Four choreographers and four musicians coming from Lebanon, Japan, Palestine, Belgium and Togo are meeting on stage over a banquet of food. They are coming from different continents, cultures and countries. They have different artistic experiences, different backgrounds and ideas. What connects them is their profession. They talk, drink, laugh, dance, and eat together.

 

The simplicity of this meeting would be a starting point to a more complex choreographic and conceptual performance structure. Beytna is a simple invitation to the home of the other: health, happiness, pleasure, compassion, and friendship. It is an invitation to the artist’s profession and choreographic construction, as much as it is to the forms and situations of the past.

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Omar Rajeh is a critically acclaimed choreographer and dancer, a leading figure of contemporary dance in the Arab world. Following an MA in Dance from the University of Surrey, Omar Rajeh founded his company in Beirut in 2002. Cut from the fabric of Lebanese culture, Rajeh has spent over 18 years weaving, exploring and refining his choreographic language by questioning the notion and zeitgeist of the contemporary body. His works expose a rawness and intuitive dramaturgy surrounding the idea of body plurality, asking both the performer and audience to question and break the perception of oneness and singularity. We are not just one body, we are many and all.

 

Omar Rajeh | Maqamat has performed over 20 choreographic works in major European, regional and international theatres and festivals. His work has made a significant difference and an essential contribution to the establishment of a contemporary dance scene in Lebanon. Rajeh is the founder of BIPODBeirut International Platform of Dance, one of the richest and most important contemporary dance festivals in the Arab countries. He is a co-founder of Masahat Dance Network, a regional contemporary dance network across Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan. In addition, he is the founder of Moultaqa Leymoun, a platform showcasing and developing the work of young and established Arab artists.

 

Concept and choreography: Omar Rajeh

Choreographed by: Koen Augustijnen, Omar Rajeh, Anani Sanouvi, Moonsuk Choi Μουσική σύνθεση / Music composition

Musicians: Ziad Ahmadic, Samir Nasr Eddine, Oussama Abdel Fattah, Joss Turnbull

Performers: Koen Augustijnen, Anani Sanouvi, Yi-Chi Lee, Omar Rajeh

Percussion: Youssef Hbeisch

Voice: Nohad Rajeh

Scenography & Costumes: Mia Habis

Technicians: Christian François, Philippe Balzé

Sound Engineer: Jean-Christophe Batut

Lighting design: Victor Duran Manzano 

Graphic design & Video animation: Joe Elias, Nimslabs

Photos by: D.Matvejev | Jean Philipse

Inspired by the painter Antonio Ligabue and his extraordinary visions of the natural world, Animale brings to the stage, in the words of John Berger, a frightfully indifferent nature, made of energy and combat, that exists without promising anything, where life’s first need is for shelter, its first prayer an appeal for protection, its first sign of life pain. It is in this desolate context that we find beauty, and the discovery is sudden, unpredictable.

 

Francesca Foscarini has been involved in contemporary dance for several years as a dancer, teacher and choreographer. These three ways of practising dance are in constant communication with each other, influencing and feeding off one another. Her works include Cantando sulle ossa (Best Solo Masdanza), Grandmother (Equilibrio Award Roma 2013 Performer), Gut Gift by Y. Godder, Vocazione all’Asimmetria with A. C. Martini, Oro, L’arte di resistere, in collaboration with Dance Well (movement and research for Parkinson) and Animale a solo for R. Guion (Danza&Danza Prize). Her recent creations are Punk. Kill me please and Italia - Museo dell’Altrove. As a dancer, she has collaborated with Y. Godder and A. Sciarroni.

 

Cosimo Lopalco is an Italian writer and dramaturg. He is the author of the novel Tutto a posto tranne me and the poetry book La città che non esiste. As a dramaturg, he has co-written several dance works together with Francesca Foscarini, as well as LANDing, an interdisciplinary workshop based on the principles of psychogeography. He lives between England and Italy, and has a small, naughty dog called Annibale.

