Regular Teachers 1999–2008

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Serge AMBERT
After studying both classical and modern dance, Serge Ambert was engaged by the Lyon Opera Ballet Company in 1983. From 1988 he began dancing with Andy Degroat and also started creating his own work. He met Wilfred Piollet and Jean Guizerix with whom he danced ‘The Conspiracy’ (La Conjuration). He then became interested in baroque dance and performed with the renowned baroque dance company ‘Ris et Danceries’ for five years.
Since 1993 he has been dancing with the Company of Christine Bastin, most notably in ‘Gueule de Loup’, ‘The King’s Polka’ (La Polka du Roi) and ‘Be’. In 1993 he began collaborating with Jacques Fargearel, creating ‘Between Heaven and Earth’ (Entre Terre et Ciel) and ‘The Sun of the Innocents’ (Le Soleil des Innocents). Early in 2001 he choreographed the solo ‘The Sentinel’.

Katharina BADER
Katarina Bader graduated from the CNDC in Angers and from the Cunningham Studio and Jose Limon Foundation in New York. She has worked for various contemporary dance companies, most notably the Mark Morris Dance Group from 1989 and the Company of Christine Bastin from 1992. She teaches for the latter, a company whose work combines movement with theatrical elements. Her main tools are emotion, improvisation and creativity developed by the strength of the dancer’s own energy and imagination. She also teaches for other French and Belgian companies. She has lead workshops for SE.S.TA on three occasions.

Christine BASTIN
Christine Bastin is a dancer and choreographer. She founded her own company ‘La Folia’ in 1986 under the auspices of the State Centre of Choreography. She incorporates theatrical elements into her movement work. For her, its core is emotion, improvisation and creativity. Her choreography suprises with the strength of its emanating imagery and energy. She has taught for SE.S.TA three times.

Nadine BEAULIEU
Nadine Beaulieu is a dancer of contemporary techniques whose professional experience has been gained with a whole host of dance companies outside France, and above all with New York Erick Hawkins' company.
As a pedagogue, she has succeeded in exploiting her rich experience from Hawkins. She teaches regularly at the CNDs / National Dance Centres in Paris and Lyon, in Christiane Blaise and Angelin Preljocaj companies, at the Universities of Paris VIII and Lyon 2, and at the Cefedem (training centre for teachers of dance and music) in Caen and Rouen, Canaldanse. Nadine Beaulieu brings her ability to teach dancers at the highest technical and artistic levels. Her motivation is to connect a pedagogical approach with the creative process. During their last project, her company worked with artists in a hospital environment, where they explored the perception of the body according to medical iconography.

Sophie BILLY
In addition to her career as a ballerina in the Ballet of the Paris Opera, the London Festival Ballet and the Royal Ballet de Wallonie, Sophie Billy has been a member of both neo-classical and contemporary dance companies. She currently works as a teacher at the National Dance Centre (Centre National de la Danse) and together with Jean-Christophe Parre and Wilfred Piollet is developing a method of analysing dance movements which can be directly applied to dance technique. She is founder of her own company ‘De Sidera’.

Léone CATS-BARIL
Leone Cats-Baril is a butoh dancer and from 1988 to 1993 was assistant to Karlotta Ikedo in the world renowned company ‘Ariadone’. In 1998 she founded her own group ‘Incarnat’, for which she has choreographed more than nine works, two of which received awards: Mandapa and Arts Chrysalides. She runs regular courses in Paris and workshops abroad. She works with other internationally acclaimed dancers on improvisation projects. She has taught for SE.S.TA on four occasions.

foto: Sylvie Friess

Dominique BOIVIN 
Dominique Boivin and his company, Beau Geste, have remained among those at the fore of the French dance world since 1981. Dominique Boivin gained his experience in France alongside Carolyn Carlson. In 1978, in Bagnolet, he obtained the award for humour, then was awarded a grant to study for two years in the USA, and on his return, he began professional cooperation with Alwin Nikolais. He was also employed by choreographers such as Decouflé and Larrieu. From 1981, together with his company, Beau Geste, he developed an interest in new approaches to dance, discovering new possibilities, such as the incorporation of a pool into the piece, Aqua ca rime / Water, That Rhymes, or the complex techniques in the performance, Transports Exceptionnels / Exceptional Transport. He has also worked with renowned writers (Marie Nimier and others) and choreographers (eg. Pascale Houbin). In 2007, as part of the Prague Quadriennial 2007, SE.S.TA invited the performance Exceptional Transport to Náměstí Republiky, in order to introduce the Prague public to Boivin‘s signature style, brimming with humour. Characteristics of his work include a distinctive relationship with theatricality, rich, poetic work with gesture and a sensitive way of dealing with serious topics.

