teachers 2025
Puzzle Work
by Anton Lachky
The workshop:
The workshop opens the door to infinite variations of different combinations of our movement possibilities. From a game, our body is organized and reorganized into many possible and complex forms, forcing us to keep playing during the dance. With only 6 different moves, the body games can be endless depending on the order of them. Each body has its own logical balance and limitations. You will need to interact with speed, measurements, textures, intentions, context, and most importantly, the feeling of movement.
Biography:
Born in 1982 in Slovakia, Anton started to dance at the age of 5, in the folk dance company Maly Vtácnik. He continued his dance education at the J.L.Bellu Conservatory in Banská Bystrica, where he collaborated with friends and also participated in M.A.P.A. (Moving Academy for Performing Arts).From there he went on to train at the University of Bratislava in 2001, followed by further training at P.A.R.T.S., headed by A.Teresa de Keersmeaker (Belgium).
Anton became member of Akram Khan Company in March 2004 and toured "MA" for two years. (48 countries all over the world). Anton Lachky is co-founder of Les SlovaKs Dance Collective. They created their first piece "Opening Night" in 2006 and premiered it in October 2007, then Journey Home (2009) , Fragments (2011). In three creations, the collective acquires a planetary fame.
Anton founded his own company in 2012. In 2022, Anton Lachky company celebrates its 10th anniversary, and is preparing for the company’s sixth production: “Absurde” !
His work brings together western educated dance, and shreds of eastern folk and pop culture. Thanks to the "Puzzle work", a technic of composition he created, Anton's shows demonstrate an extremely virtuosic and sophisticated dance language. Both extremely specialist and widely addressed to all audiences, his work connects different cultural backgrounds, to share a joyful, strong and unique experience.
Megamorph
by Laja Field
The workshop:
A full body deep dive into the world of LajaMartin style dance theater. Based on a foundation of floorwork, flow smoothly into building strength and finding efficiency in riding momentum. Push the heights of physicality in phrase work soaring from floor to air with textures defined by musicality and rhythm. Utilizing this powerful grounding base, open up the theatrical realm through corporeal impulse to investigate the physical body as a portal between the real world and the surreal imaginarium.
Through guided movement prompts, voice exercises, acting games and more, explore the ways in which you can stretch as a performer. Unlock endless possibilities of transformation.
* Note: you can use your native language in all prompts, you do not need to speak English fluently.
Biography:
Laja Field | LajaMartin (she/her) is an international dance-theater creator, educator and performer who’s work spans across the U.S, Canada, South America and Europe. Currently an adjunct professor at NYU | Tisch, Laja is known for her unique style of visceral floorwork, momentous partnering and theatrical education landing her most recently in Spain for the renowned festival Deltebre Dansa as well as Montréal for Danse à la Carte’s TransFormation.
Laja’s passion as a maker comes from the intertwining of highly physical movement and cinematic theatricality, rooted in relatable, non-linear storytelling. Originally from Salt Lake City, UT with French and Jewish upbringing, Laja holds a BFA from the University of Utah 2012. That same year she began her professional career with Johannes Wieland at Staatstheater Kassel, Germany where she had the pleasure of working with many incredible colleagues, teachers and choreographers.
In 2015, Laja relocated to NYC as a founding member and rehearsal director with Vim Vigor. As faculty at Gibney and Peridance, Laja and longtime collaborator Martin Durov, from Slovakia, became known for their animalistic style of floorwork that holds foundations in their European training and draws on origins from Breaking and Capoeira. The two became integral influences on a new wave of floorwork that hit the New York City dance scene and has become a pillar style in the contemporary community.