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Choreographer: Francesca Foscarini

Performer: Romain Guion

Dance is a mating ritual. Even today in the age of online dating apps, dance continues to play a central role in how many of us find a mate. This dance production for four Romeos (one of whom is performed by a woman) explores the idea of dance as a thrillingly up close and personal form of courtship. Each spectator can slip into the role of Juliet and witness the dancers’ struggles to impress — with their artistry, charm, athleticism and at times nothing more than naked desperation. Romeo, Romeo, Romeo is a celebration of the kinetic splendor engendered by hope and desire. Each performer is seen actively grappling with the questions of what sort of man they want to be and how to present themselves to the world. The movement language is based on the dancers’ own specialized mating techniques, studies of animal courtship display (ostriches, gorillas, unicorns…), folk dance traditions (Maori, Greek…), and internet dance fads (Gwara Gwara, Whip/Nae Nae…). The result is an innovative dance production, featuring exuberant group dances, playful interactions with the audience, and personal insight into this most ancient of dance occasions.

 

Since its founding in Bern in 2012, the Joshua Monten Dance Company has grown steadily into one of Switzerland’s most widely touring dance companies, with more than 700 performances in 37 countries around the world. The range of performance venues is exceptionally broad, including leading venues for contemporary dance, street theatre, visual art, experimental theatre, queer arts and children’s programming. Each of Joshua Monten’s productions is a rigorously structured composition that leaves ample room for playfulness and pleasure. Technically demanding, highly physical dancing is layered with spoken text and other theatrical codes, thus creating a polyphonic composition that speaks to a wide range of audiences. The productions spin a web of complicity so strong that audience members frequently become characters in the very performance that they are witnessing.

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Choreographer: Joshua Monten

Performers: Léna Bagutti, David Pallant, Konstantinos Kranidiotis, Jack Wignall  Lighting: Luz González

In this solo performance, Elena Antoniou unapologetically demonstrates herself in order to highlight the personal experience as a collective landscape. She overexposes the female body with pleasure and extends the limit of spectacle by skillfully and intentionally inviting the gaze of the spectators. In LANDSCAPE, Antoniou creates the space and the environment for the political body to exist as deeply traumatized, yet superficially sexual.

 

Elena Antoniou is a dance and performance artist from Cyprus. She graduated from the Greek National School of Dance and the London Contemporary Dance School “The Place” as a member of the Edge dance company. She was a scholarship recipient at Koula Pratsika Foundation and the Danceweb Programme at ImpulsTanz Vienna. Her work has been presented in Berlin, Athens and Tel Aviv in collaboration with organisations such as Onassis Stegi, Marina Abramovic Institute, NEON Greece and Athens and Epidaurus Festival. She has also collaborated, as a choreographer and movement director, with theatre directors and companies in Greece and Cyprus. Since 2021 she has been collaborating with internationally recognised artist and choreographer Maria Hassabi. She received the Choreography Award at Cyprus Theatre Awards in 2008 for the play Diary of a mad man, and was nominated for the same award in 2011 for the play Beckettx5.

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Concept, choreography, performance: Elena Antoniou

Music & Sound design: Stavros Gasparatos

Art Direction: Christos Kyriakides

Dramaturgy: Odysseas I. Konstantinou

Lighting design: Vasilis Petinaris

Photo: Stelios Kallinikou

Graphics: Nikos Stephou

Prοject coordinator:  Loukia Vassiliou

How can a young woman find her own self under the many veiling and protective layers that surround her? Layaz is a play about identity, freedom, the “other” that is inherent in us - and about female complicité across generational and cultural boundaries.

 

Cat moved to Austria at the age of four. She has a background in fine art and street dance.

 

Editta Braun was born in 1958 in Austria. She is a pioneer of contemporary choreography in Austria. Her work, focusing on intercultural collaborations, is politically engaged with a feminist view on society and theatre.

 

Thierry Zaboitzeff was born in 1953 in the north of France. He is the founder and composer of the avantgarde-rock formation ART ZOYD. He is a freelance composer and musician for film, dance, theatre, and events.

