Taïgué Ahmed began his career as a teenager with traditional dance in Chad. He first encountered contemporary dance through workshops led by Julie Dossavi. After studying in Senegal and France, he returned to N*Djamena in Chad. Taïgué Ahmed is artistic director of the Association Ndam Se Na as well as of large dance projects with refugees. He organizes dance festivals and international gatherings of art and science in Chad. At the same time, he works as a choreographer, produces pieces by other artists, and dances himself in various projects. He regularly gives workshops in Chad and Europe on different dance techniques and dance pedagogy with a focus on working with refugees, people with war experiences, young people or children. For Tanzkongress 2022, he is co-curating the congress program on the theme of Transcendence together with Mamela Nyamza.

Tadas Almantas is a lithuanian dancer and photographer. He has graduated from the M.K.Č. National school of Arts in Vilnius (LT), furthered BA studies at Codarts (NL), and now is finishing his dance BA in HFMDK Frankfurt. When creating choreography work Tadas focuses on structures, applying visual arts principles to create stage imagery, giving special attention to immersive light design and sound.

Costa Rican dancer and choreographer Adrián Arriaga Madrigal graduated with the second generation of Conservatorio El Barco in 2009. He is the co-founder of the group Colectivo Clá. They won the National Dance Award for best group of choreographers in 2014, thanks to their projects both inside and outside the country. With Colectivo Clá he has participated in all the montages as choreographer and dancer, besides presenting and having given workshops in countries like China, Korea, France, Spain, the United States, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, among others. With Clá, Adrián participated in the Choreographers Festival, organized by the National Theater of Costa Rica, where they won first place twice with their shows El Adicto and Ciebzie, as well as winning three consecutive years the award Virginia Pérez Ratón at the same festival.

He is also a trained instructor of Capoeira, acrobatics and juggling, as well as teacher of contemporary dance. Arriaga has participated in different choreographies with different choreographers of great trajectory such as: Idea de Hombre Viejo by Anton Lachky, Súper Mature and Rara by 4pelos/losdenmedium, PCC33 by Las Hijas de Otro, Entre Quijotes with Andrea Catania and Alex Catona, A partes iguales by Alexis Eupierre, Sueños Cortados a collective work with José Andrés Álvarez, Mario Blanco, Jimmy Ortiz and Diego Álvarez Sanóu and Sueño Kafquiano by Sol Carballo, among others.

Jana Bäskau (she/her) studied German and English at the Universität Rostock and, after working as a press aide at the Volkstheater Rostock, theater studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. From 1999 to 2011, she worked at the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Berlin, first as dramaturg and production manager, later as producer at the department of guest performances/international contacts. She also worked as a producer at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, HAU Hebbel am Ufer, and Diehl+Ritter, a Berlin cultural office operating internationally, among others. For Tanzkongress 2019, she acted as project manager and executive director, followed by an engagement as executive producer at the 2020 edition of Tanz im August and as interim project manager for the Creative Europe project Big Pulse Dance Alliance. Since September 2021, she is a member of the management team for the Tanzkongress 2022.

Bertha Bermúdez (she/her) is a dancer, researcher and interactive artist. With a degree in Dance and Choreography, Bertha has been part of Frankfurt Ballet under William Forsyth’s direction, Compañía Nacional de Danza with choreographer Nacho Duato and between 1999 and 2014 she has worked as a dancer, assistant and researcher with the company Emio Greco | PC at the ICKamsterdam.

In 2005 Bermúdez shifted into dance research, and to this day coordinates different research projects on dance notation and documentation. She has been part of the ARTI group at Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, dealing with artistic research and various European research projects. Nowadays she is finishing her PhD at Amsterdam University.

Since 2016 she develops artistic projects accompanying artists and developing dance documentation strategies at the development and professionalisation centre Dantzaz alongside her own company, Creative Paths.

Felix Berner (he/him) studied dance at Folkwang Universität der Künste in Essen and graduated with the Dance Award of the Josef and Else Classen Foundation. As a dancer, he worked with a variety of international choreographers, such as Pina Bausch, Ann van den Broek, Sharon Eyal, Tero Saarinen, Club Guy & Roni and Jan Pusch, and many others. His work as a choreographer has taken him to the Residenztheater in Munich, the Staatstheater Oldenburg, the Staatstheater Mainz, and the Theater der Jungen Welt in Leipzig. In addition to teaching at various universities, he offers numerous advanced workshops on dance and dance education and is a jury member for the Tanztreffen der Jugend of the Berliner Festspiele. For the Tanzkongress 2022 he is part of the management team, contributing as a conceptual collaborator and collaborated with Marina Grün in curating the module Co-Creating with Communities.