In 2017, LajaMartin Physical Dance Theater was founded as an artistic platform for live performance and education reaching 17 countries worldwide. Starting with a premiere at Joe’s Pub Festival in NYC, the duo started touring Pinot Noir to Panama, Berlin and Croatia, LajaMartin have also been commissioned by the Anton Bruckner Universität in Linz and most recently by RirieWoodbury Dance Company, among others. Since their last collaboration in 2022, Martin continues scoring original soundtracks while Laja carries on as artistic director. Over the last year Laja has been an invited choreographer in Calgary with Project InTandem and NYC for GibneyPRO and NYU’s Second Avenue Company. Amidst her touring Laja continues creating and developing her solo work Breaking Bread.
Dynamics Rhythm & Texture
by Alleyne Dance
The workshop:
This is a physical Contemporary Class, which will involve strong, complex and technical sequences in and out of the floor, focusing on quality, initiation, performance and stamina. Each session will begin with a different aspect of movement study, focusing on the articulation of hands, isolations, spirals, breath and flying. Improvisation will also be explored as part of self development, stemming from a physical intention.
The desired outcomes for the workshop are to develop the dancers' creative mind, driven from passion, determination, strength, musicality and most importantly an intention and honesty in whatever choice they make during the session.
Biography:
Alleyne Dance (AD) is a UK based company with an international reach, founded in 2014 by award winning dancers and twin sisters Kristina and Sadé Alleyne. The choreographic aesthetic reflects the sisters diverse background in athleticism and dance training. Within their abstract contemporary construct, Alleyne Dance blend West African, Caribbean, Hip Hop, Kathak and Circus Skills, delivered as fast paced and dynamic movement. They infuse lyrical and fluid motion, layered with rhythm and textures in physically powerful, yet graceful performances.
Alleyne Dance strives for high quality and excellence as the Company delivers its three main objectives: performance, participation and development. In 2023, Alleyne Dance were winners of Black Female Icons of Lewisham with Brockley Max and The Mayor of London, and the Company also received the award for Best Independent Company at the National Dance Awards.
Complex Simplicity
by Sita Ostheimer
The workshop:
We will investigate authenticity in the quality of your detailed moving body, moving thought patterns and motivation.
In the first half of the workshop, the dancers will be guided through Sita’s improvisation technique. Recognizing tension, breaking unconscious movement habits through moving in and with weight, surrendering in motion.
This workshop enables participants to be in control of their own physical instrument and continue growing creatively, technically and emotionally.
Moving into, from with and who you are. Sita works with images, feelings, rhythm, sensation, awareness and the very moment of the moving body and mind, in order to support individual research on one’s own totality.
With this preparation, the dancers then move into learning a given choreography, exploring how to find oneself in learning situations, and absorbing the material. Sita’s movement language is expressive, fluent, sensual, earthy, honest, direct.
The unique, animalistic movement language that arises from human instincts is her particular and peculiar signature in dance.
Biography:
Sita Ostheimer is a Berlin-based choreographer.
In 2017 she founded the Sita Ostheimer Company, a project-based platform that brings together artists from dance, music composition as well as lighting design.
Familiar with the movement language of choreographers such as Itzik Galili and Hofesh Shechter with whom worked world since 2007, as a dancer, workshop leader and choreographic assistant until 2018.
She re-staged Hofesh’s work at companies such as NDT I, Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet Basel, Staatsballett Berlin, Aterballetto Italy , Hessisches Staatsballett Wiesbaden and Staatstheater Kassel.
Ostheimer's focus today is on developing and deepening her own movement aesthetics, philosophy and choreographic poetry. Since 2017 she has worked on numerous in-house productions with her company as well as commissioned works, e.g. for the Staatstheater Kassel, Hessische Staatsballett Wiesbaden, Stadttheater Pforzheim, Volkstheater Rostock, Frontier Danceland Singapore, XieXin Dance Theater Shanghai, Staatstheater Braunschweig, MiR Dance company, the Folkwang University Essen and for Verve - Northern School of Contemporary Dance Leeds.
Her work has been shown in the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, Israel, Germany, Spain, South Korea, Italy, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Chile and the Switzerland presented.
The movement approach technique is called Complex Simplicity and shared in workshops around the world.