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Choreographer: Editta Braun

Performers: Cat Jimenez, Editta Braun

Composer: Thierry Zaboitzeff

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Co-production: L’Estruch Sabadell, Fábrica de creación (Spain)

Funded by: Bundesministerium Kunst, Kultur, öffentlicher Dienst und Sport, City of Salzburg, Region of Salzburg.

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Supported by the Austrian Embassy in Cyprus

In 1977, psychologist Arthur Aron, together with a group of research colleagues, published the article “The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness”. In his research, Aron assembled 36 predefined questions designed for dialogue between two strangers, so that they gradually become more and more personal. According to the study, openness to another person and placing ourselves in a position of vulnerability develops strong intimacy that will lead to immediate love.

 

“Would you like to be famous? When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else? What is your most terrible memory? How close and warm is your family?” 4 dancers... 36 questions...

 

Between a talk show and Sunday confession, Q&A shares intimate moments from the performers’ lives and creates a 50-minute event, more like a sharing than a traditional performance.

 

Ultimately, we are all looking for connections with other people and we believe these 36 questions are a way of breaking down barriers and getting to know the individual. If we used this experiment and questions not only to find love but mutual understanding and a connection between people both within the same community and within communities, then we can increase understanding and tolerance.

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Rachel Erdos is an award-winning independent choreographer from Tel Aviv, Israel. She received her MA from The Laban Centre London specialising in Choreography. Among multiple other awards, Rachel received the prize for independent choreographer of the year 2015 by the Ministry of Culture, Israel. Her work has been shown in prestigious venues including The Kennedy Centre (Washington DC), The Joyce (New York) and the Royal Opera House (London). Rachel teaches extensively to both professionals and non-professionals, and in 2018 she was a visiting artist/professor at Brown University, USA. In recent years, Rachel has also been active as a dramaturg for dance for the Yossi Berg and Oded Graf Dance Theatre, Ido Gidron and others. In 2020 and 2021, Rachel was selected for the artistic direction of the MASH Dance Festival in Jerusalem.

 

“Rachel Erdos is calling attention to herself and her works through their diversity and the skill behind them”. (Ora Brafman, Dance Critic).

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Choreography and concept: Rachel Erdos

Creative performers: Matan David, Tomer Giat, Shay Haramaty, Ori Lenkinski

Music: Liverpool Express, Beach House, Giannis Parios, Erik Satie, Lia Ices Dramaturg: Nava Zuckerman

Lighting design: Omer Sheizaf

Costumes: Veronika Szor

Artistic advisors: Anat Katz, Erez Maayan, Nitzan Cohen

Production: Tali Koenigsberg

International Communications:

Katherina Vasiliadis

 

Premiered in IntimaDance, Tmuna Theater in June 2017.

Supported by: Intia Dance Festival, The Ministry of Culture and Sport, The Israeli Choreographers Association, The Israeli Embassy of Cyprus

45 shows the story of young dancers, talking in a symbolic dimension about the subject of a collective, merged with teamwork, as well as a common, conscious decision to choose art as a way of life. The creators want to show the present being of the oldest dance theatre in Poland. The idea of 45 is to go beyond the traditional form of the choreographer’s and the composer’s correlation. The travel appears as the theme of the performance: a journey as a sign of theatre, as a search, as a choreographic composition and an interactive invitation for the viewer in the site-specific space.

 

The performance is co-organised by the Institute of Music and Dance within the framework of the Choreographic Commissions 2019 Programme.

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Founded in 1973, the Polish Dance Theatre is a professional and autonomous collective. Its countenance evolved from ballet-shaped spectacle forms to contemporary genres: dance theatre, characterized by crossing over genres, as well as technical and stylistic borders, liberating itself from traditional methods of expression, leaning towards interdisciplinarity, pursuing new theatre spaces and an improvisation-based creative process.

