Monthly Archive December 2021

Constanze Schellow

Dr. Constanze Schellow is Juniorprofessor for Cultures of Knowledge and Transmission at the Centre for Contemporary Dance at the University for Music and Dance Cologne. She enjoys working in interdisciplinary formats dealing with their*stories of body-based and -related cultures and economies of knowledges and practices – dance being one of them. Constanze is interested in the networks of relations between dance and other social activities.In 2016 her work has been awarded with the Dance Studies Award NRW. Recently her research project funded by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung focused on concepts and practices of ‘theory’ in contemporary dance educations in Western Europe. As a dramaturge Constanze collaborated with e.g. Eva Meyer-Keller, Simone Aughterlony and Doris Uhlich. 

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Vera Sander

Vera Sander is Professor of Contemporary Dance at the ZZT/HfMT Cologne and has played a key role in its development as director, teacher, editor and organizer. Choreographer, dancer or lecturer at Tanzforum Köln, Dansgroep Krisztina de Chatel, Itzik Galili, Semperoper Dresden, DV8, Adventures in Motion Pictures, verasanderartconnects, a.o.. Director and/or choreographer of the 5th Biennale Tanzausbildung, the Atlas-Workshops (DAAD project to promote cultural dialog with the Islamic world), in Signifying Ghosts (German Federal Cultural Foundation in TURN – Fund for Cooperation between Germany and African countries), the DAAD-funded Erasmus+ project RELAY. Current artistic works Presence through Absence deal with the phenomenon of absence.

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Julie Shanahan

Julie Shanahan was born in Adelaide Australia in 1962. In 1981 she graduated from the Centre for the Performance Arts. 1981-1984 she performed with the One extra Dance Company in Sydney. 1984 she joined Rheinhild Hoffmann’s Bremen Dance Theatre till 1986 and moved with the company in 1986-1988 to the Schauspielhaus Bochum. In 1988 she joined Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch as a dancer and remains to the present day as a dancer and rehearsal director. She also works as a restager of Pina Bausch’s Repertoire for the Pina Bausch Foundation. She has also made creations in recent years with Tim Etchells, Alan Lucien Øyen and Rainer Behr. In 2021 she worked as an actor for Robert Wilson in his piece „I was sitting on my patio this guy appeared I thought I was hallucinating“. In 2022 Julie Shanahan performed „L’Etang“ directed by Giséle Vienne. 

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Jan Broeckx

Jan Broeckx studied at the Stedelijk Instituut voor Ballet in Antwerp, Belgium. He won the Prix de Lausanne in 1979. He was a soloist at the Royal Ballett van Vlaanderen, first soloist at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Bayerisches Staatsballett, Danseur Etoile at the Ballet National de Marseille Roland Petit and guest performer at many galas and in numerous companies. He later became Roland Petit’s choreographic assistant. 

Since June 2010, he has been director of the Ballet Academy at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich.

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Nik Haffner

Nik Haffner (Prof.) is dancer and artistic director of HZT Berlin – Inter-University Centre for Dance that is supported by the UdK Berlin and the HfS Ernst Busch, in cooperation with TanzRaumBerlin, a network of the professional Berlin dance scene. Besides a BA and two MA study programmes the Einstein Strategic Professorship in »Choreography, Dance and Disability Arts«, held by Claire Cunningham, has been established since 2023 at HZT. 

Nik Haffner danced in William Forsythe’ company 1994 until 2000, he co-developed the media-publication Improvisation Technologies and has collaborated as freelance dance-artist with a.o. Jonathan Burrows and Christina Ciupke. As a guest he has taught a.o. for P.A.R.T.S. Brussels, TEAK Helsinki and Trinity Laban London. 

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