Cv medverkande Nordiska länder varia2011 Erikk Mckenzie dans/musik (NO)

CV medverkande Nordiska länder - VARIA2011
Erikk Mckenzie dans/musik (NO) - (coordinator of and part of VARIA2011 group 1)

Erikk McKenzie studied fine art and dance in Norway before moving to Amsterdam, receiving bachelor degree in dance and choreography from School for New Dance Development in 2008. Currently working as a musician, video artist, choreographer and performer, his interest lies naturally in the crossing of disciplines and in the process of collaboration. He finds inspiration in the change of context – between cultures, between fields of specialization, looking for new reference points for perception. In these experiences he finds a base for the continuation of his work; through the use and recycling of sound, image and choreographic material. Innovation, fusion and soul are key elements in his artistic source. His diverse experience with media allows him flexibility in selecting a suitable form for each individual proposal. His music has been published through koept.net and plasticstrip.no and his compositions have toured internationally with various companies. His videos have been screened in Spain ( MONO, Convent Saint Augusti, IDN ), Hungary ( Edit2007 ), Norway ( Tou Scene, Nordlys ), Holland ( Badhuis Theater, Julidans ). His choreographies have been performed in Norway ( Tou Scene ), Spain ( IN ), Uruguay (Sitiada ) and Hungary ( L1 ). Erikk medverkade i VARIA2007 och VARIA2009 samt är en av medlemmarna i det nya Nordiska nätverket NORIA (NORdic Improvisation Art).

1 Video/light artist (FIN) – (Part of VARIA2011 group 1) Under planering med E McKenzie

Stian Skagen music (NO) – (Part of VARIA2011 group 1)

S Skagen is an artist working on the borderline of philosophy, physics and science. By combining sound

and philosophy with contemporary science and digital developments, Skagen produces a complex ambience

where the borders of the perceptual experience are challenged. Whether it is in his sound performance projects, installations or texts, the common factor is time, space and systems reflecting and shaping our environ-

ment and the surroundings that build up our reality. In sound performance projects and audio storage Skagen works with an analogue and digital environment, generative software Reaktor, MAX/MSP enables Skagen to combine and construct custom tools to generate sound and visuals in realtime processes, where he is searching to find new sonic expressions and complex sound structures. In 2003 he constituted Ryfylke with Sten Ove Toft. Ryfylke is now one of Norways leading experimental sound duos and have established themselves on the national and international scene for electronic music. Skagen is inspired by the conceptual art of the 60’s, where such as W. S. Burroughs, John Cage, Pierre Schaeffer,, “The art and language group” and Joseph Kosuth merged art and language into a solid form which challenged the structures of art, society and institution. Influenced by contemporary artists such as Ryoji Ikeda and Carsten Nicolai, Skagen works under strict conditions, materials and concepts to give his ideas a system to work within. These systems might be a mathematical formula, a geometrical shape, a historical thesis or the theories of physics and philosophy. Skagen looks at his production as a continuous research, where his artistic practice evolves and take on new forms in different medias. By combining the different arenas such as art institutions, performance and audio. storage, Skagen gets the ability to show different sides of the same nature to a broader audience. In 2006 Skagen published his first book in the [concept.virus] series, where some of his work is elaborated on. For Skagen art is a complex structure of several equally valued positions and actions, thus he has worked as curator, producer and promoter for artists that represent a view and expression that stands out as coordinate points and polarities on the map of contemporary art. Skagen says; “I do not consider myself as a sound artist, sound art is specific and relates to sound as tradition. Sound has a quality which is not found in other media such as the visual arts and sculpture, I use this quality in my artistic production, not as an ornamental extra, it builds up the very essence of my work, and this essence may also appear as visual art and sculpture.” http://www.conceptvirus.org

Christian Skjodt music (DK) (Coordinator and part of VARIA2011 group 2)

Christian Skjodt was born in Aalborg, Denmark and started playing drums at the age of 7. Since then he has received a master's degree in drums and music technology from The Academy of Music in Aalborg, and has been awarded The Jazz Musician of Northern Jutland 2007-2008, Appetize Awards Talent of the Year 2008, and several other prizes. He is also curating and managing the record label Tonometer Music releasing creative and adventurous music on vinyl, and has performed and/or recorded with musicians as Eugene Chadbourne (US), Pat Thomas (UK), Herb Robertson (US), Martin Klapper (CZ), Sture Ericson (SE), among many others.

Christian medverkade i VARIA2009 samt är en av medlemmarna i det nya Nordiska nätverket NORIA (NORdic Improvisation Art).

