Pointe to Point Warsaw 2006

The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), established in February 1997 by the members of ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting), is the only permanent physical institution of ASEM. It is a not-forprofit foundation based in Singapore, whose aim is to promote better mutual understanding between the peoples of Asia and Europe through greater intellectual, cultural, and people-topeople exchanges. ASEF reports to a board of 39 governors representing the 38 ASEM countries and the European Commission.

ASEF carries out its mandate by initiating projects and fostering networks in the intellectual, cultural and people-to-people fields, as well as by engaging journalists in a variety of Public Affairs programmes. ASEF’s flagship programmes include the ASEF Talks on the Hill, Asia-Europe Environment Forum, Informal Human Rights Seminars, Asia-Europe Youth Co-operation Network, Asia-Europe Young Artists’ Exchange, ASEMUS (museums), SEA-Images (cinema) and Asia-Europe Editors’ Roundtables and ASEF Journalists’ Colloquia.

*ASEM member countries are Austria, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Myanmar, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, Vietnam, and the European Commission.

Pointe to Point, one of the AsiaEurope Foundation’s (ASEF) Young Artist Exchange initiatives, empowers aspiring young artists from Asia and Europe to present their views in contemporary society through their individual artistic expressions. Pointe to Point is commited to provide young people a process-oriented platform for creative exchange process and dialogue through dance.

The thinking behind the programme branding Pointe to Point, the AsiaEurope Dance Forum, is to emphasise the significance of dance as a medium of communication that reflects the constantly changing society. Thus, in the process, raising and articulating issues to encourage cultural dialogue and exchange.

New inspirations and discoveries between two artistic disciplines: dance and visual arts is the focal point of this exchange. Divided into two phases, the initial stage was a meeting between a prominent and accomplished visual artists and a young choreographer.

The visits to studios of Anne Rochette (France), Ibrahim Hussein (Malaysia), Benedicto “Bencab” Cabrera (Philippines) and Jose de Guimaraes (Portugal), by young choreographers: Bruno Pradet (France), Chiyo Ogino (Japan), Alden Lugnasin (Philippines) and Paulina Wycichowska (Poland), which took place in Lisbon, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Baguio City and Paris between July-September 2006, witnessed not only the exchange of ideas in the respective artistic practices but also the meeting of cultures and generations.

For the second phase, a new layer to this exchange will unfold with the involvement of the twenty contemporary dancers from Asia and Europe during the 8-day workshop scheduled on 24 November-2 December 2006 in Warsaw, Poland. The personal knowledge and expertise that each of the participants brings to Poland and shares with his/her fellow dancers and artists provides greater potential to enrich capacities for creative exploration.

Over this period, the choreographers’ experience during the studio visit will be shared with the group of dancers in the creation and recreation of artistic work in dance and visual arts. Simon Dove (The Netherlands/UK) will provide mentorship for this group of young artists as this year’s Pointe to Point Artistic Director, together with ASEF’s Vanini Belarmino who developed the curatorial content for this project.

With collaborators coming from different countries and diverse backgrounds like Belgium, Cambodia, China, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Singapore and Thailand, the diverse background will hopefully allow ample room for discoveries and enable each one to take fresh experiences to share with his/her fellow artists back home.

The Asia-Europe Foundation partnered with the Cinema Art Foundation, Egurolla Dance Studio and Fabryka Trzciny to realise this project. It received generous support from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (Philippines).

Pointe to Point to jedna z inicjatyw Fundacji Europa-Azja z Singapuru (ASEF) w ramach programu „Wymiana M_odych Artystów”. Jej celem jest umo_ liwienie m_odym, ambitnym azjatyckim i europejskim artystom przedstawienia wspó_czesnemu spo_ecze_stwu swoich pogl_dów w indywidualny, twórczy sposób. Celem Pointe to Point jest stworzenie dynamicznym i poszukuj_ cym artystom ta_ca platformy wymiany artystycznej i dialogu poprzez taniec.

