PERFORMERS
TASHI IWAOKA:
DEPARTING FROM MY ONTOLOGICAL QUESTS; ‘WHAT ARE WE?’, THE FOCAL POINT IN MY PRACTICE IS ‘WHAT IS BEING A HUMAN?’ ATTEMPTING TO SEE EVERY ‘HUMAN-NESS’ IMPORTANT. I CONSIDER DEVELOPING THE AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDINGS OF OUR EXISTENCE, IN RELATION TO OUR SURROUNDINGS, WOULD BE THE KEY TO IMPORTANT CHANGES WITHIN US THAT I BELIEVE WILL BENEFIT US AS WELL AS ALL OTHER BEINGS. HAVING HAD A BUDO (JAPANESE TERM FOR MARTIAL ARTS IN GENERAL) CLASS WITH AKIRA HINO IN 2008, I HAVE FOUND BUDO AS MY WAY TO PRACTICE IT ALL TOGETHER, ALONGSIDE WITH KEEP WORKING ON ‘IMPROVISATION’.
IN RELATION TO THE ATTEMPT TO FUSE MY ORIENTAL ROOTS AND WESTERN PERSPECTIVES TO FORM A MORE PROPER VIEW ON ‘BEING A HUMAN’ IN THIS WORLD, I CHALLENGE MYSELF TO (RE)DISCOVER WHAT IS A ‘NATURAL’ BEING AS A HUMAN AND PLACE THE BODY, SIMULTANEOUSLY, AS THE GUIDE AND VEHICLE FOR SEARCHING THE MOST ‘NATURAL’ STATE IN BEING A HUMAN. HAVING BEEN FASCINATED BY THE DEPTH OF HUMAN STUDIES IN BUDO, I JOINED BUJINKAN TRAINING IN 2010. SINCE THEN A NEW WORLD HAS BEEN OPENING IN EACH STEP THROUGH THIS VERY OLD WISDOM FORMED IN JAPAN.
I HAD BEEN DEEPLY INFLUENCED BY EXISTENTIAL PHENOMENOLOGICAL THINKING, ESPECIALLY BY WORKS OF MERLEAU-PONTY. FOLLOWING MY CONCLUSION THAT CONCEPTS OF ‘THEATRE’ COULD HOLD ANY ASPECTS OF PERFORMATIVITY WITHIN THE FRAME OF EVERYDAY LIFE AND BEYOND, I HAD BEEN WORKING UNDER THE IDEA OF ‘THEATRE AS A MEDIUM’. THAT CAME UP AFTER THE INTENSIVE QUESTIONING ABOUT THE BOARDER(S) BETWEEN ART AND EVERYDAY LIFE THROUGH MY STUDY IN NOTTINGHAM.
THESE HISTORIES STILL HAVE GOT AN EFFECT ON MY WORK TODAY.
TYPES OF MY WORK VARY FROM A ONE-MINUTE FRANTIC ‘PUNK’ DANCE PERFORMANCE PIECE TO THREE AND A HALF HOURS OF STANDING STILL PERFORMANCE-PROTEST (AGAINST NATO BOMBING IN 1999), FROM OUTDOOR OPEN-IMPROVISATIONS TO CAREFULLY STRUCTURED BLACK BOX THEATRE PIECES. I WORK BOTH AS A SOLO ARTIST AND COLLECTIVELY WITH OTHERS.
AT THE END OF 2004 ANNA TORKKEL, A TURKU BASED FINNISH CHOREOGRAPHER/DANCER AND I SET UP AN INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE MAKERS’ COLLECTIVE CALLED EHKÄ PRODUCTION (MEANING ‘MAYBE PRODUCTION’), WHICH IS CURRENTLY RUN BY ANNA TORKKEL AND MAIJA RAUMANNI, AND I AM STILL CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH IT. SINCE 2009 EHKÄ HAS RUN A SPACE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, KUTOMO WHERE I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN MANY PROJECTS.
I HAVE BECOME AN OFFICIAL TATSUMURA METHOD FINGER YOGA INSTRUCTOR SINCE THE SUMMER 2014.