CV medverkande Nordiska länder - VARIA2011
Sune Petersen video, light... (DK) (Part of VARIA2011 group 2)

I am an engineer specialized in submersive interactive performance, I have been participating in various projects involving perfomances and installations in need of a more submersive expression. I also do visual performances using modular real time visual software. Through Motorsaw and the studenthouse in Aalborg I have concieved and implemented the event Søvnig Mandag, where like minded musicians and visual artists meet to

collaborate on the creation of musical networks and live collaborative performances. Later exhibitions and installations; 2009 Silo 3 as part of Electrotexture Lab, interactive sms and light programming, ongoing. 2009 technical implementation of Mikko Mansikkalla's ”uh you touch my tralala” interactive sound installation for world out games. 2008 Close/ recursions at Kunstpavillonen Aalborg, evolving recursive visual installation and prints. 2006 Displayground Video festival at Nordkraft Aalborg, live video performance, technical coordination and artistic planning. Etc.
Eniko Buday dance (HUN) (Part of VARIA2011 group 2)

Is an experimental dancer, born in Budapest in Hungary. She started to dance at age of 8. In her dance studies she was paying more and more attention to and examining the possibilities of the forces inherent in improvisation. She creates space specific - situation specific -performances. The main focus is on the body. Body is as physically material as well the space. Education; -08 Theatre Department Performers House Denmark etc.

Christina Hallström video (S/NL) (Video, dans projekt & dokumentation VARIA2011)

Was born and raised in Sweden, in1998 she graduated at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Since then she works as a visual artist/filmmaker of documentaries, art- and music-films. Since 2004 she is also a part time artist-manager at the Amsterdam Graphic Arts Atelier. She was represented in the Tallinntriennial 2007 at the Kumu Museum in Tallinn. She participated in the improvisation festival VARIA2006, 2007 and 2009 in Gothenburg and she also practises Bodyweather training regularly. Recently she finished Noctiluca Miliaris a short video shot entirely under water. Noctiluca is a colaboration project between a visual artist, a dancer and a composer.

Lisa Larsdotter Petersson dans (S) (Project leader and part of VARIA2011 group 3)

Lisa Larsdotter Petersson dansare, konstnär och initiativtagare, projektledare och medverkande VARIA2006 – 2011. Lisa har studerat dans och improvisations tekniker, skulptur, filosofi, foto, aikido mm. i flertalet länder.

Hon kombinerar uttryck i performance, föreställningar, utställningar på teatrar, konsthallar, gallerier mm.

Vid sidan av egna projekt producerar, initierar och komponerar hon internationella, nationella och lokala möten, projekt och föreställningar där improvisation och möten mellan medier ofta har huvudrollen; Såsom t.ex. VARIA, VARIA Grows Nordic, DAMPcrew, Big Under, Dansbandet med mycket mera.

Lisa undervisar dans, konst och teater studenter m.fl. i improvisationstekniker och rumsuppfattning.

Lisa är via VARIA en av medlemmarna i det nya Nordiska nätverket NORIA (NORdic Improvisation Art) som hon även är projektledare och initiativtagare för/till. I vår (-11) bl.a. aktuellt med; ”När-Varande” – fysiska bilder/levande skulptur på Göteborgs gator och torg. www.varia-impro.se

Niklas Pohlman ljus (S) (Part of VARIA2011 group 3)

Niklas har en gedigen bakgrund och mycket stor erfarenhet efter många år i branschen. Tidigare har han bland annat jobbat med audiovisuella lösningar i utställningssammanhang, t.ex. på Göteborgs Museer. Har även varit inspicient på lunchteatern på Stadsteatern i Göteborg, där gällde det att mycket snabbt förstå och verkställa den nyanlända teatergruppens ljus-intentioner. Niklas har arbetat som AV-tekniker på Volvos konferensanläggning i Göteborg, där han utförde många teaterljussättningar till events och bil-reveler. Han har varit ljus- och ljudansvarig på Göteborgs musikhögskola i sex år, där han bland annat jobbade med att ljussätta Lenny Panes musik-teater produktioner varav tre uppfördes i Liverpool. Niklas har även varit ljus, ljud och bild projektledare, först 8 år på AV-Huset i Göteborg, senare 2 år på AVL, Audio Visual Light AB. Sedan ca ett år tillbaks arbetar Nilkas på ”Spectra Stage & Event Technologies” – ljus och ljus design mm, där han nyligen tillförordnats en VD tjänst. Niklas medverkade i VARIA2009.

CV & undervisning Internationella artister etc. - VARIA2011

Keith Hennessy (USA)

Keith Hennessy is an award-winning performer, choreographer, teacher and organizer.

