Bancs d’essai internationaux

Choreographer and performer : Maria Kefirova
Artistic advisor and rehearsal coach : Florence Figols
Rehearsal coach (original version) : Caroline Laurin-Beaucage
Technical director : Karine Gauthier

Parallel to her work as a performer, Maria Kefirova has been developing her own artistic vision combining dance, theatre, performance and video. The main concern in her recent projects (Gold Meat 2010, Corps.Relations 2010, Manufacturing tears 2009, my Head/my Body 2008, Appearances 2006) is the constantly undetermined equilibrium which exists in our relationship with our bodies; the correlation between our body/mind reality and our socio‐cultural environment. She explores the body as a complex and rich paradox, as a place of constant motion, transformation and transition and searches to reveal its poetic power.

Maria Kefirova is a Bulgarian-born dancer and choreographer based since 1992 in Montreal. She has danced for different companies and choreographers such as Lucie Gregoire Dance, Cas Public, Florance Figols, Heloise Remy, Sara Hanley and Mariko Tanabe. Currently, Maria is part of DasArts (Master of Theatre), The Netherlands.

Choreographer and performer : Babacar Cissé

Dance, and more broadly art, remains the motto of Les Associés Crew that loves to mix their work discipline and spontaneity with dynamism and maturity of their proposals, development of individuals and the group requirements. The company has gradually gained experience and was structured around the desire to create, but without ever losing its warmth.

LES ASSOCIÉS CREW has been present in the French art scene since 2006. Its members are hip hop dancers in the region of Bordeaux with exceptional records for many years, both in battle shows and in various dance companies (Hors série, Pietragalla, Rêvolution, Choréam, Paul Les Oiseaux, Ultimatum Step, Tribal Jam).

Under the artistic direction of choreographer Babacar Cisse “Bouba”, seven dancers and performers, encompassing jazz culture, classical, contemporary and African, form the core of the team.

Les Associés Crew is today supported in their artistic projects and actions through a network of partners that include the CDC “« Le Cuvier» (Artigues-près-Bordeaux), Initiatives d’artistes en danses urbaines (Paris), la DRAC Aquitaine, le Conseil Régional d’Aquitaine, le Conseil Général de la Gironde, le Théâtre de Bressuire (Deux Sèvres), and the city of Cenon.

Winner with Être et renaître of the 2008 Beaumarchais contest, (competition rewarding a young dance company for his writing in dance choregraphy), the company has received the support of the Foundation Beaumarchais / SACD and Central Dance Le Galion. The CCN of La Rochelle will provide founds on creating the next performance of the company, a solo : Le syndrome de l’exilé (The exile syndrome).

Choreographer and performer : Daniele Ninarello
Music : Autori Vari
Coproduction : Interplay/12

Daniele Ninarello attended the Rotterdam Dance Academy and has since had the opportunity to dance with international choreographers:Bruno Listopad, Felix Ruckert, Barbara Altissimo, Meekers Uitgesprokendans and Virgilio Sien. Since 2007, he has been continuing his own choreographic research and presented his creations Coded’uomo, Man Size, Non(leg)azioni and God Bless You in several festivals around Italy and Europe and in Brazil. As a choreographer he collaborated with Collectivo Burak “Spazi per la Danza Contemporanea 2010”. Man Size was selected by Anticorpi XL network and was presented within Festival Les Reperages. He took part in the Transforme project, under the artistic direction of Myriam Gourfink at the Fondation Rouyamont, where he experimented the gestural capture using the new technology, along with composer Daniel Zea. He also received a choreographic residency for a co-creation with Gianfranco Celestino at Mosaico Danza and at the Centre Choreographique Luxemburgeoise. He was finalist at “Premio Equilibrio Roma 2011” with Occhi neri capelli blu, and he was selected with Man Size and Non(leg)azioni for CDC-Les Hivernales Avignon 2011, 100% Danse Quand les régions s’en mêlent… and for Correios em Movimento Festival of Rio De Janeiro.

choreographer: Tanja Råman
dancers: Tanja Råman and Iain Payne
sound/lighting/film: John Collingswood
original costume design: Neil Davies
The soundtrack features a live remix of Unmarked Graves and Saudade by Helen Chadwick.

Unattaching is a new piece for 2 dancers, musician and video screen, re-worked from Kuuluako, which was originally commissioned by Welsh Independent Dance in 2006 and has been performed both as a duet and a solo.