Lisa Besser (she/her) studied international cultural management and worked as a festival assistant for LAOKOON at Kampnagel in Hamburg, the Freiburg Theater Festival, and the Internationale Tanztage at the Staatstheater Oldenburg. There she started out as an assistant in 2007, and later worked as staff member of the dance direction of nordwest / Tanzcompagnie Oldenburg & Tanztheater Bremen. She also served as the organizational director of the PAZZfestival 2008 and the Internationale Tanztage 2009-2013. Since 2014, she has been the creative production director of tanzmainz and the tanzmainz festivals at the Staatstheater Mainz, and works in the same capacity for Tanzkongress 2022.

Fabienne Bill (she/her) lives her vocation as a mediator, team & mental coach. Having worked in various corporate contexts for the last 14 years, she has made numerous experiences and developed an intuitive sense of what people and organizations need in order to deal with challenging situations, supporting her on her quest today. tanzmainz and Fabienne Bill crossed paths 5 years ago and have been collaborating together since. She has been supporting and accompanying the group in its development and communication. She is a mother of one who loves recreational activities like cooking, yoga and playing tennis.

Simomo Bouj moves, moves you, and is moved by you, in many different contexts, environments and (non-)professional spaces. Simomo holds space and helps you activate it collectively with diverse cultural, professional and moving skills that find their origin from Morocco to here. Simomo has a varied dance background starting “on the streets” where they danced hip-hop to the the Royal Conservatory of contemporary dance in Antwerp. They have also started a Masters research program ISAC (Institute Supérieure des Arts Chorégraphique) at the Académie des Beaux Arts in Brussels. They continued their research at Tanzhaus NRW Dusseldorf. There Simomo also created a workshop/think-tank/kiki/salon/ceremony/…whateveryouwannacallit – a gathering that invites “the allowing of art & the art of allowing” and shares the practice of the “embodied safe space”.

Besides that they are choreographing nomadic leaderless raves with Floor van Leeuwen. Together with Jan Hoek they are curating a photo exposition celebrating the unseen for Pride Photo Awards with works of artists from all over the world. Bouj is also the adjunct director of Outsiderland, an art space that exposes, initiates and researches collaborations between the "Outsider and Insider art world". There they bring artists that are not recognized by the “regular” art-scene together with artists who have a spot in the art world.

Bouj makes cool bubblegum installations together with Gert Wessels and lives in them as a jukebox full of various movement philosophies.

Acting as a bridge between Europe and Asia, Gwen (she/her) is a Luxembourg-based international arts manager and producer with over 15 years experience supporting Taiwanese and European dance artists and organizations to realize their international projects. As Head of International Partnerships at National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) in 2017-2021, she led the dance & circus production team under the direction of Artistic Director, and as curator produced Taiwan Dance Platform and Weiwuying Circus Platform. She is Aerowaves Partner and core member of CAN-Circus Asia Network.

PhD in History candidate, from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC). Masters in Performing Art and Visual Culture, University of Alcalá, Madrid. Researcher, teacher, curator and cultural manager. Author of 'Social History of Dance in Chile 1940-1990' (LOM, 2007) and co-author of 'Independent Dance in Chile from 1990 to 2000 Reconstruction of a scene' (2009). Member of the research group Artea (Spain) Director of NAVE Residence and Creation Art Center in Santiago de Chile.

Amelie Deuflhard, *1959, has been artistic director at Kampnagel Hamburg since 2007 and made the Kulturfabrik one of the most important European production houses. She was Artistic Director and Managing Director of Sophiensæle from 2000 to 2007. Together with Philipp Oswalt and Matthias Lilienthal, she initiated the artistic interim use of the Palast der Republik as the 'Volkspalast'. She is the author of numerous publications, regularly holds teaching positions, is a jury member on various search committees, and shapes the German-language theater landscape through her extensive artistic, cultural, and sociopolitical commitment. In May 2022, she was awarded the Theaterpreis Berlin of the Stiftung Preußischer Seehandel at the Theatertreffen.

Laila Diallo (she/her) is a dance maker and performer based in Bristol, UK. Alongside independently and collaboratively devising dance works for live performance, Laila often works as movement director in theatre and opera. Notions of impermanence, of our perception of the passing of time, and of how we negotiate togetherness thread through recent works and current research.

Recent works include short film 1:1, Produced by MAYK and commissioned by British Council #WomenPowerinCulture for WOW Istanbul, and In The Company of Others, a live work currently in development commissioned by Projekt Europa.

For opera and theatre, credits include: ABBA Voyage (Live band choreography), Rigoletto, Otello, Un Ballo in Maschera (Opera North); Wonder Boy (Bristol Old Vic); Three Seagulls (Bristol Old Vic Theatre School), Aïda, War and Peace (Canadian Opera Company); Thérèse Raquin, All’s Well That Ends Well (National Theatre); The Prince of Homburg, Dance of Death (Donmar); Tis Pity She’s a Whore (West Yorkshire Playhouse).