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ARTÉMISE PLOEGAERTS:
SHE COMES FROM FRANCE WHERE SHE STARTED TRAINING AS A DANCER AND PERFORMER. IN 2011, SHE COMPLETED A B.A DANCE THEATRE AT TRINITY LABAN (LONDON) AND STARTED MAKING HER OWN WORK. SHE RECEIVED THE MICHELLE SIMONE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN THE FIELD OF CHOREOGRAPHY. IN 2012, ARTÉMISE BEGAN HER MASTER OF
CHOREOGRAPHY AT ARTEZ INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS, ARNHEM, TO PURSUE HER ARTISTIC RESEARCH WHILE WORKING AS AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST IN THE NETHERLANDS. WHILE STUDYING AT ARTEZ, SHE STARTED TO INVESTIGATE HER CHOREOGRAPHIC PRACTICE WITH VIDEO BY HERSELF AND IN COLLABORATION WITH THE VISUAL ARTIST LOUIS HOTHOTHOT. SHE IS INTERESTED IN EDITING PROCESS AS A WAY TO CHOREOGRAPH.
VIDEO AND ARCHIVAL MATERIAL HAVE SINCE THEN BEEN IMPORTANT PARTS OF HER PROJECTS.
HER WORK HAS BEEN SHOWN INTERNATIONALLY (DANSMAKERS AMSTERDAM, STEDELIJK MUSEUM, VANABBE MUSEUM EINDHOVEN, BAU IN HET VEEM THEATRE AMSTERDAM, DANCE BASE EDINBURGH, DE LINDENBERG NIJMEGEN, DREAMSPACE GALLERY LONDON, LABAN CENTRE, AMONG OTHERS). SHE ALSO SHOWS HER WORK IN DIFFERENT ART PLATFORMS AND FESTIVALS (CINEDANS, FESTIVAL À CORPS, …). SHE SHARES HER PRACTICE THROUGH LECTURE PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS AS WELL. SHE WILL BE IN RESIDENCY AT HUTONG PAI, BEIJING IN APRIL 2018.
WORKING WITH DIFFERENT MEDIA SUCH AS DANCE PERFORMANCE, VIDEO, AND ARCHIVAL MATERIAL, HER PRACTICE AIMS TO STRESS THE LINKS BETWEEN THE MOVING BODY AND PEOPLE’S BACKGROUND AND HISTORY, AND BETWEEN THE HUMAN BODY AND ITS ENVIRONMENT. THROUGH THEIR PORTRAIT IN MOVEMENT (LOOKING AT THE WAY ONE PERSON MOVES), SHE WISHES TO HIGHLIGHT THE POLITICAL AND SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXTS THAT HAVE DIRECTLY ORGANIZED/SHAPED THEM. DURING THE PROCESS, PLOEGAERTS ORGANIZES INTERVIEWS IN ORDER TO BETTER KNOW THE PERSON SHE IS WORKING ON, AND TO BE ABLE TO CONNECT HIS/HER WAY OF MOVING TO HIS/ HER PERSONAL LIFE.
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CHARLIE PRINCE:
CHARLIE PRINCE IS A PERFORMER AND DANCE-MAKER. BORN AND RAISED IN THE MOUNTAINS OF LEBANON (1991) – HE LATER IMMIGRATED TO CANADA AND IS NOW BASED IN AMSTERDAM. AS A PERFORMER, CHARLIE HAS WORKED AMONG OTHERS WITH COMPAGNIE ALIAS , PAR B.L.EUX (BENOIT LACHAMBRE) LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA (DIR. MARIE CHOUINARD) AND HAS BEEN COLLABORATING WITH MAQAMAT DANCE THEATRE IN BEIRUT AS A PERFORMER AND ASSOCIATE ARTIST SINCE 2015. CHARLIE IS INTERESTED IN THE PLACE OF THE BODY WITHIN POST-COLONIAL IMAGINARIES AS A MEANS TO SUBVERT AND RESIST IMPERIAL LEGACIES . HE IS INTERESTED IN FORM AS CONCEIVING ORIGIN IN IMAGINED SPACE, TOWARDS THE ABYSS OF AN IMAGINED FUTURE ; INSTILLING A PROGRESSIVE FORCE IN THE BODY TOWARDS BEING A SUBJECT AND NOT AN OBJECT OF HISTORY. HIS NEW SOLO WORK, COSMIC A* IS DUE TO PREMIERE IN THE NETHERLANDS AT SPRING FESTIVAL IN UTRECHT, FOLLOWED BY A TOUR IN GERMANY, FRANCE, LEBANON AND CANADA. IN 2018 HE RECEIVED THE PRESTIGIOUS BOGHOSSIAN FOUNDATION PRIZE FOR DANCE AND PERFORMANCE AWARDED BY VILLA EMPAIN IN BRUSSELS AND BEIRUT. CHARLIE ALSO HOLDS A BACHELOR OF MUSIC FROM MCGILL UNIVERSITY IN MONTRÉAL – AND CONTINUES TO ENGAGE AS A COMPOSER FOR DANCE AND FILM.