Ide_ programu jest przede wszystkim podkre_lenie znaczenia ta_ca jako _rodka komunikacji, który odzwierciedla nieustaj_co zachodz_ce zmiany spo_ eczne. Umo_liwia on dostrzeganie i definiowanie problemów, które zach_ caj_ do podj_cia mi_dzykulturowego dialogu i wspó_pracy.

Program, podzielony na dwie fazy, koncentruje si_ na wymianie inspiracji i nowych pomys_ów pomi_dzy dwiema dyscyplinami artystycznymi: ta_cem oraz sztukami wizualnymi. W pierwszej cz__ci projektu cztery pary profesjonalistów – ka_da sk_adaj_ca si_ z jednego choreografa i jednego artysty wizualnego – spotka_y si_ na pi__ dni w Azji i w Europie. Arty_ci wizualni: Anne Rochette (Francja), Ibrahim Hussein (Malezja), Benedicto „Bencab” Cabrera (Filipiny) oraz Jose de Guimaraes (Portugalia) spotkali si_ z m_odymi choreografami: Bruno Pradet (Francja), Chiyo Ogino (Japonia), Alden Lugnasin (Filipiny) oraz Paulina Wycichowska (Polska) w Lisbonie, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Baguio oraz Pary_u, w lipcu i sierpniu 2006 roku. Spotkania s_u_y_y nie tylko wymianie idei miedzy osobami z ró_nym do_wiadczeniem artystycznym – by_y to te_ spotkania kultur i generacji.

W drugiej cz__ci projekt rozwinie si_ dzi_ki zaanga_owaniu dwudziestu tancerzy ta_ca wspó_czesnego z Azji i Europy, którzy spotykaj_ si_ podczas 8dniowych warsztatów zorganizowanych w Warszawie od 24 listopada do 2 grudnia 2006 roku. Wiedza, do_ wiadczenie i zdolno_ci ka_dego z uczestników wnios_ du_y potencja_, który wzbogaci mo_liwo_ci twórczych poszukiwa_.

W tym czasie choreografowie podziel_ si_ swoim do_wiadczeniem wyniesionym ze spotka_ z artystami wizualnymi, podczas pracy twórczej z grup_ tancerzy nad spektaklem.

Opiekunami artystycznymi grupy b_d_ Simon Dove (Holandia, Wielka Brytania) Dyrektor Artystyczny projektu Pointe to Point oraz Vanini Belarmino z ASEF, która opracowa_a projekt od strony kuratorskiej.

Mamy nadziej_, _e twórcy pochodz_cy z tak ró_nych krajów, jak: Belgia, Kambod_a, Chiny, Estonia, Niemcy, Grecja, Indonezja, W_ochy, Japonia, Korea, Filipiny, Polska, Portugalia, Singapur oraz Tajlandia mimo, _e tworz_ tak niezwyk__ ró_norodno__ kulturow_, pozostawi_ wystarczaj_c_ przestrze_ na nowe odkrycia, które pozwol_ ka_demu z nich zdoby_ i „zabra_ do domu” nowe, wzbogacaj_ce do_wiadczenia.

Fundacja Azja-Europa z Singapuru we wspó_pracy z Fundacj_ Cinema Art, Egurolla Dance Studio i Centrum Artystycznym Fabryka Trzciny realizuj_ Pointe to Point w Warszawie.

Projekt otrzyma_ wsparcie od Komisji Narodowej dla Kultury i Sztuki na Filipinach oraz Miasta Sto_ecznego Warszawa.

Artists & Choreographers

Born: 13 March 1936, Ibrahim Hussein studied at the Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting, London (19591963) ; 1961, won the Byam Shaw Award of Merit for three consecutive years. 1963, received Royal Academy Scholarship; 1964, Griffin Prize. 19631966, Royal Academy Schools, London.