The recipient of a Rayne Fellowship for Choreographers in 2006, Laïla Diallo also was Associate Artist at ROH2, Royal Opera House, between 2009 and 2012, and recipient of a 2018 Leverhulme Art Scholarship through Bristol Old Vic Ferment.

Whether Battle of the Year, Red Bull BC One, Juste Debout or Funkin Stylez: DJ ICE-C has always made sure that dancers get the right beats during his career at countless national and international events. Clubs & festivals gigs, DJ support for live acts or musical excursions into other genres are also always a welcome change for him. There is no limit for music!

Honne Dohrmann (he/him) started out as program coordinator at Kulturetage Oldenburg. As founder of kultur nord–kulturmanagement, he developed numerous formats in various genres and served as director of dance and theater festivals. In addition, he was a member of the review panel for the European Commission's cultural programmes (EACEA) for several years and was involved in the Board of Directors of the IETM (international network for contemporary performing arts). In 2007/2008, he moved from the independent scene to the Staatstheater Oldenburg and became director of nordwest/Tanzcompagnie Oldenburg & Tanztheater Bremen. Since 2014, he has been director of tanzmainz at the Staatstheater Mainz. At Tanzkongress 2022, he serves as program manager.

Sylvia Fritzinger, geboren 1970, absolvierte ein Übersetzerstudium in Köln und Toulouse und studierte Komparatistik, Neuere Germanistik und Skandinavistik in Bonn und Hamburg, Magisterabschluss in Bonn. Während des Studiums war sie zunächst Assistentin im Betriebsbüro, von 2000 bis 2003 dann Pressedramaturgin an den Hamburger Kammerspielen bei Ulrich Waller und Ulrich Tukur. Danach arbeitete sie als freie Redakteurin und Dramaturgin.

2004 bis 2006 leitete sie die Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit am Thalia Theater Hamburg bei Ulrich Khuon. Von 2006 bis 2008 war sie als freie Autorin und Rezensentin tätig, bevor sie 2008 bis 2014 die Leitung der Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit am Oldenburgischen Staatstheater bei Markus Müller übernahm.

Zur Spielzeit 2014/15 wechselte sie an das Staatstheater Mainz, wo sie seitdem die Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit leitet. Seit der Spielzeit 2021/2022 ist Sylvia Fritzinger die Programmleiterin der Kakadu Bar.

Ingrida Gerbutavičiūtė (she/her) holds a master's degree in linguistics, theater studies, journalism, and communication studies from Freie Universität Berlin and works as a freelance dramaturg and curator. During the 2011-2021 season, she was project director at the Lithuanian Information Center for Dance (LT) and in this capacity co-curated, among others, the Berlin festival Litauen tanzt. From 2013-2018, she served as chair of the dance department at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater. In the 2022/2023 season, Ingrida Gerbutavičiūtė will take over the directorship of tanzhaus nrw.

Katharina Greuel (she/her) studied theater in Mainz and Lisbon. As a student, she organized various festivals and large-scale cultural events. At the Staatstheater Wiesbaden she was involved in all editions of Neue Stücke aus Europa, most recently as artistic organizing director. In the same position, she directed the International Büchner Festival in Gießen in 2013. At the Institut français Mainz, she was responsible for the cultural department from 2015 before moving to the Staatstheater Mainz in 2021 for the Tanzkongress 2022.

Marina Grün (she/her) is a contemporary dancer working in dance education. She studied contemporary dance at ABPU Linz and AHK Amsterdam and holds a master’s degree in contemporary dance education from HfMDK Frankfurt. Complementing her work with numerous ensembles at home and abroad, Marina has been conducting dance projects with children, young people, and the elderly since the age of 16. Since 2019, Marina has been responsible for dance education at the Staatstheater Mainz, leading educational projects in relation to dance productions for young audiences, as well as a wide variety of community projects in dance. Most recently, her production BODYBILDER was invited to the Tanztreffen der Jugend and the project SCORES to the Bundestreffen Jugendclubs an Theatern. At Tanzkongress 2022, she is part of the leadership team and curates the module Co-Creating with Communities.

Choreographer, Multimedia & Interaction Designer (they/he/she). Their work lies in the intersection of interface technologies and the politics of the body. Guevaras's work propose playgrounds where the body in time-space becomes a source of non-binary knowledge. They propose abstraction as a strategy to decolonize knowledge, a blurry gaze at the constant state of becoming. They create choreographies that linger at the threshold of exciting and forgetting where the body is a source of healing. His work has been presented world wide in Performing Arts and New Media Art festivals such as Impulstanz, Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Ars Electronica, NODE Forum for Digital Arts

Eleno Guzmán Gutiérrez (he/him) is a producer, cultural manager and curator. Degree in Artistic Education by Escuela Superior de Artes of Yucatán with a thesis on Semiotics for Performing Arts. Director of Dance & Theatre of the Centro de las Artes de San Luis Potosí from 2008 to 2016. Executive director of the Contemporary Dance Production Center of INBAL from 2016 to 2020, producing projects like OMPHALOS by Damien Jalet. Member of the curatorial team at Festival de México en el Centro Histórico and at Cultura UDG Streaming of the University of Guadalajara. General and artistic director of MOVES México.