 

Jacek Przybyłowicz is a choreographer. Between 1987-1991, he was a dancer at Teatr Wielki in Warsaw. His debut as a choreographer came with Negotiations set to the music of Alessandro Marcello. He left Poland in 1991 and spent many years as a member of the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company in Israel. From 1994 to 2001, he performed with the KCDC at numerous prestigious contemporary dance festivals, visiting over 50 countries, including the USA, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan. He has performed extensively in Europe and Poland. In 1997, he performed in the Batsheva Dance Company’s Kyr choreographed by Ohad Naharin, presented as part of the Yair Shapira Dance Prize. At that time, he also collaborated with Lambros Lambrou Dance Company, participating in a project presented around Europe. He returned to Poland in 2002.

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Choreographer: Jacek Przybyłowicz

Performers: Evelyn Blue, Kacper Bożek, Julia Hałka, Patryk Jarczok, Jerzy Kaźmierczak, Zbigniew Kocięba, Katarzyna Kulmińska, Dominik Kupka, Daniel Michna, Jinwoo Namkung, Katarzyna Rzetelska, Sandra Szatan, Zofia Tomczyk, Emily Wong-Adryańczyk

Mystical imagery; dark atmosphere; Greek tradition deconstructed and linked with the present. An original choreography inspired by the legendary Dance of Zalongo. Danae & Dionysios carry the emotionally charged ‘last dance’ onto the stage, conveying the movement towards the brink of the abyss. Bodies turn into earth, nourishing in turn what once nourished them. From the ground to the sky; from the roots to the blooming flowers; from the end to the beginning; from the beginning to the end: the endless cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

 

Free At Last was originally produced in 2019 by Theater Rotterdam, Stichting Droom en Daad, RIDCC and Big Story Productions. [Original Cast: Pauline de Laet, Livia Petillo, Ioulia Zacharaki, Danae Dimitriadi].

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Danae and Dionysios have been collaborating since 2015. As apprentices of nature, its animals, and indigenous civilisations they create stories from the side of the one who was or still is untamed. Ιn their creations, they propose harmonic relationships between nature and its living beings, while the dreamlike atmosphere usually wrapping their work, becomes a conversation between chaos and order. Trying to balance between accessible and pioneer, they support the idea that art is a universal medium of communication, which can create a dynamic yet fragile language. Together, they created their first production UNCIA, which has been touring internationally, counting more than 55 performances in 11 countries, and has received 8 awards across Europe. Later on, they created the full evening show ATMA, which has been touring in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and Free At Last, which was created under the production house of Theatre Rotterdam. In 2021, supported by the Athens & Epidaurus Festival, they created a new version of the same work titled Free At Last: Rerooted, which premiered in Athens, Greece. Their latest production Valley of the Hummingbirds was commissioned by Staatstheater Braunschweig and premiered in Germany in February 2022. At the same time, they create projects for postgraduate programmes and professional dance schools such as “FRE3 Bodies” in Barcelona and “EPDCYL” in Burgos, while giving workshops around the world.

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Choreographed by: Danae & Dionysios

Performers: Ioulia Zacharaki, Irο Daskalaki, Emmanouela Pechynaki, Natalia Baka  Original Music: Constantine Skourlis

Lighting design: Jorg Schellekens

Light adaptation: Lampros Papoulias, Vangelis Mountrichas

Costume design: Danae Grimopoulou

Cello: Konstantinos Chini

Vocals: Maira Milolidaki

Loom weaving: Loomigans

The knowledge built, the new roads paved in dance, and the heritage created by Akram Khan›s famous team, as well as the concept of the multi-ethnic dialogue are now passed on to highly charismatic, remarkable, upcoming choreographers/ dancers through the Portraits in Otherness project. Under the guidance of Farooq Chaudhry, producer of Akram Khan Company, and a close associate of leading dancer and choreographer Akram Khan,the project consists of two dynamic solos by internationally recognized and awarded choreographers Joy Alpuerto Ritter (BABAE) and Dickson Mbi (Duende).

 

Without expressing specific genres or trends in dance, they bring to the stage sounds, experiences, and images that express different dance languages, which they were either taught or inherited through the history of their homeland. They are bridges between cultures, eras, knowledge and intuition. They each carry an ancient heritage, honoring traditions, while transforming and creating them in their own ways.