1963, held his first one-man show in London. Has since received many awards and scholarships. 1967-68, John D. Rockefeller III Fund Fellowship; 1970, Smithsonian Institute, American Workshop, Venice; 1970-71, Lee Foundation Fellowship, University of Malaya; 1984, XVII Prix International d’Art Contemporain de Monte Carlo; 1988, Japan Foundation Cultural Award; 1993, Order of Andress Bello, Venezuela; 1995, Order of Bernardo

O’Higgins, Chile; AMN and KMN from King of Malaysia; granted two “Datuk” titles; 1997, Crystal Award, World Economic Forum, Switzerland.

Numerous exhibitions in all parts of the world. He has also organised three major International Art Festivals in Bali, Cherating and Langkawi. 1992, He setup the Ibrahim Hussein Museum and Cultural Foundation, a private non-profit foundation, in Langkawi, Malaysia.

As part of the initial stage for Pointe to Point, I visited Malaysian artist, Ibrahim Hussein on 1-6 August 2006 together with my girlfriend Celine. We met several times in his home-studio in Kuala Lumpur and later travelled together to Langkawi where he built the Ibrahim Hussein Museum and Cultural Foundation. All our meetings were very friendly and informal.

I was quite impressed by the many aspects of these encounters. We spoke a lot about his life and his paintings.

It was a real pleasure to listen to Ib. Hussein share the stories of how he began to paint and the people he met during his nearly 50 years of his art career. Imagine meeting somebody who began to expose his works in important galleries after only one year of painting and got acquainted with people like Andy Warhol, Francis Bacon, Leonard Bernstein, Neil Armstrong and Quincy Jones.

Another thing that struck me on the first day of our meeting was learning about our common affiliation with the late Malaysian-Paris based dancer,

Lari Leong, who happened to be my first teacher when I started taking professional dance classes. I was really touched to see a picture of Lari in a book devoted to Ib. Hussein work.

Coincidence, coincidence. . .

We had the pleasure to discover both old paintings as well as very new works

by Ib. Hussein. Looking at the paintings was a very strong moment. To my eyes, many paintings reflected movements. As a dancer, this is, of course, an important thing: bodies mix, bodies hurt, bodies turn, bodies live. Other paintings were connected to world events and very often in a political way. Isn’t it a good way for an artist to participate in society’s life?

Others, I found were more abstract. They

often refer to raw materials and make your imagination travel. Nearly all of them contain hundreds of lines. It would be more exact to say lines, curves, circles give a strange aspect to the canvases and troubles your vision, creating like voile, as tulle on stage. You can never say if the lines are on the drawing or if they themselves define the shapes of the drawing.

Actually, the different aspects of Ib Hussein work gave me the feeling of travelling between some kind of world chronicles and poetry. I have to say that the places where we saw the canvases, both the studio and the museum, probably influenced these emotions.

The atmosphere in these spaces were very peaceful (space organisation, colours, materials) and prepares one to appreciate the canvases. The hours we spent in the museum were extraordinary.

It was wonderful building in the middle of the jungle…

I still don’t know precisely how I will be able to translate (in the way of transmitting to the dancers) the emotion that I felt, but I’m not afraid of this at all. I’m sure that I’ll find my own way without forgetting that this way will be influenced by the meeting with the dancers.

About Bruno Pradet (France)

From 1987 to 1995, Bruno Pradet worked as an electrical Engineer for building construction. He worked on large projects such as Opera Bastille, Bibliothèque de France, Opera Garnier. He started dancing at the age of 18, during his studies at an electrical High School in Paris.

In 1995, he gave up his first line of work to become a full-time dancer and choreographer.

He performed as a dancer with Richard Mouradian (1989 -1992), Didier Théron (1995-2003) and Hervé Diasnas (1996 -2005) all over France and countries like Portugal, Italy, Armenia, Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, Peru, Nicaragua, and Mozambique.

For six years (1995 – 2001) he worked as cochoreographer of Compagnie du Pied Gauche.

Since 2001, he works mainly for his own group, Compagnie Vilcanota, creating and performing several pieces (confession, solo 2001, Chaos intime, duet 2002, Décidémen, Alors quoi, quartets 2003, Show room, duet 2004, PaRoLe De MuEt, trio 2004, Reproduction interdite, quintet, 2005).