He lives in San Francisco and tours internationally. His interdisciplinary research engages improvisation, public actions and alchemy/shamanism as tools for investigating political realities.
Hennessy directs CIRCO ZERO, a contemporary circus, in intimate spectacles for stage and street. He was a member of the collaborative performance companies: Contraband (85-94), CORE (95-98), and Cahin-caha, cirque bâtard (98-02). His work is featured in several books and documentaries, including How To Make Dances in an Epidemic (David Gere, Univ of Wisconsin: 2004), Gay Ideas (Richard Mohr, Beacon: 1992), and Dancers in Exile (RAPT Productions, 2000). Hennessy is a co-founder of 848 Community Space/CounterPULSE a thriving performance and culture space in San Francisco. Recent awards include Alpert/MacDowell Fellowship in Dance (2005) and SF Bay Guardian’s Best of the Bay for Circo Zero. Recent commissions include Les Subsistances, Lyon (Homeless USA, 2005), Les Laboratoires, Paris (American Tweaker, 2006), FUSED (French-US Exchange in Dance), Centre Chorégraphique National, Belfort (Sol niger, 2007), and Lower Left Performance Co, San Diego (Gather, 2005). Keith’s 2005-07 teaching includes JFK University, UC Davis, University of San Francisco, improvisation festivals in Budapest, Seattle, Stolzenhagen (Germany), Moab, the Aerial Dance Festival (Boulder), plus grass-roots workshops in Arcata, Chicago, Toronto, Victoria BC, Madison, and Earthdance (Northampton MA).

Workshop/teaching description Kieth Hennessy

I can offer a lot of variations of a workshop – focus on performance, improvisation, site-specific, experimental composition, political or shamanic possibilities in the work. A participatory laboratory exploring the activist and ritual potentials of dance and performance. Improvisation, composition, research and play. Questioning the role of the artist leading to formal experimentation in performance practice, techniques, and concepts. Exercises and discussions negotiate the paradoxical and symbiotic relationships of inner/outer, public/private, individual/communal, real/representation. www.circozero.org

Julyen Hamilton (ESP/GB)

Julyen Hamilton is a dancer / choreographer / poet and teacher.

He has been making dances for over 30 years performing dance work throughout the world. Born and brought up in England he trained in London in the 1970's, a time of radical experimentation, he has been an exponent of innovative performance since that time.

His work is mostly improvised: he composes dance works instantly as well as the texts which mostly accompany them. When working with his company 'Allen's Line' he directs dancers and lighting designers to make and perform work through this same immediacy.

Since the 80's he has performed in close collaboration with many live musicians from all over Europe. It is with some of these musicians that he gives readings of his poetry.

He is at present presenting the solos 'How It Is Made' and 'The Immaterial World' / performing duos with bass players Barre Phillips and Jean-Claude Jones (France+Israel) / 'Lighthouse' with French musicians from ARFI.

His company Allen's Line will perform in Paris in April and in Brussels in June and November 2010.

His label ‘BLUE DOG DVDs’ produces videos of his performances on DVD.

Workshop/teaching description Julyen Hamilton

He is well respected for his teaching which reflects his research and development into efficient ways in which technique can evolve and improvisational creativity might be imparted. He is regularly invited to teach in major training centres throughout the world, his pedagogy centering around the elements of space, time, voice and dramaturgy. www.julyenhamilton.com

Stepfanie Maher (DE/USA)

Stephanie Maher is a dancer, choreographer, improviser and teacher. She is known for her breathtaking physicality and for creating works that express a unique blend of intimacy, sensitivity, and wild humor.
Her work has been performed on stages across the US, Germany, Holland and the UK. After her New York modern/classical training (BFA in Dance SUNY Purchase) she spent 10 years in San Francisco studying deeper and wilder forms of multi-disciplinary motion; improvisation, voice, performance, image-making and community-based art. From 1989–1993 she was a dancer/choreographic collaborator with the Margaret Jenkins Dance company. In 1995 She co-founded the extreme dance performance group CORE with Keith Hennessy, Jess Curtis, Stanya Kahn and Jules Beckman, and was a regular denizen and producer of events at the infamous 848 Community Space, main collaboration with San Francisco dancer/choreographer Kathleen Hermesdorf.
In 1998 she relocated to Berlin where she continues to perform, organize, develop and teach in the community-based settings of K77 Studios in Berlin and the Ponderosa Tanz/Land Festival in Stolzenhagen, Germany.