Pia Krämer (she/her) worked as artistic director, programme director, programme team member, curator and lecturer in Germany, Portugal and Finland. From 2017-2019 she was president of the European Dancehouse Network.
Recently she started to curate documentary films about Contemporary Dance with Accentus Music for ARTE TV and is developing a transition training programme for performing artists as a pilot project in Portugal.

With a career spanning 30 years Dr. Rachel Krische has collaborated and performed internationally with over 30 different artists/companies such as: La Ribot, Akram Khan, Deborah Hay and Siobhan Davies to name a few. She has also made work and taught extensively in diverse contexts. She wrote and launched the Dance programme at Leeds Beckett University in 2010, where she primarily works, and was awarded a PhD in 2018. Her research interests include embodied cognition and social class in relation to movement and embodiment. She mentors artists and is a member of artistic and educational advisory panels within the professional sector. Occasionally she still busts a few moves … in front of an audience.

Heike Kuhlmann (she/her) Dancer, Choreographer, Dance Educator, Body-Mind Centering®-Somatic Movement Educator, ISMETA registered Somatic Dance Movement Educator (RSDME/RSME), Authentic Movement, Mother (2008), part of Global Water Dances Performance Collective 2010-202 1, currently: Research grant on menstruation funded by Fonds Darstellende Künste, Lecturer Somatic Academy: EMERGE-Somatics in Dance, CARE- somatic childhood education, part of AG Tanz und Elternschaft (ZTB e. V.) in Berlin.

Micaela Kühn Jara works in the field of dance mediation with an expanded understanding of the term mediation. She has completed a Master in Dance & Participation at the Danish National School of Performing Arts (DDSKS). With a dance background, her practice includes participation, pedagogy, production and research. Since 2014 she is producer of Alfredo Zinola Productions and currently Kühn Jara is a lecturer at the Dance & Choreography Department in DDSKS, Denmark.

Konrad Kurowski is a member of Lublin Dance Theatre and Centre for Culture in Lublin since 2014. As part of that collective he switches between different modes of working within the dance community, amongst roles he occupies can be listed: dance producer, manager, dramaturge, audience development specialist, as well as co-curator of the International Dance Theatre Festival in Lublin, which is one the biggest and longest running dance festivals in Poland. A member and organizer of several dance initiatives including: Polish Dance Network and Aerowaves. Graduate of culture studies at Marie Skłodowska-Curie University in Lublin, currently a student of post-graduate studies in theory of dance at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.

From 2012 to 2014, Finn Lakeberg (he/him) studied contemporary and classical dance at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt am Main. In the 2015/16 season, Finn was engaged as an apprentice dancer with tanzmainz at the Staatstheater Mainz and has been a permanent ensemble member since the 2016/17 season. He has worked with Guy Weizman and Roni Haver, Guy Nader and Maria Campos, and Sharon Eyal, among others. At Tanzkongress 2022, he is a member of the management team and curates the module Dancers as Experts together with Amber Pansters.

Chun-ho Ivanhoe Lam received a diploma in Drama and Contemporary Dance from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Choreography from Codarts Rotterdam. His work spans stage directing, choreography and movement design. His recent own creations include Report ii-the illegal i, Living up to HER, Report i-Which i am I, Pretext Quartet and ODDs etc. In 2015, he took part in a three-month residency at the Zurich University of the Arts, where he collaborated with ten Swiss artists to curate and create the multidisciplinary performance Odd Couplings. His other collaborations include St. John Passion (SingFest HK & Lautten Compagney Berlin); The Originals - HK Musicals in Concert (Curated by Leon Ko); Love, Death and Everything in Between (Yat Po Singers HK); Why We Chat and Finding Loveless Land (Edward Lam Dance Theatre) etc. His works have toured to Berlin, Erfurt, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Dusseldorf.

Friederike Lampert (Prof. Dr. phil.), is professor for choreography at ZHdK - Züricher Hochschule der Künste, Switzerland. She studied Ballet at HfMDK in Frankfurt/Main and Applied Theatre Studies at Justus-Liebig-Universität in Gießen. Since 1988 she worked as a dancer and choreographer at several dance companies in Germany. In 2007 she received her PhD on the topic of Dance Improvisation at Freie Universität Berlin. She worked as a dance researcher at the University of Hamburg, Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden and Codarts - University of the Arts, Rotterdam. Her focus in teaching and research lies on dance composition, improvisation and applied dance history.

Musician, member of the artistic crew of L-E-V Dance Company of Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar, DJ and drummer.
Lichtik is one of the founders of the Tel-Aviv techno scene in the 1990s where he started his career as a DJ and producer of techno parties and raves. Since 2006, Ori has been collaborating with Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar as a musician in the artistic team.