His work can be qualified by the presence of words, absurd and deep look on human behaviours.

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Born in Guimaraes in 1939, he studied in Lisbon and in various European countries. He spent seven years in Angola studying African ethnography and primitive art. He worked on a possible osmosis between African and European cultures. He regularly exhibits since 1960. He is living between Lisbon and Paris since 1995.

His works have been exhibited in the following museums and public collections: Musée Würth, Kunzelsau, Allemagne - Musée de l’Angola, Luanda - Emiliano Guinazu, Musée d’Art Moderne de Mendoza, Argentine - Musée Royal d’Art Moderne, Bruxelles - Musée d’Art Moderne, Anvers - Musée d’Art Sao Paulo, Brésil, Musée d’Art Contemporain

(MAC), Université de Sao Paulo, Musée National des Arts, Rio de Janeiro - Musée d’Art Moderne (MAM) Rio de Janeiro, Brésil - Canton University, Ottawa, Canada - Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Ministère de la Culture, Paris - Parlement Européen, Strasbourg, France- Musée de Dimona, Neguiev, Israel - Fondation Akemi Maeda, Osaka, (Japon) - Parc Olympique, Seoul, Corée du Sud -Musée Luis de Camoes, Macau, Rep. Pop. Chine - Musée National d’Art Moderne, Porto, Portugal - Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbonne - Bibliothèque Nationale, Lisbonne - Musée espagnol d’art contemporain, Madrid, Espagne, Ministère de la Culture, Madrid, Espagne- Bibliothèque Nationale, Bern, Suisse - Rockfeller Art Center, New York, USA - Musée d’art moderne, Mexico...

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Similar to the behavior in a Japanese tea ceremony, the works of José de Guimarães has established its own very simple, no-waste style and indispensable elements of which in “dance” I call the way of people to communicate basic needs.

For me, I found that the most remarkable point amongst his works was named “reliquary.” Although it has missed its original “religious” meaning, Jose de Guimaraes has managed to exhibit even their contents.

From the usual daily life, cut an individual experience out, symbolize it, without putting them into the box (inner body) but opening it to the public.

I would like to pick this idea and transform it into dance, draw accumulated memories, senses, or unknown phrases out, then relinquish (release) them to the others, regarding the body as a reliquary.

About Chiyo Ogino (Japan) She has been acting as a core-member for the portable choreography project in dance company, Monochrome Circus since 1996.

From 2003, she started to supervise a duet group, Twin Widows with Yuka SAEKI, which aims to magnify possibilities of the space, and wrestle collaborations with costume maker, audio-visual artists, etc.

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Born in Oullins in 1957, Anne Rochette has been teaching at Ecole nationale supérieure des beaux-arts since 1993.

From 1982-90 she lived, studied and worked in New York ; she now lives and works in Paris. Anne Rochette had her first one woman show in New York in 1990; her most recent one was at the L’ Atelier Blanc, in Villefranche sur Rouergue in June 2006. In 2000 she executed a specific project for the Jardin des Tuileries commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Communication ; she has recently designed two works for rural sites, unveiled in 2003 : Ill springs at Winkel (commissioned by the General Council and Regional Culutral Affairs Office (DRAC) for Alsace) and Common Food for the Internationational Scupture

Park at Australian National University in Canberra. Her work is nourished by frequent travel and production abroad : India in 1989-90 and again 1994-95, Thailand in 1998, China in 2001 and 2005, Australia in 2002, 2003 and 2005.

The most recent publication on her works are the Common Food notebooks (2003) and Les Sources (2006).

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Connection

between an artwork to nature and to people is important.

—Anne Rochette

My experience in Paris was my first collaboration with a sculptor. My meeting with Anne, a very brilliant yet humble sculptor, opened my mind and spirit. Even though our first collaboration space was small, I felt like I was in a huge museum. The place was brimming with inspiring things: sculptures lay everywhere, some standing, others hanging. All these striking images ignited my imagination, prompting me to ask Anne questions nonstop.