Claude BRUMACHON
Claude Brumachon is one of the foremost French choreographers of contemporary dance. For the past nine years he has also been director of the CCNN. In conjunction with the dancer Benjamin Lamarche he has been the recipient of eight awards, including ‘Le Medicis hors les murs’ for his choreographic work throughout the world. In 1992 they presented ‘Le Palais des Vents’ in Prague. They have created projects with foreign artists, where emphasis was placed on real exchange, both individual and cultural, working, for example, with artists from such diverse backgrounds as Africa, Chile and Finland. They have also received commissions from various international companies, ranging from the Ballet du Rhin in France to the Raatikoo Company in Helsink,i to both create new and re-create old choreography.

Paco DECINA
Of Neopolitan descent, he settled in Paris in 1984 where he founded his company Post-Retroguardia. In 1987 he received the Ménagerie de Verre/Glass Menagerie prize for his choreography Tempi Morti and presented Circum vesuviana the following year, before a larger audience in Paris. Scilla e Cariddi created in 1990 is considered to be a decisive piece for Paco Dècina in relation to his approach to the human form. Fifteen more pieces ensued, presented at the ThéČtre de la Ville/the City Theatre in Paris, toured in France, Portugal (Porto), Italy, etc. He has been invited to choreograph for the Maggio Danza in Florence and was artist in residence at the ScŹne Nationale de Chalon-sur-Saône..

Agnès DUFOUR (FR)
Text will be available soon.

Jean Gaudin 
In 1979 Jean Gaudin based the choregraphic company CJG. From then on he created some 25 pieces and 12 dance videos. Over 120 artists and technicians have worked on those creations and thus contributed to write a singular artistic story in the field of french contemporary dance. While being inspired by various influences always mixing cinema and visual arts, Jean Gaudin’s choregraphic writing is characterised by a free treatment of movement and a strong dramaturgic stand. One must add to this a constant research for permanent dialog between the stage and the audience. Some have percieved it as a filmlike writing of movement, even comparing it to burlesque works of the 30’s, especially those of Buster Keaton.

Julie FOX 
studied History of Art in Auckland (NZ), then set design in Canada, at the National Theatre School and the Banff Centre for the arts.
Since 1994, she has been working as an independent set designer, and creating decor and costume designs for theatre and dance companies, and also for the Canadian National Arts Centre. Since 1998, she has been cooperating exclusively Daniel Brooks, renowned director in Canada, on adaptations of classical texts as well as new pieces. She has won many awards for her work, and performances featuring her sets have been performed at a whole host of international theatre festivals. She won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for the best set design twice, and her designs were nominated for it on several further occasions. Since 2002, she has been based partly in the Czech Republic, and her set designs have appeared on the stages at Ponec and Archa Theatres. In Canada, she teaches set design at the University of Concordia and the National Theatre School.

Suzon HOLZER (CH)
Text will be available soon.

Marie KINSKY
Marie Kinsky is a dancer, teacher and graduate of the French Conservatoire of Classical Dance. She has worked for various companies. She has a deep interest in various contemporary dance techniques and in dance theatre. She has performed in more than nine countries throughout Europe, including the Czech Republic, and in Japan. From the outset she combined her dancer’s career with that of a teacher. She analyses movement, space, various feelings and body states, which enable each individual to discover the world of movement. She regularly teaches Limon technique and various methods of analysing dance movement: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10.00 hrs to 12.00 hrs., Stefanikova 19, Prague 5 (For more information telephone: 224 317 901.

Jan KOMÁREK
Narodil se v Praze, kde také vystudoval propagační techniku na UMPRUM. V roce 1983 začínal v loutkovém divadle MIMO THEATRE ve Francii, dále pracoval několik let v Kanadě, kde vytvořil přes dvacet vlastních projektů a získal několikrát cenu DORA MAVOR MOORE za režii a světelný design. Od r. 2001 pracuje v Praze jako světelný designer, vytvořil několika autorských představení v divadle Alfréd ve dvoře, NoD, Ponec, divadlo 29 v Pardubicích a další. Komárkovy projekty se vyznačují precizností a vyhraněností pohybu, prací s vnitřním napětím performerů a osobitým výtvarnem, ve kterém světlo přetváří a vymezuje hrací prostor.

Sumako KOSEKI
Sumako Koseki studied butoh dance in Japan under the guidance of Isso Miura. She then became interested in contemporary dance influenced by No and Kabuki and collaborated with Grotowsky in Italy. In 1980 she founded her own company in France which appeared several times at the Avignon Dance Festival and performed throughout Europe. At ‘La Comedie Francaise’ (National Theatre) she assisted with choreography and performed under the direction of such theatre directors as Znorko and Philipe Adrien and at Tabar likewise. She is a guest teacher on numerous workshops.