Malaysian-born How Ngean(he/him) is a dance dramaturg, curator and producer. He has dramaturged contemporary dances in Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Japan and Indonesia. In 2016, he founded Asian Dramaturgs’ Network (ADN, http://www.asiandramaturgs.com), an exchange platform on dramaturgy for performaning arts in Asia, with symposiums and laboratories in Singapore, Japan, Australia and Indonesia. In 2016-2018, he worked on a transnational curatorial project, named Jejak-Tabi, that presented Asian contemporary performers in Asian cities.

Federico Longo was born in 1994 in Rome, Italy. He studied at the National Academy of Dance in Rome, and later on graduated at the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden. From 2016 he danced at Saarländisches Staatstheater Saarbrücken, Germany, under the direction of Stijn Celis. After, he joined Batsheva - The Young Ensemble from 2018 to 2021. Currently, he is dancing for TanzMainz in Germany.

Hannah (she/her) is a German/Chinese choreographer. She was born in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria in Germany. Her focus is on contemporary rituals and the translation of archaic roots within our society. Her works are divided in two choreographic directions: “Taming Monsters” and “Transformances”.

Hannah reflects on eurocentrism, (post-)colonialism, racism, sexism and focuses on diversity mainstreaming, empowerment of feminist actions and gender fluidity. Her choreographic language is creatively mixing elements of dance and theatre, of ballet, dance theatre and performance.

Hannah is and has been working with and been supported by:

Théâtre National Luxemburg; Trois C-L | Choreographic Center Luxemburg; Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen; the German Unesco Commission; Festival Passages Metz; German Consulate General New York; Dachverband Tanz Deutschland; Fonds Darstellende Künste; Arp Museum am Rolandseck; UJ Arts & Culture Johannesburg; National Arts Festival South Africa; MAC Creteil Paris; and others.

In addition to her work as an artist, producer and curator, Hannah has also worked as a hospice helper since 2021.

Luísa Marinho Saraiva (she/her) is a choreographer and performer born in Porto, Portugal, with a Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Porto and a Bachelor’s degree in Dance from the Folkwang Arts University in Essen. Her artistic practice is centered around the exploration of the body as a sounding, resonant instrument. In 2019/2020 she was one of the resident choreographers at K3|Tanzplan Hamburg. As a curator she worked together with Folkwang Museum in Essen and Galeria Municipal do Porto on interdisciplinary formats.

Mamela Nyamza is a dancer, educator, choreographer, and activist in South Africa. A highly versatile dancer, her work combines traditional and contemporary dance with strong, political statements. Drawing from her own biography as well as from collaborations with other artists, she explores issues of gender, discrimination, and trauma both artistically and discursively. Mamela Nyamza has created various non-profit projects that help spread the positive influence of dance in various communities in South Africa. Among them is the University of Stellenbosch's Move 1524 project; a group that uses dance therapy to educate people about issues such as HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, and substance abuse. For Tanzkongress 2022, she is co-curating the congress program on Transcendence with Taigué Ahmed.

Amber Pansters (she/her), born in the Netherlands, started her preparatory dance education at ArtEZ in Venlo. From 2013 to 2017 she studied at Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam, where she finished with a Bachelor degree in Dance. Since season 2017/2018 she is fully employed with Tanzmainz. She has working experience among others with Juanjo Arques, Amos Ben-Tal, Sharon Eyal, Taneli Törmä, Pierre Rigal, Andreas Denk and Guy Weizmann & Roni Haver.
For the Tanzkongress 2022 she is a part of the management team, contributing as a conceptual collaborator. Furthermore she is curating together with her colleague, Finn Lakeberg, the module Dancers as Experts.

Patrick Primavesi is professor and head of department at the Institute of Theatre Studies at Leipzig University. He is in the directorial board of the Dance Archive Leipzig and deputy director of the Centre of Competence for Theatre (CCT). From 2013 to 2019 he was Dean of Studies at the Faculty of History, Arts and Area Studies in Leipzig. He was member of juries or electorial boards such as Tanzplattform Deutschland 2012, Nationales Performance Netz/NPN Tanz (2013-2017) and Deutscher Tanzpreis (2018-2021). Until 2008 he was research assistant at the Institute for Theatre, Film and Media Studies at the University of Frankfurt/Main, were he and Hans-Thies Lehmann established a Master programme in dramaturgy. Since 2016, he leads the working group AG ARCHIV in the German Society for Theatre Studies (gtw) with Franziska Voss (performing arts.eu). Since 2021 he participates in the DFG Consortium NFDI4Culture for the development and curation of data standards, particular for the performing arts. His research projects and publications focus on the history and theory of theatre, dance, and performance, on the critique of representation and on transcultural perspectives, on public spheres, movement in urban space, and archives of cultural heritage in digital environments.