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ELISA VASSENA:
WWW.ELISAVASSENA.COM/SALSAROSA
I WALK THROUGH VISIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS. THEY EITHER BECOME MATTER, VAPOUR OR SOME (QUITE A FEW) LAND ON OTHERS’ CHEEKS AND CHINS IN THE FORM OF ODD COMMENTS (BAD TIMING IS MY KEY). OFTEN I FEEL LIKE A PANDORA VASE. LIMBS, AND HAIR, AND ORGANS, WATER OF IMAGES AND THOUGHTS, BILLIONS OF THEM CASCADING OFF MY OCCUPIED SPACE, GOING INTO SPACE, DISOBEYING GRAVITY.
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PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
SIMONA PIRAS:
A KALEIDOSCOPE IS A RATHER GOOD IMAGE TO DEFINE SIMONA PIRAS’S PRACTICE. MORE PRECISELY, IT IS THE ACTION OF LOOKING INSIDE AND THAT FEELING OF BLOOMING CURIOSITY THAT TRIGGERS HER.
HER RESEARCH IS INSPIRED BY PLAYING WITH THE CONCEPT OF LANGUAGE, ITS MEANING AND NUANCES ALONG WITH THE SEARCH OF THE HIDEOUS GROTESQUE SIDE OF A SCENARIO.
NATURE, MOVEMENT, THE CIRCULARITY OF EVOLUTION, THE AWARENESS OF THE SELF IN A SPACE, THE INTERACTION WITH THE OTHER, EITHER ANIMATED OR UNANIMATED ARE ALSO OTHER SOURCES WHERE SHE FINDS HERSELF WONDERING INTO.
SHE LIKES CREATING STORIES, THINKING, SKETCHING, BUILDING THEM. ANY SIZE, ANY PURPOSE. THE MORE IMMERSIVE, THE BETTER.
IT IS AN ONGOING DISCUSSION AND DISCOVERY TAKEN WITH AN EXPERIMENTAL ATTITUDE AND A THIRST FOR MORE.
THE FOCUS IS TO REVEAL A PERSPECTIVE, AN OPINION AND ENGAGE WITH IT PRO-ACTIVELY. THIS PROCESS IS ENABLED TWOFOLD: FROM THE SIDE OF THE ARTIST TOWARDS THE OBSERVER; AS A REBOUND EFFECT, FROM THE OBSERVER TOWARDS THE ARTWORK.
A GENERATOR OF NEW COSMOS. LIKE A KALEIDOSCOPE.
RESEARCH ADVISOR
ANDREW DEMETRIOU:
PHD CANDIDATE AT TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF DELFT- MY RESEARCH INTERESTS BROADLY INCLUDE: LOVE, AND SMALL AND LARGE- SCALE HUMAN SOCIAL BONDING, THEIR RELATIONSHIPS TO OPTIMAL MENTAL STATES SUCH AS MINDFULNESS, TRANSIENT HYPOFRONTALITY AND FLOW, DURING SYNCHRONIZED ACTIVITIES SUCH AS MUSICAL PERFORMANCE OR APPRECIATION, AND INITIAL ACQUAINTANCE.
LIGHT DESIGNER
ELLEN KNOPS:
Ellen started in 1998 in the Noorderligt musictheater in Tilburg as light technician for popbands. She moved to Amsterdam in 1992 and started to work with dance and theater. She collaborated with Magpie from it’s inception and has contributed to solo projects with Katie Duck, Vincent Cacialano, Martin Sonderkamp and Alex Waterman, all improvised performances. She also works with dancers Lily Kiara, Sara Wookey, Constatien Michos, Machy Lindaue, Sayoko Onishi and Gonny Heggen. She is a resident light designer for the Melkweg Theater in Amsterdam and light designer for the Frascati Improvisation Festival. In 2010, Ellen received the Kylian as someone who has made a significant and inspiring contribution to dance in the Netherlands.