Helge LETONJA (DE)
He is an artistic director, dancer and choreographer. Besides this profession, he regularly acts as senior lecturer, as well as being a member of an international panel during competitions. In 1996 he founded in Bremen, Steptext Dance Company (currently: Steptext Dance Project), for which he creates two choreographies per theatre season. Letonja is also co-founder of the Iniciative, ´Dance Town: Bremen´, for contemporary dance in Bremen. He is responsible for its content, conceptual and programming activity, and also develops and directs it. Letonja attempts to connect the regional with the national, diversity and dynamics of contemporary dance creation.

Martha MOORE (USA)
Martha Moore studied various release techniques at American Universities during the time of their births (Ideokinesis, Feldenkreis Method, Body Mind Centering, Alexander, etc), and very quickly combined them in one technique. Since 1977, she has been exploring various connections between release techniques and dance, and leading workshops and courses for various organisations and institutions in USA, France and abroad.

Béatrice MASSIN (FR)
Having performed with a number of contemporary companies, she was engaged by the company, Ris et Danceries, in 1983, where for ten years she was a contemporary performer and explored the repertoire. She acted as assistent and co-creator to Francine Lancelot. In 1993, Béatrice Massin founded the company, Fêtes Galantes. Her work makes use of the choreographic vocabulary of the dances of the 17th and 18th centuries, in an entirely original way. Fêtes Galantes also offers pedagogical programmes with the reconstructions of plays belonging to the Baroque repertoire (in the amphitheatre of the Bastille Opera House, the Cité de la Musique of La Villette, the CND, the Bastille Opera House).In 1999, Gérard Corbiau asked her to create and realise the performance of a choreographic work based on his film, Le Roi Danse (The King Dances). The last great success of the company and B. Massin is the performance, Que ma joie demeure / Let my Joy Remain, which has been performed on tour in France, Belgium, Italy, Cambodia, Syria, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Egypt, Lebanon.

 

Jan MINAŘÍK (CZ/DE) ve spolupráci s Béatrice Libonati (IT/DE)
Jan Minařík was born in 1945 in Prague, and came to dance via the Army' s artistic group, from where he soon came to the National Theatre in Prague and then to Janáčkova Theatre in Brno. From there, he left for Innsbruck and then to Pina Bausch' s Tanztheater in Wuppertal, where he was soloist and co-director of the company until the year 2000. Béatrice Libonati has often cooperated with Suzanne Linke, and they made worldwide, guest appearances together. In the course of her artistic development, she was coached in countless dance techniques, from folk and classical right through to the techniques of modern and contemporary dance, and she has always proved to be significantly accomplished in every one.

Jean-Christophe PARÉ
Jean-Christophe Pare graduated into the Ballet of the Paris Opera in 1976 and was promoted to First Soloist in 1982. For a number of years up to and beyond 1982 he was a member of the experimental dance group of the Paris Opera: ‘Groupe de Recherche de l’Opera de Paris’ (GRCOP). He left the Paris Opera in order to concentrate on his work with various contemporary French choreographers: D. Larrieu, R. Chopinot, F. Verret, A. Degroat… and on his own choreography ( he has created more than fifteen works to date). He works intensively with Wilfred Piollet and Jean Guizerix, former stars of the Paris Opera Ballet, who are naturally also very open-minded towards contemporary dance creation. In addition to this collaboration as a dancer, he co-operates closely with kinesiologist Odile Rouquet in the field of research kinesiology. He is regularly invited to teach at various conservatoires and on numerous workshops. In 1990 he became Director of the National Centre of Contemporary Dance in Angers.

Wilfride PIOLLET (FR)
Wilfride Piollet is an eminent dancer of the Paris Opera, and a pedagogue at the Paris State Conservatory. In her work, she focuses on dancers of classical ballet and contemporary. Wilfride Piollet' s work, on the whole, takes classical dance, and incorporates in it the most recent research into dance movement. She prepares dancers to be able to work with very varied movement vocabularies, on the basis of knowledge of the fundamentals of dance movement, knowledge of one' s own body, and greater independence during class, where she connects strong dance currents spanning many styles from Baroque to William Forsyth.