Leisa Prowd (she/her) is a dancer and performance artist. Her interests are pedestrian movement, Butoh, and contact improvisation. Leisa is a member of Weave Movement Theatre and Rawcus Theatre Company and performed in many short films, festivals, and theatre productions.
In 2021, Leisa secured an exhibition of the movement film, I Am Not This Body as part of the Centre for Projection Arts.
Her film, Archiving the Body was shown as part of the Midsumma 2022 Queer My Head exhibition in Melbourne, the Desassossego Short Film Festival, Portugal, and the Cords of Community Film Festival, New York.
Leisa is working with Unusual Symptoms at Theatre Bremen, performing in Harmonia – choreographed by Adrienn Hód.

Christopher Rocholle started with Mammalian Diving Reflex in 2012 with the Children’s Choice Awards Jury at the Ruhrtriennale. A member of the youth collective Mit Ohne Alles, he was also a performer in Small Talk in Daft Hell and Teentalitarianism, both at the Ruhrtriennale, Nightwalks with Teenagers, presented by the Fidena Festival and The Last Minutes Before Mars at the Bochum Schauspielhaus. His hobbies include Handball, Gaming, Anime and Manga and he has helped Darren O'Donnell acclimatize himself to the world of VRChat, which has not been easy.

A native of the city of Berlin where he has created over 80 contemporary choreographic works in the past, Jochen now lives in Zurich where he holds the position of lecturer of dance theory and artistic practice within the MA Dance at the ZHdK - Zurich University of the Arts.

Working on a project basis in Ukraine and abroad based in Kyiv. Director general of Ruban Production ITP Ltd., program director and co-founder of “Impulse of Transformation” independent international dance platform, program and artistic director of venue #KyivDanceResidency – platform for international studies in somatic, dance and performative practices, movement-based art and research. Initiator and ambassador of Ukrainian Emergency Performing Arts Fund initiative. Representative of Ukraine in European Culture Parliament.

Strongly inspired by the works of Jaques Ranciere, Roland Barthes, John Dewey and Franko “Bifo” Berardi. In artistic work explores the correlations between methods of choreography, poetry and cinematography. Also researching interrelations within such binoms as individual and political, private and public, theoretical and practical, ordinary and artistic. Interested in experimenting with other artists in the interdisciplinary projects trying to search for choreographic tools that are appropriated and can be applied to any kind of art. In any interdisciplinary project, eager to question the place and position of the artist ́s body, in its artistic process today. Experiments with different ways of involving nonprofessional audience into creation process and explores the actual practices of mediation between contemporary artists and their audience.

Maasa Sakano (she/her) was born in Japan in 1984 and graduated from the National Theater Ballet School in Melbourne, Australia in 2004. After freelance work in Germany, including with Bettina Owczarek, Bianca Martin and shot AG, she joined the dance ensemble of the Staatstheater Darmstadt under Mei Hong Lin in 2008, where she was working with Jochen Ulrich, Johann Kresnik and Christina Comtesse.

In 2011 she moved to Staatstheater Kassel under dance director Johannes Wieland, where she was working with Evangelia Kapetanea, Jozef Frucek, Stephanie Thiersch and Chris Haring until 2013. Sakano also contributed to Tino Sehgal's installation this variation at dOCUMENTA(13) in Kassel.

In 2013 she reached the finals at the International Solo Dance Theater Festival Stuttgart collaborated with Rene Alejandro Huari Mateus and received the audience award at the 17th Festival of Choreographic Miniatures Belgrade. In the same year Sakano worked in Hannover at Landerer&Company with the choreographers Felix Landerer and Simone Deriu.

Since the 2014/2015 season she is a member of tanzmainz and working with Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, Guy Weizman and Roni Haver, Jo Strømgren, Danièle Desnoyers, José Navas, Garry Stewart, Rui Horta, Koen Augustijnen & Rosalba Torres Guerrero, Guy Nader & Maria Campos, Alessandra Corti, Andreas Denk and Victor Quijada.

Jone San Martin Astigarraga was born in Donostia/San Sebastian in the Basque Country. Since 2015 she lives In Berlin.

She is a dancer, performer, choreographer and teacher of the Improvisation Technologies developed together with William Forsythe. After working as freelance in Spain and Belgium, she joint in 1992 The Ballett Frankfurt under the direction of William Forsythe until 2004, and then she joint The Forsythe Company until 2015. She was part of the first edition of Dance On Ensemble in Berlin and does collaborate with the second edition. She has created several works and with the sólo/conference, on Forsythe’s choreographic notation, Legítimo/Rezo she is touring all over the world.

