance Ensemble and choreographers such as Jo Strømgren, Lise Eger and Lise Nordal. Pia has also worked with various choreographers in Brazil, including Cristina Moura. Pia is the managing director, choreographer, rehearsal director and touring manager for the company Panta Rei Danseteater. She teaches and directs educational projects, choreographs and teaches professional dancers as well as teachers and students in schools. Pia has been collaborating with PRD and artistic director Anne Ekenes on productions such as “TO” in 2007, “WeFiction”, “I wish here well”, “Behind the mirror”, “Jens & Julie” and “Lullaby” 2015 and GODOS in 2016, to name a few. One of Pia’s last works outside the collaboration with PRD was a duet with her 6-month-old son during the presentation of the Sophie Prize in 2009. She has choreographed for the opening of the Nobel Peace Centre with artist group Sirkus sapiens commissioned by the Snøhetta architectural office. She has also made ​​other collaborative improvisation and solo projects in Norway and Brazil. Pia has been on the Artistic board of Miniøya (Music and cultural festival for children), she has been a board member of NoDa (Norwegian dance association), and has been a NoDas representative on the board of Dance Information. She has been Deputy Chairman and a daily contact person for the Free Daily Training (GDT – now Proda). Pia has also been a coordinator in Brazil for the Latin America group in Norway (LAG). [/read]

Suman Sarawgi [India]

Suman started her training under Smt. Priti Patel and Smt. Sruti Banerjee in 1990. [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]She specialized in all four aspects of classical Manipuri Dance i.e. Lai-Haraoba, Thang-Ta, Sankirtana and Rasleela. She received further training under the guidance of eminent Gurus Ojha Th. Babu Singh, Ojha Kh. Thorani Sabi Devi, Shri Lokendrajit Singh and Smt. Lakshmi Devi, senior artistes of Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy Imphal. She was awarded the Shiromani Puraskar by Rotary international for her contribution towards dance and has received the Uday Shankar award for the best talent of the year 2000, and was nominated by Aprajita awards for young achievers 2012.[/read]

Teita Iwabuchi [Japan]

Born in Kanagawa, Japan in 1980, Iwabuchi has been presenting choreographies that focus on structure of the human body [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]and interaction of space, music, and human body since 2005. He has been constantly presenting experimental works that depict the relationship between the body and music with musicians such as Yosio Ootani and Shuta Hasunuma (since 2010). In addition, he also actively collaborates with creators of other fields such as animation or modern art. From the entrance of Setagaya art museum and The Grand Gallery at Yokohama Museum of Art to outdoor performances as a part of Roppongi Art Night, Iwabuchi has performed outside the theaters, utilizing the characteristics of such spaces. In addition to giving workshops, he also works in other various fields. “His Hetero”, which he choreographed with Kaori Seki, won The French Embassy Prize for Young Choreographer for Yokohama Dance collection EX 2012.[/read]

Tomer Heymann [Israel]

Tomer Heymann was born in Kfar Yedidia in Israel in 1970 and has directed many documentary films and series in the past ten years, [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”] most of them long-term follow-ups and personal documentations. His films won major awards at different prestigious film festivals including his first film “It Kinda Scares Me”. “Paper Dolls” won three awards at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival and the audience’s award at the Los Angeles Festival. The film and TV series “Bridge over the Wadi”, co-produced with the American ITVS, won the Israeli Documentary Film competition, participated in IDFA Festival’s prestigious competition and won many awards around the world. Tomer’s new 8-part series “The Way Home” was recently broadcasted by the Yes Doco Channel in Israel and won the best documentary series award at the 2009 Jerusalem International Film Festival.[/read]

Yael Flexer [UK]

Jerwood Award winner Yael Flexer is Co-Artistic Director of Flexer & Sandiland originally formed by Yael as Choreographer in Residence at The Place Theatre, [read more=”Read More” less=”Read Less”]London. To date, Yael has created 12 full-length productions for the company, touring throughout the UK and internationally. The company has been commissioned to create live and/or interactive works for, among others: Sadler’s Wells, Woking Dance Festival, The South Bank Centre, The Barbican, London, The Engine Room, Somerset, Cinedans (Amsterdance, the Netherlands) and Dies de Dansa (Barcelona, Spain). Yael has been awarded a bursary from The University of Chichester towards a PhD practice-based research which she completed in March 2013. Yael also co-directs mapdance, the University of Chichester’s postgraduate touring company. [/read]