In our first meeting, we focused more on our personal lives, as if sharing the contents of our diaries. We talked about how we got into the Arts, and then we showed our works. I was in awe with

her masterpieces. She shared with me many ideas that made me think about how much respect and importance an artwork deserves. I learned from her that artwork should live and not be kept away in museums and the connection between the sculpture to nature and to people is important. According to Anne, creating a huge sculpture is like making people small and that she wants the public to feel her artwork rather that just look at it and forget it .She doesn’t want her work to be bigger than life. Most of our discussions delved into each of her works. We talked about her choice of colors, the music she plays while working, and the shapes and materials she uses in her pieces.

Among the things she shared, what really interested me was the fact that Anne was trained in classical ballet and contemporary dance before getting into Visual Arts. Curious, I asked her experience as a dancer and how it helped her as a sculptor. Her answer gave me a much wider understanding of her craft.

I also noticed that her dance experience is both visible and hidden in her works, such as her use of circles and moving shapes.

Anne’s “Words in Between” Title: “The Ring” “Slit, hole, sex. They all merge in the image of the ring, one can think of the ring as a restraint, but also as an adornment, as a call to pass through.

At the instant of giving birth, the whole body becomes just a ring allowing the passage of one to another. No need to be mystic to believe that each of us could carry in his or her body a memory of that experience, for we have all received life or given it as well.”

Title: “The Hairbun” Our chosen sculpture is entitled “Devant-Derriere”, which means front and back, was inspired by a hairbun.

The sculpture has four hairbuns attached around what looks like brains on a skull.

It also looks like an intestine, as well as four fists fixed on a head. In my creation process, I will play around these ideas.

The concept for the final project is a work in progress and is still open to suggestions.

For me an artwork succeeds when it embodies the relationship between the intertia and resistance of a material and the fluidity which labor can bring forth. My own freedom, like that of the spectator, depends on the form, which I’ve created and on its ability to sustain a mental circulation.

About Alden Lugnasin (Philippines)

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Alden Lugnasin has brought to life a wide range of characters showcasing his versatility as a dancer since he joined Ballet Philippines.

His touching and sensitive portrayal of Apolinario Mabini in Agnes Locsin’s La Revolucion Filipina simply moved local and foreign audiences alike. In 1998, he was a guest choreographer-in-residence for the International Dance Festival at Connecticut College, USA. He progressed and became very prolific in developing moving and innovative works.

Exposed to world class ballet masters and choreographers, he is strongly motivated and has created some of the most stirring dance works namely Impasse, Life is a Rope, Aku (awarded the silver medal, solo category at the Concours International de Danse de France in December 2000), Swans… Fluttering Disturbances, Tuol Sieng (S-21 Prison), Swimming the River Pasig, Insomnia, FireWaterWoman, Bungee Corded Underwater Dancers @ a Mall with a Shopping Cart, and Buhay. The latter was performed in Cambodia during the ASEAN Culture Week. He was also the Assistant to the Choreographer of Realizing Rama.

He is the Philippine representative to participate in the Asia Pacific Performance Exchange Artist Program organized and administered by the University of California, Los Angeles – Center for Intercultural Performance, which will be in Bali, Indonesia.

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Benedicto Reyes Cabrera --- or BenCab, as he is more popularly known is widely hailed as a master of contemporary Philippine art. He was born in Manila on April 10, 1942. BenCab began carving a niche for himself in Manila’s art circles shortly after receiving his bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines in 1963.

A painter and printmaker, he has exhibited widely in the Philippines and in Asia, Europe, and the United States.

He has won several major art awards in a career spanning four decades.

In 1992, he received the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining (Cultural Center of the Philippines Award for the Arts).

In 2006, he was conferred the Order of National Artist for Visual Arts by

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacanan Palace.

His works have been the subject of three books, Ben Cabrera: Etchings (19701980) by Cid Reyes; Bencab’s Rock Sessions by Eric Caruncho; and BENCAB

by Alfred Yuson and Cid Reyes.

The artist lives and works in Baguio City.