During all those years she has worked and collaborated with : William Forsythe, Nacho Duato, Jacopo Godani, Saburo Teshigawara, Fabrice Mazliah, Agnès Chekroun, Carlotta Sagna, Jan Lawers, Jan Fabre, Josh Johnson, Tim Etchells, Matteo Fargion, Rabih Mroué, Deborah Hay, Jan Marteens, Ersan Mondtag, Johannes Wieland, Mikel R Nieto, Emanuele Soavi, Ildiko Tóth, Susanne Kennedy, Mathilde Monnier, Auxiliadora Gálvez, Yodfat Miron.

Right now her coreographic research is in colaboration with deaf persons and sign language translators.

Spanish Luisa Sancho Escanero began her ballet training in her hometown of Zaragoza and graduated with the renowned teacher María de Ávila. She gained her first professional experience at Northern Ballet Theatre Leeds and Zurich Ballet. As a solo dancer she worked with Ballet Biarritz, Komische Oper Berlin, Pretty Ugly Tanz Köln/Amanda Miller, Introdans and ballettmainz, among others. In parallel, she worked as a guest artist in international productions with The Forsythe Company, Cologne Opera, Edinburgh International Festival, Cirque du Soleil and Deutsche Oper Berlin. From 2015 to 2020, she was the Artistic Director's Representative and Artistic Coordinator of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company. She is a cultural and event manager and worked as Artistic Coordinator, Head of Special Projects and Strategic Collaborations and Advisor to the Dance Director at Staatstheater Kassel from the 2021/2022 season. As of season 2022/2023 on Escanero has been designated Dance Director at Pfalztheater Kaiserlautern.

As of season 2022/2023 on Luisa has been designated Dance Director at Pfalztheater Kaiserlautern.

Stefanie Schmitt (she/her) studied communication science and psychology and worked as a research assistant at the Universität Mannheim. She then worked as an assistant director in musical theater. In 2016, she joined the Staatstheater Mainz as assistant to the artistic director/project manager. Since 2021, she has focused on the structural side of things by serving as project manager and working in organizational development for Tanzkongress 2022 – Sharing Potentials.

Crystal Schüttler studied stage dance, choreography and dance pedagogy at the Palucca Schule Dresden and at the UAHC Espiral, Chile. Afterwards she was a lecturer at the UAHC and at the Escuela Moderna and danced with Compania Danza En Cruz and Compania Espiral, among others. In Germany she works as a freelance dancer and choreographer and founded Semilla - School for Dance, Performance and Iyengar Yoga in 2015. Regionally she performed at Theater Felina-Areal MA, Tempelhof KA, Theater HD and worked with Unterwegstheater HD and Nostos Tanztheater among others. Since 2019 she is board member and founder of Zeit Tanz Land e.V. (ZTLe.V.), which establishes contemporary dance in rural areas, outside of urban centers. She received grants as a solo artist, for her school Semilla as well as for the ZTLe.V. from the Fond Darstellende Künste, Dachverband Tanz Deutschland e.V., Laft BaWü and the Ministry of Science, Research and Art BaWü, with which she realized e.g. the projects DEEP IN and Tanz_vor_Ort and wrote the Instant Composition & Contact Improvisation - Ein Übungskartetenset. In 2021 she completed the training as an Iyengar Yoga teacher.

Marija (she/her), originally from Slovenia, was part of D.A.N.C.E. (European Interdisciplinary Professional Program) under the artistic direction of Frédéric Flamand, William Forsythe, Wayne McGregor and Angelin Preljocai. In 2010 she became part of the Batsheva ensemble, dancing in Ohad Naharin's and Sharon Eyal's creations. From 2012 to 2016 she danced with the Vertigo Dance Company in pieces by Noa Wertheim, Sharon Fridman and Anna Halprin. She joined tanzmainz in November of 2017. She has been a Gaga teacher since 2010.

Tilly Sordat was born in the spring of 1995 in the French Alps. After studying contemporary dance at SEAD (Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance), she has danced with Iceland Dance Company and Cie Alias. She is now based in Bergen where she performs with the Norwegian National dance company Carte Blanche since 2019. She has cultivated her interest in imagery and mindfulness practices, and is a certified Hatha Yoga instructor.

Tobias Staab (he/him)works as a freelance director, dramaturg, and curator. He launched several programs and festivals, including for the Ruhrtriennale, the DIVE Festival of Immersive Arts, Bauhaus100, Ritournelle, Noise Signal Silence, and Panta Rhei. With choreographer Richard Siegal, he founded the dance company Ballet of Difference in 2016. Since 2018, he has also curated and directed the media art center Oval Office in Bochum. His own artistic works move along the borders of contemporary dance and digital art.

Alberto Terribile wurde in Italien geboren. Dort studierte er an der Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Mailand. Anschließend studierte er Tanz am Königlichen Konservatorium Den Haag, wo er 2013 seinen Abschluss machte.Alberto erhielt sein erstes Engagement 2013/2014 beim BalletMainz und setzte dann seine Karriere am Stadttheater Gießen, Theater St. Gallen und Nationaltheater Mannheim fort. In diesen Jahren arbeitete er mit verschiedenen Choreograf*innen wie Felix Landerer, Stephan Thoss, Ohad Naharin, Johan Inger, Giuseppe Spota, Erion Kruja oder Cayetono Soto.Seit der Spielzeit 2021/2022 ist Alberto Terribile festes Ensemblemitglied von tanzmainz.