 

Portraits in Otherness continues to grow and evolve through the support of organizations such as Attiki Cultural Society, who are devoted to supporting new voices and creating a cultural landscape that reflects our culture and our times.

 

“Portraits in Otherness represent two important things to Akram and myself – giving back and contributing to the future of dance. We have provided each artist with the optimum artistic conditions to express their ideas, concepts and language with as much confidence and clarity at this fragile point in their careers. Just as many people did for us almost twenty years ago. We feel this is our artistic and cultural responsibility! We look forward to the stories they will tell and the stories we believe they will continue to tell in many years to come.”

 

–Farooq Chaudhry OBE, Producer of Akram Khan Company Αkram Khan, choregrapher

 

Creative Director, Curator: Farroq Chaundrie OBE

Εxecutive producer, co-production: Attiki Cultural Society

Production Manager, Light Technician: Fabien Bleisch

Technical Director & Sound Engineer: Frederic Defay

Production assistant: Margaux Karagianni

Tour Management: Geni Lou, Eleni Moustaira

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Co-produced by: STEPS Festival, Akram Khan Company, Sky Blue productions, Attiki Cultural Society (Greece).

“BABAE” means “woman” in the Tagalog language of the Philippines. A 30-minute solo work inspired by the “masterpiece of strangeness”, Mary Wigman’s Witch Dance. Raised and classically trained in Germany, Joy examines inherited vocabularies, reconfiguring what it means to summon the power and mystical practices of woman as witch. Combining her roots in Philippine folk dance, classical training and vocabulary of hip hop and voguing, BABAE is a one-woman interplay between the animalistic and sensual qualities of ritual and power.

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Joy Alpuerto Ritter was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. In her youth, she was trained at the Ballettschule Armin Krain and learned Philippine Folk Dance in the cultural dance group led by her mother. In 2004, Joy graduated from the Palucca School in Dresden, Germany with a dance diploma. She started working as a freelance dancer with choreographers like Christoph Winkler, Heike Hennig Wangramirez, Constanza Macras and Yui Kawaguchi. After expanding her repertory in urban dance styles, she became part of the Hip Hop and Voguing Ballroom culture scene in Berlin winning prizes in several Dance Battles like Voguing out Berlin, Defipayette, Oval Battle and Funkin stylz. In 2011 she joined Cirque du Soleil as a dancer and aerial artist for the Michael Jackson Immortal World Tour. Since 2013 she has been a dancer and rehearsal director of the Akram Khan Company. In 2016 she was nominated “Outstanding Female Dancer” (modern) in Until the Lions by the National Dance Awards UK. Since 2016 Joy has been creating her own choreographic work such as Unda (premiere at the Barbican London), Alter Egos (Sophiensaele Berlin), Heimkehr (coproduction LOFFT das Theater), rOOms. With her solo work Babae, she has found international response as a Choreographer and is one of the Aerowaves artists 2020. Her work as a choreographer established new collaborations with Akram Khan (UK), Ballett Black (UK), Chen Shi-Zheng (New York), Riz Ahmed (UK), Viviana Durante (UK), Floria Sigismondi (USA/ CA), Florence and the machine (UK). As a teacher, Joy has been giving workshops worldwide and has created commissioned works at SEAD - Salzburg Experimental Dance Academy, DAF- Dance Arts Faculty in Rome and Beijing Dance Academy in China.

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Choreographer, Dancer: Joy Alpuerto Ritter

Composer: Vicenzo Lamagna

Lighting design: Arne Schmitt, Joy Alpuerto Ritter

Costume: Lan Behrendt DYAO

Artistic assistant: Lukas Steltner

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Creative Director, Curator: Farroq Chaundrie OBE

Εxecutive producer, co-production: Attiki Cultural Society

Production Manager, Light Technician: Fabien Bleisch

Technical Director & Sound Engineer: Frederic Defay

Production assistant: Margaux Karagianni

Tour Management: Geni Lou, Eleni Moustaira

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Co-produced by: STEPS Festival, Akram Khan Company, Sky Blue productions, Attiki Cultural Society (Greece).