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While landing in Manila my head was full of expectations of how ‘place in deep Asia’ could look like and what the people could be like. I tried to clear myself from this and open for the adventure but it is never possible. The surprise was that from the minute I met Jimmy, a Filipino photojournalist who kindly picked me up from the airport and Donna, an ASEF Pointe to Point alumna, few moments later, I felt at home.

I have to admit that I seriously fell in love with the Philippines. There is something about the climate, the look of the country and of course about the people that made me feel that.

I was lucky to have Vanini with me for guidance and to be guest of such honorable host as Bencab.

Literally I spent a week in a paradise.

Baguio City in the mountains offers wonderful sights from whatever place you could be and people are open and warm. Bencab’s house and studio are a great inspiration for any artist.

This beautiful place and above all, Bencab’s hospitality provided the great environment for creation.

We spent a lot of time talking and sharing our attitude towards art and creative process. Here Eastern approach met with Western thought (quoting Bencab: ‘a conceptual attitude’). I was privileged to observe and participate in his daily life what gave me the opportunity to put myself in different way of thinking and seeing the world.

I experienced more intuitive way of approaching art and living. The time that runs so fast when I am back in Poland suddenly stretched and I realised how important it is for any creation process to feel it and to allow yourself to dive in it. This enabled me to see and meet 17 people differently more deeply what immediately had effect on my teaching when I came back to Poland to do some workshops.

Visiting Bencab has definitely changed me as a person and so - as an artist.

This change is not only on the pure knowledge level (means encountering outstanding amount of Bencab’s works and the artist himself at work) but also on the spiritual - transcendent level. I was really honoured to meet Bencab as a human being - this helped me to understand his works more deeply and therefore appreciate them even more. I felt soaked in his generousity, warmth, kindness, courage and wisdom. I had a chance to meet a great National Visual Artist of the Philippines and in the same time wonderful person who gave me his precious time to have fun together doing morning tai chi, having witty chats and beautiful walks.

Of course, there was time for work as well. I found Bencab’s newly painted picture very inspiring and created a lot of dancing material, also following artist brush stroke movements. We came up also with some nice staging ideas that are going to evolve in the Second Phase of the project.

I am looking forward to the Second Phase: firstly; to meet Bencab and Vanini again as well as all other participants (including Alden whom I already met in Manila), secondly; to start working on the project with the dancers.*

About Paulina Wycichowska (Poland)

Life is movement. We are used to associating movement with life and stillness with death.

Dance: the play between the two reflects this infinite process that affects the Universe, in the macro scale and single cell, in the micro scale. Between these two extremes a human being emerges; a being that seeks and finds the way to express himself and the world he knows through an art form.

He moves, he plays, he paints, he dances...

I started to dance when I was 8. Since that time I have used to see dance as expression of certain thoughts and ideas rather than only aesthetic entertainment. After completing my education in The State Ballet School in Poznan (Professional Dancer Diploma) and London Contemporary Dance School (BA Hons) I joined The Polish Dance Theatre in Poznan. Working as a dancer, teacher and choreographer provided me with wonderful experiences how variable and expressive dance medium could be. I keep discovering new things joyfully. I am still amazed how dance reflects our soul... I believe it is subtle yet powerful medium that people can use to make dialogue with themselves, with each other and with the world.

Behind the

Scenes Currently Director of Springdance, the international contemporary dance festival based in Utrecht in the Netherlands, in 1992 Simon created, programmed and produced the three annual editions of the Vivarta festival presenting innovative contemporary South Asian dance from around the world in London and throughout England.

As Director of Yorkshire Dance in Leeds, one of the first National Dance Agencies, he launched the alt.dance international festival and oversaw the building development project funded in the first round of National Lottery grants. He left to become Dance Director at the Harbourside Centre in Bristol, a proposed new landmark dance and music building designed to set a new standard in the relationship between artists and communities.

Simon was Dance Officer at the Arts Council of England for four years, with special responsibility for Independent dance, national professional dance training policy, and the major company appraisal system.

