MIRVA MÄKINEN
Mirva Mäkinen graduated as a Doctor of Dance from University of Arts in Helsinki in 2018. Her doctoral research is about Somaesthetics of Contact Improvisation. She graduated (MA) from the Dance Department from the University of Arts, Finland in 2000, before that she did masters of Physical Education from University of Jyväskylä.
She is a dance teacher, choreographer and lecturer for dance at the Kallio Upper Secondary School of Performing Arts (permanent position 2000 ->). She has been teaching in several dance companies, universities and international dance and contact improvisation festivals. Mirva has been working as a dancer with many different dance companies and choreographers, here few of them: Dancecompany Karttunen Kollektiv (choreographer Jyrki Karttunen), New Circus Company Circo Aereo, choreographer Joona Halonen, Echo Echo dance company (Ireland), collaboration with Katja Mustonen 2019-2024, collaboration with Frey Faust 2009-2012 and collaboration with JoergHassmann 2006-2012 . Last nine years she has been working with finnish choreographer Valtteri Raekallio.
"In dance I am interested in the feeling of flow and soft movement. I love to investigate movement, its rhythm and different ways of inhabiting the body. A feeling of dancing is created by being able to switch the body from total relaxation to extreme intensity and tension. I call this the body’s ability to breathe and create movement".
VEGA LUUKKONEN
I am a dancer, dance teacher, performance artist, and bodyworker from Finland. I have studied dance and theatre pedagogy in Finland at the Theatre Academy of Finland in Helsinki, from where I received my Master's degree in 2008.
However, I would say that my dearest school and university for contact improvisation has been the Finnish contact community, where I have learned so much from my colleagues, friends, and fellow dancers by sharing the dance and rolling for almost 30 years.
Contact Improvisation has been my passion since I was a teenager. I have experienced many different phases with it. Recently, I have become increasingly interested in details, quality, fine-tuning, listening, and presence. -Accompanied by a deeper understanding of the underlying principles of contact improvisation-.
Breath also plays a significant role in my dancing as it naturally brings me into moments of momentum, falling, flying, swinging, and bouncing.
Technique & Flow. Form & Freedom. Poetic Bodies in Motion.
AVITAL BAR ZURI
Avital is a mom, an artist, dance and somatic movement therapist (DMT, RSMT) and a body worker. She is a certified movement analyst who implements the system of Laban Bartenieff in her work.
Avital met CI 18 years ago and fell in-love. Ever since, she graduated a three years’ program of CI, performance and BF in Jerusalem, studied with various teachers around the world and taught long weekend workshops and weekly classes in festivals both in Israel and around the world.
Avital also teaches Pilates and these days she is in the certification process of the Somatic Experiencing (SE) method.
Avital owns the 'Pantarhei center’ for somatic studies in the north of Israel and runs the 'NANA’ school for somatic movement and dance which is a 3 years program.
"I believe that working with the body enables deep life changes. Movement is constant change and our body is the container where it reveals.
For me the joy is to work with people to understand their patterns and re-pattern them".
ALICIA SOLER
In love with research connected to the BODY, artistic creation, improvisation, somatics, and therapy. I am a performer, therapist, educator, and researcher of contact improvisation for the past 17 years.
It all begins at the dance school in Barcelona: Área, Espai de Dansa i Creació. I study with teachers like Sonia Klamburg, Mauro Barahona, Anne Morin, and Jessica Llano. Here, a teacher shows me that the world of Improv is a lifelong path to follow. I study with teachers of Contemporary, Improvisation, and martial arts such as Kirstie Simson, Maria Munoz, and Pep Ramis, Julyen Hamilton, Linn Johanson, Lucia Palladino, Laly Aigüade, Cecilia Colacrai, David Espinosa, and África Navarro.
Within the world of Contact, I train and share experiences with masters like Kirstie Simson, Nita Little, Anya Cloud, Ray Chung, Linda Bufali, Sole Medina, Simonetta Alessandri, Mirva, Leilani Weis, Laura Hicks, Jess Kurtis, Cris Aiken, Charly Morrisey, Benno, Ramón Roig, Manuela Blanchard, Adrian Russi, Matan Levkowich, among many others.
I am a somatic therapist specializing in trauma and work with Craniosacral Biodynamic Osteopathy. I studied Shiatsu, Structural Osteopathy, and massage.
I am deeply influenced by queer-CUIR and transfeminism: my intention is to increasingly incorporate reflections on intersections that often go unnoticed. Tenderness and radical attention are concepts that I continue to explore.
Fotografía de Beelaert Patrick
MARÍA CANTERO
Scenic artist. Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from the Autonomous University of Madrid.
She specializes in dance, physical and anthropological theatre, training in Madrid (Lecoq Mar Navarro), Denmark (Odin Theatet), Mexico (BECA CEAL UAM), and Poland (Studio Matejka).
She acts, directs, and teaches theater-dance since 2016. Her pedagogical research on actor-dancer training and material creation led her to create "El Cuerpo Infinito". She conducts workshops, directs, and trains groups of professional and amateur artists in Spain and Portugal.
As a Equality Promoter and art-educator for preventing and raising awareness about structural violence since 2016, she brings Contact Improvisation and performing arts to rural areas and equality centers with her "Con-Tacto" project.
As an actress and dancer, from 2016 to 2020, she directed the Colectivo Ópalo company, whose work "Taslima, Caperucita Roja de Bangladesh" was a finalist at the Almagro Classical Theater Festival 2019 and won the National Award for Best Play at Teatros Luchana 2019. Her recent works as an actress and dancer include "CAMINANDO" by Laura Garmo, premiered at the FestivalSurge 2023 (sala ex-límite, Madrid), a finalist at the CENIT Atalaya Festival (Seville) 2023; and she is a performer in "VOCES", a documentary dance piece directed by Silvia Galán (2023-present).
She studies contemporary dance and contact improvisation and, along with Ilda Freire, she creates Cuerpo Colectivo, a collective dedicated to personal and group transformation through dance, somatics, movement, and performing arts, where projects like BRINCA, Galicia Contact Festival, and Espacio A Rigueira are carried out.
ILDA FREIRE
I am dedicated to the study and dissemination of dance, especially Contact Improvisation, which I combine with my work as a massage therapist.
My first encounter with CI was in Beijing at the end of 2016. Since then, I have devoted myself to its study, first in the Beijing community of BJCI, and later in Madrid, where I spent three years in an in-depth program with Cristiane Boullosa and Diana Bonilla. My dance and understanding of CI have also been enriched by participating in over 20 festivals and intensive workshops in various countries in Europe and Asia.
My movement is influenced by Capoeira Angola, Flying Low, and somatic and meditation practices such as Traditional Chinese Massage, Shiatsu, and Vipassana meditation.
Between 2014 and 2020, I lived in Beijing, China, where I discovered Contact Improvisation and underwent a career change, transitioning from architecture to focus on what is now my life: manual therapies, dance, and movement. There, alongside Bojun Hu and Emily Wong, we co-created The Feathers Project, an interdisciplinary project that combined artistic installations, movement, and somatic practices.
Through The Feathers Project, we collaborated with other platforms in creating and facilitating Contact Improvisation workshops and The Everyday Magic program, which catered to various groups by blending movement, mindfulness, and somatics practices. I also participated in several dance and physical theater performances in China.
Since 2022, I have been immersed in a beautiful co-creation process with María Cantero. Together, we have created CuerpoColectivo, Espacio A Rigueira, and BRINCA, Galicia Contact Festival.