Pedro PAUWELS (FR)
Born in Belgium, Pedro Pauwels studied at the Rosella Hightower Centre in Cannes. He collaborated with Dominique Bagouet, Mathilde Monnier, Petr Goss, Viola Farber, Jean-François Duroure, Bella Lewitsky. He danced with Karine Saporta – at the Caen CCN / National Centre for Choreography, then with Odile Duboc– at the Belfort CCN. In November 1990 Pedro Pauwels, thanks to the association PePau, founded his own dance company, and in 1991 his first piece, L’Insoupçonnée, was performed. He has since been realising regular productions with PePau and creating concepts for individual events. He also runs educational and awareness-raising activities in cooperation with the French National Board of Education, and teaches at the Paris CND. In 2003 and the 3 ensuing years, Pedro Pauwels returned to science and technique. He joined contact between the University in Caen and his laboratory, and created the project, Sens I, at the Enghien-les Bains Centre. In 2006 the project Sens I was chosen by the dance commission of the AFAA to be toured to South Africa. In 2007, Sens I was performed in Paris, at the Cairo Festival and in Carthage in Tunisia.

Anne-Marie REYNAUD
Anne-Marie Reynaud is a teacher, dancer and choreographer. She is currently director of the National Centre of Dance (Centre National de la Danse) which provides further training for professional dancers and teachers. In 1999 she lead an improvisation and composition workshop and discussion at the Duncan Centre in Prague.

Serge RICCI (FR)
gained an education in classical ballet at the Rosella Hightower Centre in Cannes. As a performer, he cooperated with a wide range of companies, and became educated in a variety of dance techniques (eg. Alexander, Body Mind Centering), but it was Feldenkrais technique which became the most important focus of interest for him. He introduced himself as a choreographer with the duet, Les jardins obscurs, as part of the programme of the Hivernales d'Avignon 94 festival, and in the same year, he founded his company, Mi-Octobre. For Mi-Octobre, he has created the following productions: Educere (1994), Retour à ses tours (1996); Phalène, phalène (1996); (1997); Champs clos Ilinx (1998); the trilogy Partiellement Effacé (2000) – Humor (2001) – Endless (2003). In Ricci' s work, focus moulds form, and priority is given to corporal discourse, which moulds the space.

Anna SEDLAČKOVÁ (SK)
Anna Sedláčková is a Slovakian dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. She teaches contemporary dance technique at the Bratislavan VŠMU (Academy of Performing Arts) and studies at the The School for Body Mind Centering in the USA. She founded the movement studio Dvorana, and co-founded the Asociáciu súčasného tanca (Contemporary Dance Association, in Slovakia). She has created numerous performances for her company AS Project eg. BMExpress, Ako sme sa zmizli, Bratislavské tangá. She has worked on many dance projects internationally and in Slovenia, the USA and Holland.

Laurent SCHNEEGANS (FR)
Laurent Schneegans studied theatre technique in Paris. He has cooperated with renowned directors and has also gained experience in the field of lighting open-air performance. He came to meet dance and Paco Decina in 1996. Since then, they have been professionally collaborating on a regular basis. In Prague, his work has been seen in Autumn 2007, with the performances Salto nel Vuoto and Rytíři bez brnění. He regularly leads workshops in theatre lighting. His work in lighting is based on close collaboration with choreographers. His lights above all provide conditions in which the body and movement can develop. He often unwittingly calls on live colours to help the audience enter the world of the performance more easily. He holds the view that however important light design is in a performance, it should never play the principle role.

Gyork Joseph SZAKONYI
Since 1987 Gyork Joseph Szakonyi has been involved in the creation of eight works with the Nadj company, in addition to Catherine Diverre’s project ‘Le double de la bataille’. He holds a diploma in the teaching of contemporary dance and has taught both in France and abroad since 1995. Together with Joseph Nadj he leads the Regional Creative Workshop of the National Choreographic Centre in Orleans (CCN v Orleans).

Atsushi TAKENOUCHI
Atsushi Takenouchi is a Japanese soloist and performer who has improvised in the open at more than five hundred venues throughout Japan and abroad and has encouraged the instigation of many workshops for a wide spectrum of social groups: artists, children, mentally disabled etc. In order to broaden and deepen his own understanding of his work, he has travelled the world, coming into contact with different cultures, different dancers. His creations stem from the most basic forms of traditional butoh.

Mariko TANABE 
For twelve years MARIKO TANABE was a principal dancer, teacher and associate rehearsal director of the American Modern Dance pioneer Erick Hawkins. In 1996 she was Assistant of Marie Chouinard. She is the artistic director of her company Mariko Tanabe Danse in Montreal. She is the recipient of several awards for her choreographical works that have been preented alll over the Word including Prague. As a guest artist MARIKO TANABE has taught at several Universities (DE, CA, USA, AUSTRIA, MEXIQUE, CZ) Her background includes work Japanese dance forms,Flamenco, Middle Eastern Dance, experimental theatre, Alexander technique, yoga and the healing arts. She is graduated from Body Mind Centering.

Wladyslav ZNORKO
Wladyslav Znorko founded the theatre company Cosmos Kolej in France. This company has performed in Prague on several occasions. In France he is known for his theatrical creations, akin to the world of Tadeusz Kantor.