He began his arts career as a performing arts educationalist and programmer in London.

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Vanini received academic training in theatre arts, art history, cultural policy and arts management.

As Project Executive for the Asia-Europe Foundation’s Cultural Exchange section, Vanini is responsible FOR the programme management and creative branding of three flagship projects: I’mPULSE, Pointe to Point and ASEMUS (AsiaEurope Museum Network). Since joining ASEF in October 2003, she has spearheaded intercultural exchanges in countries like China, Finland, France, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Portugal, Philippines, Singapore, Sweden, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and Vietnam.

She has over ten years of professional experience in performing arts management and has worked for institutions like the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Department of Education and Ballet Philippines.

She recently obtained a diploma in European Cultural Project Management from the Marcel Hicter Foundation (Brussels, Belgium). Vanini is also a dancer, curator and video producer.

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Participants

the

the way we life, the way we act and our environment. But in first state, our body is free of all these. It is the cooperation between the mind and body that make us who we are. If we can find this freedom in both of them it will open up a whole new range of possibilities.

Manon Avermaete (Belgium)

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Dance is in all humans. It is there when we are born and it will be there until we die.

I have always been interested in communication and believe that it is the only way people can express their morals, beliefs and understanding. Dance is the freest way of communication for me. In contemporary dance, there are less boundaries and less rules to follow. And yet it offers more choices.

For me we are messengers of news, points of view, opinions that we offer to the public.

Unconsciously we have border, limits in our bodies. This is made by the years,

I started when I was 16 years old with some ballet and attended the Higher institution of dance in Lier (HID). I am currently in my fourth year at the Amterdam Theaterschool under the modern theater dance department. I have performed in pieces of Gabrielle Staiger, Randi Devlieghe, Iris Bouche, Vloeistof, Damian Munoz, Kenzo Kusuda among others. I have also been creating my own work as a choreographer and as filmmaker.

For Pointe to Point, I would like to share my knowledge in dance and give 100% of myself for the whole meeting. This would be a very good experience for my further work as a dancer and as a maker. The programme might influence my view on art and the different forms particularly contemporary dance.

Chumvan Sodhachivy (Cambodia)

I am lucky to have had opportunities to be part of collaborative workshops with international artists. In contemporary dance, a dancer can open his/her mind to express what he/she wants, with total freedom.

Contemporary dance is an inspiration which appeared within me when I was in a teenager. It was something so beautiful and strange. My mother, who is an actress, insisted I go the National School of Fine Arts to study Cambodian Classical Dance at the age of 9. Prior to this training, I had no interest in dance, but my mother encouraged me to continue my studies until my graduation from the School of Dance in 2003. I am currently pursuing studies at the Faculty of Choreographic Arts, Royal University of Fine Arts. As a dancer, I have performed in ASEAN countries, Morocco, Japan, and the United States.

And have attended workshops in puppetry, Indian dance, Arabic Dance, Balinese dance, contemporary dance and body expressions.

In classical Cambodian dance, dancers have to move with very strict attachment to fixed positions and movements.

Classical dancers have to preserve their performing traditions. When I encountered contemporary dance, I feel I want to further develop my way of dancing and creativity. I want to mix the new and the old together to advance my own dancing.

I wish to be a choreographer, whose job is to revive and promote the traditional dance form and to explore and endorse more innovation to dance. Through my participation in the Pointe to Point, I hope to exchange experiences in dance that can help improve my understanding and explore new possibilities and build a network with fellow dancers which can benefit myself as well as my colleagues in Cambodia.

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Dance Troup. This company through its numerous international productions and world travel provided me invaluable opportunity for growth and experience.

At age 22, I was awarded the highest national government award for professional performers.

Qi Zhang (China)

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“Ever since you knew how to walk you could dance.” Father told me that with his gentle voice. My father, a musician, mother, an actor, and grandfather a watercolor painter left me with the lifelong impression that I was not born into an artist family but that artist creation was born into me. I remember when I was a little girl my parents took me to all the performances which they were in. “You were so quiet when you watched performances as if you understood everything.” They told me that with a proud smile on their glowing faces. I believe God has planted a little seed in my heart before I knew how to move, which led me onto my path to become an artist.