Teaching description Stephanie Maher - Please go to - http://www.smaher.de/pages/teaching.html


Kathleen Hermesdorf (USA)

Kathleen Hermesdorf is a dance artist, teacher, improviser and choreographer based in San Francisco.  She has been a member of Bebe Miller Company (2006 BESSIE Award) since 2002, worked with Sara Shelton Mann and Contraband since 1993 and been in collaboration with Stephanie Maher in Berlin since 2000.  She was a member of the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company and co-director of Hermesdorf & Wells Dance Company with Scott Wells (1994 GOLDIE Award). 

Hermesdorf is the Artistic Director of La ALTERNATIVA (formerly known as MOTIONLAB) with musician Albert Mathias, creating and instigating deeply integrated dance and music and offering training, improvisation, performance and production for studio, stage, club and audio since 1998.  Their classes and performance seasons have a home base at ODC School and Theater in San Francisco and they tour the world to universities, festivals and stages.  They are currently in collaboration on 2 local and 3 international collaborations.  Hermesdorf holds a BFA and MFA in Dance alongside extensive experience in the field and performs, creates and teaches around the world. http://www.la-alternativa.us/www.la-alternativa.us/KathleenHermesdorf.html

Svante Grogarn (S) (light etc. duett/solo with J Hamilton)

F 1960, är verksam som regissör, scenograf och pedagog med inriktning på rörelsebaserat skådespeleri. Sedan 1995 har han även haft många uppdrag som ljusdesigner för dansproduktioner, konserter och teaterförställningar. I samarbete med koreografer som Julyen Hamilton och Steve Paxton, har han gjort ljusdesign till specifika scenrum och föreställningar där ljussättningen har haft en framträdande roll med stora inslag av improvisation och medskapande.

Som ljusdesigner har Svante arbetat på scener i Sverige, Danmark, Norge, Finland, Tyskland, Holland, Belgien, Storbritannien, Frankrike, Spanien, Italien, Slovakien, Tjeckien, Grekland, Schweiz, Österrike. Han har bl a samarbetat med följande koreografer och institutioner: Julyen Hamilton, Steve Paxton, Kostas Michos/Greece National Theatre, Apostolia Papadamaki, Norska Rikskonserterne/Ellen Johannesen, Balettakademin Göteborg, Rikskonserter/Kroumata, Dansens Hus Oslo, Siri & Snelle dansproduktion/Oslo, Rikskonserter/Paula af Malmborg Ward, Black Box Oslo/Ellen Johannesen, Göteborgs Symfoniker, Stockholms Filharmoniker.

Dancers from the Gothenburg Opera Ballet.

Please visit the Gothenburg Opera website at; http://sv.opera.se/om-oss/personal/goteborgsoperans-balett/

Kortfattade CV - övriga assistenter & medverkande - VARIA2011
Mona Wallström (S) – assistant project leader, adviser and photo-documentation.
Mona works as a jewellery designer, project leader and has coordinated several international seminars, workshops and exhibitions. Wallström has been a part of the VARIA organization since 2006.
Christina Hallström (S/NL) – video-documentation.
Christina is a filmmaker and graphic designer based in Amsterdam. She participated in VARIA2006, 2007 and in VARIA2009 both as performer and documenter. Christina has previously made several short films about the festival.
Johan Rödström (S) ljus & teknik (för solo & delvis gruppstycken mm).

Johan Rödström har gått scenografutbildningen på Dramatiska Institutet men har också varit verksam som regissör och ljusdesigner. Johan har arbetat i ett 40-tal uppsättningar både på institutioner och i frigrupper.

Drev under 90-talet Unga Studion scen för ny ospelad dramatik. Är sedan 2004 medlem i AktÖr.

Arbetat med koreografer som Lotta Melin och Eva Ingemarsson. Johan medverkade i VARIA2009.

Henrik Wartel (S) – webmaster for VARIA & drum solo VARIA2011 opening evening.
Henrik has his own freelance web development and music company; he participated in VARIA2006 as a musician. Wartel has been a part of the Swedish and International Improvisation scene since many years; he collaborated with many great musicians and artists all over the world. Wartel has co-managed the VARIA website since it´s realize in 2009. Musician
Minna Kiper (S) delproducent VARIA2011.

Minna Kiper arbetar med koreografi, dans och projektledning. Hennes arbete fokuserar på strukturer och villkor för produktion, presentation och deltagande/åskådare och är mestadels samarbeten (kollektivt i Muscle And Hate Crew, MISO, SCENRUM, Dead Grace eller samarbete med bl.a. Ingrid Cogne, Malin Hellkvist Sellén, Susanna Leibovici och Malin Dahlström). Hon medverkar även i andras projekt (Halla Olafsdottir, Aktör och Vänner, Susanne Osten) och jobbar som assistent och producent för andra koreografer, konstnärer och scener.