A journey, a memory, a reflection, a ritual, and a personal narrative Dickson’s Duende is a revelation of the soul, breaking the habit of concealing what makes us who we are and finding the confidence to put our soul, its history, and our feelings on display.

 

Dickson Mbi creates an otherworldly fairy tale that brings to life the emotions revealed in these moments of light. Developed over one year, Duende represents a significant milestone in Dickson Mbi’s artistic journey. This twenty-minute solo with an original score by Roger Goula, intuitively brings together memories from Dickson’s ancestral African heritage, his elite popping skills and his training in contemporary dance.

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Dickson Mbi is a world-renowned dancer in the Hip Hop dance community. He is known for his remarkable popping skills, strong personality, powerful movement, and positive attitude. He has won many major Popping competitions including: Juste Debout UK, BattleISM, KOD and the UK B-Boy Championships. Together with his partner Brooke Milliner, he is committed to fostering new generations of dancers both within their battling crew Prototype, which won the major World Hip Hop Dance Championships, as well as with Fiya House, a Popping crew. With a background in jazz, ballet and contemporary dance, he trained at Lewisham College & London Contemporary Dance School. Dickson won several choreographic awards and commissions: REVERB Award for Best Choreography 2015, MASDANZA Audience Award for Best Choreography 2016, National Theatre of Korea commission solo, Leave A Trace – CHVRCHES (Music Video) 2016 and OLMECA Commercial. He has featured in major TV commercial campaigns: BALLMAIN X H&M 2016, AUDI E TRON 2014. He has danced with world-leading artists including Basement Jaxx, Shallama, Robbie Williams, Corrine Bailey-Rae, Black Eyed Peas, Russell Maliphant and Boy Blue Entertainment. His work has been recognised nationally as he was nominated for three major dance awards: “Best Achievement in Dance” at the UK Theatre Awards 2017, “Emerging Artist” and “Outstanding Male Performer (Modern)” at the National Dance Awards Critic Circle 2017.

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Choreographer, Dancer: Dickson Mbi

Composer: Roger Goula

Lighting design: Fabiana Piccioli

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Creative Director, Curator: Farroq Chaundrie OBE

Εxecutive producer, co-production: Attiki Cultural Society

Production Manager, Light Technician: Fabien Bleisch

Technical Director & Sound Engineer: Frederic Defay

Production assistant: Margaux Karagianni

Tour Management: Geni Lou, Eleni Moustaira

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Co-produced by: STEPS Festival, Akram Khan Company, Sky Blue productions, Attiki Cultural Society (Greece).

The workshop will include improvisation and the dancers will be working on different ideas and body positions, aiming to develop their creativity and personal expressive qualities. It will be centred around the waving technique, rhythmic and ground exercises. Body rhythm and musicality will be also explored.

 

Joy Alpuerto Ritter was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. In her youth she was trained at the Ballettschule Armin Krain and learned Philippine Folk Dance in the cultural dance group led by her mother. Since 2013 she has been a dancer and rehearsal director of the Akram Khan Company. She continues her touring life all around the world, as a performer and presenting her own work. As a teacher, Joy has been giving workshops internationally (Romania, Germany, Italy, Austria, China etc), focusing on choreography and improvisation. Her dance language is mixed between urban dance, folk and contemporary dance and concepts.

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Workshop with Dickson Mbi ― 11:00 - 12:30

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Dickson Mbi is a world-renowned dancer in the hip hop dance community for his popping skills, integral to his work today. Through this workshop, he shares his practice and experience working with leading artists Basement Jaxx, Shallama, Robbie Williams, Corinne Bailey- Rae, Black Eyed Peas, Russell Maliphant and Boy Blue Entertainment. Contemporary dance, martial arts and popping techniques, with a particular focus on improvisation, release, floor work, partner work, and performance techniques shape his workshop. Starting with a warm-up, Dickson will lead the participants through his solo work, performed as part of Portraits in Otherness.

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For information and securing a place contact 25343904