The choreography, film and sound for the original piece: Kuuluako were developed simultaneously from the same initial concept to allow natural integration of these aspects and to enable each element to influence the others. The film and the soundtrack became integral to the choreography – adding dynamic and emotional layers to the performance.

Since the creation of Kuuluako the working practice of the collaborators has evolved significantly, becoming more process-led, layered and interactive. Their recent work focuses on methods of choreographing all of the elements that make up a dancer – including body, mind, spirit and energy – as well as the audience. In Unattaching, the artists are revisiting one of their earliest collaborations but this time with a mature, more holistic perspective.

tanja råman+dbini industries was created in 2005 by choreographer Tanja Råman and visual/sound artist John Collingswood to produce poignant work that, although abstract in nature, draws inspiration from personal histories, making the work accessible and emotionally significant to an audience. Over the years, the company has developed a distinct style of work that integrates abstract yet expressive movement with the innovative use of technology. The company aims to explore and enhance choreographic expression with the use of creative staging, using video, light, sound, photography, drawing and other artforms.

tanja råman+dbini industries is an associate company of Taliesin Arts Centre and of the National Dance Company Wales.

Tanja Råman originally from Finland, studied dance at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 1997-2000 and gained her MSc in Dance Science at Laban in 2003. Tanja completed her PgC Teaching in Higher Education at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff in 2008. In 2011, Tanja also became a registered cranio-sacral therapist.

Since 2000, Tanja has worked as a dancer with various choreographers, performing in contemporary dance / dance theatre / contemporary butoh productions in the UK and internationally. Tanja has been living in South Wales since 2004 and currently works as a freelance choreographer / dancer / researcher and lecturer. Tanja also practices as a cranio-sacral therapist.

As a choreographer, Tanja Råman has developed a distinct movement aesthetic that has lead to her work being shown in established British venues and dance events, including The Royal Opera House, Southbank Centre, The Place Prize 2006 and British Dance Editions in 2008 and 2010. In 2007, and again in 2011, Tanja received Creative Wales awards from the Arts Council of Wales to embark on major research projects and to develop her choreographic practice.

John Collingswood (dbini industries) is a multidisciplinary artist who works through sound, video and visual design. In 1992, he graduated from University of Wales, Newport with a degree in Fine Art, and began applying his skills in various performance contexts, from nightclub visuals and djing, through children’s theatre to contemporary dance. Since returning to Wales in 2006, he has collaborated with numerous artists and organisations including National Theatre Wales, Marc Rees, Sean Tuan John, Cai Tomos, Re-Live, gaijin-san company, Deborah Light, Earthfall and Welsh Independent Dance. John is one of a handful of artists in the UK currently using the software package Isadora to explore the possibilities of creating responsive video environments within a contemporary dance context.

Choreographer : Arno Schuitemaker
Performers : Manel Salas Palau, Iker Arrue Mauleon
Music : Wim Selles
Light : Ellen Knops
Costumes : Judith Abels
Production: Productiehuis Generale Oost and Productiehuis Brabant

The present seems to be screaming for a response. The everyday complexity around us makes the world become more and more intangible. Shifts on economical, social and political levels are overlapping and continuously follow. A natural cohesion seems to disappear. With The Fifteen Project, Arno Schuitemaker sets a new step in his research about the relationship between the human being and the time we live in with two central questions:  how we relate to ourselves, to our body and to others on one side, and how the science of mirror neurons influences the relationship between the performers and the audience on the other side. Two male dancers, both with their own strong personality, dance a fifteen-minute duet. Choreographer : Arno Schuitmaker Performers : Manel Salas, Iker Arrue Music: Wim Selles
Light: Ellen Knops
Costumes: Judith Abels
Production: Productiehuis Generale Oost and Productiehuis Brabant

Arno Schuitemaker obtained his Master’s degree at the University of Technology Delft, Arno Schuitemaker (1976, The Netherlands) and then decided to drastically change course to study contemporary dance. Since his graduation in 2007, he has created many successful performances like Proxemics (2007), ZONE (2008), ANOMIA (2008), EXIT (2009), Couple (2010) and TIDE (2011). Other works were created for Codarts Rotterdam Dance Academy, Artez Dance Academy, Legitimate Bodies Dance Company in Ireland, and Dutch company Conny Janssen Danst. He is a teacher at the BA Dance and Choreography departments of Fontys School of Performing Arts and he regularly teaches (repertory) workshops and classes for professional dancers and dance students. In 2009, he won the Dioraphte Encouragement Award and in 2010 the Brabant supports Top Talent grant.