Thorsten Teubl studied music and theater at the University of Bayreuth and completed studies in musical theater directing at the HfMT Hamburg with Götz Friedrich. In addition to working as a director and artistic director at various German theaters, he studied cultural management at the TU Dresden and the University Federico II. Naples, as well as various advanced training courses, including Curating in the scenic arts in Salzburg and Munich. After his engagement as dance dramaturg, company manager, later as deputy director of dance theater, at the Staatstheater Kassel from 2008 to 2018, he worked from 2018 to 2020 at the Landestheater Linz as manager and dramaturg together with Mei Hong Lin for TANZLIN.Z and toured worldwide with the company there. In the 2020/21 season he was Deputy Ballet Director and Ballet Dramaturg at Theater Chemnitz, and from the 2021/22 season he has taken over as Dance Director at Staatstheater Kassel.

Juan Urbina is a dancer, teacher, researcher and choreographer based in Frankfurt am Main. His early influences are rooted in Venezuelan syncretic practices. Urbina holds a MA in Contemporary Dance Education (MA CODE, HfMDK). Working with topics of multiplicity in moving archives, his training methods gather inner explorations, improvisation scores and collective dances. Juan searches for togetherness in contrasting forms of physical interaction. He enjoys moving to the music and grooving with other bodies.

Belgian-born Thomas Van Praet (he/him) began his dance training at the Royal Ballet School in Antwerp, Belgium and completed it at the Rotterdamse Dansacademie Codarts in the Netherlands.

Natalie Wagner has been a freelance dance artist for over 20 years. She has created and directed numerous short pieces as well as full-length productions. She completed her Master in Dance Education at the Zurich University of the Arts (2011) and her Master of Arts Choreography at the Palucca University of Dance in Dresden (2020). She then received a two-year full-time scholarship from the Saxon State Scholarship for Graduates and Master Students and focused on professional identity in dance. Natalie Wagner is designated chief choreographer at the Landesbühnen Sachsen from the 2022/2023 season.

Dancer, actor, choreographer, filmmaker, personal trainer and social media creative, John Wannehag is currently a member of tanzmainz (Staatstheater Mainz). He previously danced for Skånes Dansteater and ForsWorks. His work spans between film, choreography and performance, exploring a dichotomy of sensitivity and explosiveness, sensuality and conflict which has already won him awards and recognition including: SOLOCOREOGRAFICO, Hannover International Choreographic Competition finalist, Rotterdam International Duet Choreographic Competition, Cinedans Amsterdam among others. Born in Sweden, John trained in Lund, Sweden & graduated from Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, UK, with a MA in performance practice.

Guy Weizman (he/him) is the director of two of the big, state funded, performing arts companies in the Netherlands: contemporary dance company Club Guy & Roni and theatre company ‘NNT’. Together they form NITE: National Interdisciplinary Theater Ensemble.

In The Human Odyssey Guy and his ensemble create new performances by collaborating with artists and ensembles abroad, touring various continents. During the pandemic, he created the NITE Hotel: a virtual theatre for cross-platform, custom-made performances and exchange.

Guy started his career in Batsheeva Dance Company and danced with companies like Ultima Vez and Galli Dance before starting ‘the club’ in 2002.

Ophelia Young is a dance-worker currently based in Germany. She studied contemporary stage dance at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. From 2014-2021 she has been a full-time member with Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. Since 2021 she is working freelance as performer, collaborator and creator in different project-based formations in Germany and abroad. Ever since she was elected as ensemble representative at TTWPB in 2018, she got sensitized to the cultural political sphere and social dimensions of the performing arts processes and is keen on questioning the status quo of the field. Her objective is to contribute within her abilities and support change in the industry from within as an active participant. Working with OFEN Co-Arts- Platform on the How do you respond? discussion-groups, is one more precious opportunity to learn and contribute towards improving the work environment of the dance scene.

Alfredo Zinola (*1982) is a choreographer and performer. He graduated from the University of Turin (IT) with a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology - Intercultural Communication and studied Modern Dance at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen and Curating in Scenic Arts at the University of Salzburg (A). His main artistic focus is the production of contemporary dance pieces for young audiences. In doing so, he wants to push the boundaries of what a performance for children can be, and he wants to question the relationship between society and childhood. Zinola's work seeks to create a consistent and uncompromising experience between the audience and the performers, and his work is also based on collaborations with other artists: such as Felipe González, Maxwell McCarthy, Ximena Ameri and Micaela Kühn. For 2020 to 2022 he is Factory Artist at Tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf.