Mirva Mäkinen

I’ve graduated from the Dance Department of the Theatre Academy of Finland in 2000 (Masters of Art in Dance), later I did a master in Physical Education in the University of Jyväskylä. After this studies I have worked widely in Finland as a dancer, a dance teacher and a choreographer. My true passion is in movement. 2010 I was chosen to do doctoral studies (PHD) in Theatre Academy in Helsinki, Finland. My research is about “Somaesthetics of Contact Improvisation”. From 2000 onwards I have worked as dance teacher at the…

Time to fly | Class, 18-19 may

Monika Gallardo Rosell

I start dancing at the age of 4. I studied ballet, flamenco and contemporary, graduating in the dance school of the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona in 2003, specializing in contemporary. I studied diferent escenic tecniches as aereal dance, jugling, músic and diferent tecniques in contemporanie dance: release, lemon, graham and flying low.
After various experiences of dancing in companies, I had a moment of confusion in which I was no longer motivated to continue repeating…

Falling into the back space | Class, 21-22 may

Ray Chung

Ray Chung is a performer, teacher, engineer, and artist who has a passion for dancing which he likes to share with other people. His main focus is improvisation and he has worked with Contact Improvisation since 1979 as part of improvisational performance practice and integrates other movement forms into his work, including martial arts, bodywork and Authentic Movement. Ray has worked with the leading proponents of Contact Improvisation and regularly collaborates with dancers, musicians, and other…

The Art and Sport of Contact Improvisation | Intensive, 18-22 may

Yaniv Mintzer

Dancer, musician, pedagogue and therapist graduate of Berklee College of Music. Dancing CI since 2004 and eaching in Tel Aviv as well as in the Haifa University and the Vertigo company dancer training. Teaching internationally in Europe, Asia and Israel, in festivals and private workshops. Performs locally and internationally, both as dancer and musician in dance and theatre projects. Practitioner of the Ilan lev method, treating dancers from leading companies- Bat sheva, Vertigo and others.

Dancing body, imagination, intuition and sensation | Class, 21-22 may

Daniela Schwartz & Eckhard Muller

Daniela (Argentina/France) is involved in the practice, performance and teaching of CI since 1998. Memeber of Cie dégadezo. As a visual artist, she is interested in the body, space and movement in the present moment as Materia for research, expression and création. Her multiple medias: video, objects, installation are present in her practices.

Eckhard (Germany/France) co-founder of the Contact Festival Freiburg, is enthusiastically dancing and performing CI since 1988. In his teaching he is playfully searching for depth in the understanding of the form. As a member of Cie dégadezo, he has participated in diverse choreographique dance-theater pieces since 2002.

For the recent past 10 years Eckahrd and Daniela have been traveling and collaborating all over Europe and the Americas, sharing their vision and practice of CI, offering CI workshops and developing projects based in…

Mobility : Accessing the potential of Multiple Directions | Intensive, 18-22 may 



Enikő Szilágyi

Enikő is a performer, teacher and organizer. Starting out with a university degree at the Hungarian University of Physical Education as a teacher of physical education; teacher of APA (Adapted Physical Activity) and physiotherapist. She studied contemporary dance techniques, contact improvisation, acrobatics at Contemporary DanceLab School in Budapest. Since then she has been passionately involved in dancing and somatic movemet, learned from various magnificent teachers from all over the world. As a perfomer, she has participated in various research projects on improvisation…

Blowing Up a Snapshot – Improvising with images | Class, 18-19 may

Steve Batts

I am Artistic Director of Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company, which I set up with Ursula Laeubli in 1991. The company is based in Derry in Northern Ireland. In our company the practice of Contact Improvisation is very important and it is a strong influence on our performance and touring work and on our broad participation programme. I teach internationally when my responsibilities at home allow it. Contact Improvisation is my folk dance. It is a practice that I come to primarily as a participant. Through it I deepen my understanding…

Intensive, 18-22 may

Asaf Barach

ASAF BACHRACH (France/Israel) has practiced contact improvisation for over 15 years, he studied at Tel Aviv, New York, Paris and Boston. Among his most influential teachers are Steve Paxton, Kirsty Simson, Lisa Nelson, Andrew Harwood and Dieter Heitkamp. Since 2000 he has taught in Europe (Paris, Amsterdam, Fribourg Festival, Ibiza Festival, Kiev Festival…), the United States (Boston, Earthdance, and IC 36) and Buenos Aires. Asaf is a founder of the Collective Contact in Paris. He currently lives in this city, where he…

ma-mamia | Class, 18-19 may

Debora Sbaiz

Debora Sbaiz is a dance/movement therapist trained in USA, she has been practicing Contact Improvisation since 1996, she has been teaching it in Italy since 2003. She organises workshops, classes and jams. She sees CI as an opportunity of personal growth and she highly value the CI international community as an example of a new and free society. She is the organizer of the ADRIATIC JAM! – www.deborasbaiz.it
At the present moment she is planning to buy land in north-east Italy and build an Eco Village to live a more harmonic relationship with Mother Earth…

Ready! | Class, 21-22 may