At age 11, I was chosen to join the most prestigious professional dancing school Beijing Dance Academy in China. Upon graduation I was appointed to be the principal dancer for the Beijing Youth

While travelling with the company and seeing the different style modern dance performances in each country, I was truly moved by how modern dancers devise their own philosophies and set their own, unique styles, and then break away to create some thing new and just as personal. I deeply appreciate the difference in each expression.

Experiencing, testing and creating modern dance is like tracing the story of an extended family through several generations to me. While searching its own way, I bring my own colors, spices and language to express my feelings and share my sensitivity and perception with others. I was so deeply motivated to challenge myself, to embrace the responsibility of freedom, that at the age of 23, I decided to come to America to pursue my studies at California Institute of the Arts.

Dance to me is such a beautiful and intimate art form…as dancers, we communicate our passion through our bodies, and in a way that transcends language. For Point to Point, I would like to bring my past and present experiences into an open collaborative creative forum. I feel that my early formal traditional training in China combined with my Western influenced movements and open artist expression could bring radiant color to the program. It would be my hope that this experience will offer me the opportunity to broaden my vision and explore new and different ways of communicating art’s passion.

Rain Saukas (Estonia)

seems almost countless ways to move.

What catches my attention is the way a person can express himself or herself and the individuality. There is something very honest about dance.

Dancing is something more than just a set of movements brought for the public to critique. It’s something that cannot be said, because by its very nature is something metaphysical.

My first real experience with contemporary dance was when I saw Charles Linehan Company performing “Santa Pod” in Estonia. It was something I had never seen before, which left me dumbfounded at that moment. Gathering my courage after that experience, I went to study at Fine5 dance school. As I have always considered myself as a person who likes to read books or draw rather then do something physical, going to dance classes intimidated me at first.

That said I can come to the reasons why I feel passionately about contemporary dance and improvisation – contemporary dance offers a whole new aesthetics in dance. It offers a new vocabulary for the body and there

Since I started only at the age of 23, there may be some levels that I may never able to attain. However, for the same reason, my motivation for continuing with contemporary dance is even stronger. To continue working with my body as an instrument and to come to a degree of finesse where I could perform and create works of choreography and evoke strong feelings in others as I was moved when I saw “Santa Pod”. Although, I have been involved with dance only for three and a half years, I consider myself a very fast learner and have come to a very advanced level in contemporary dance techniques and dance improvisation in a very short time.

What I expect most about Pointe to Point are new experiences, to meet young talents and dedicated professionals and gather inspiration. See the way other people work and exchange experiences.

Also since I am studying interactive multimedia and my thesis for obtaining a masters’ degree will be closely tied to visual arts and dance improvisation this opportunity will broaden my perspectives and give new and fresh ideas on the theme.

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Katerina Valdivia Bruch (Germany)

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Dance has been always my passion since I was a child.

What I love about dance is the capacity to explain with movements what words cannot do or are not able to transmit.

What inspired me to become a dancer was my strong interest in working with movement in order to transmit different emotions, but also to have a better knowledge of myself through the knowledge about my own body capacities.

Contemporary dance is an open door that gives me the option to explore, mix and create choreographies starting with different movement basis and/or techniques and to develop a dance piece towards a dialogue between the dancer(s) and the audience.

I started with Ballet when I was nine years old. I received classical lessons and gymnastics following the Royal Academy of Dance exam requirements. After doing Ballet for around ten years, I started with modern and contemporary dance.

Contact improvisation was a good way to start in contemporary dance, because it exposed me to a new way of moving that was not based on clear and precise movements, but on clear and precise sensations and images to start with the improvisation. I have been dancing for almost 22 years and I have travelled to different countries to get a better quality of movement, to see different dance expressions and to learn from different dancers. Since 2003, I have been working mainly as a soloist.

In my last two performances, Inadama and Raku, Japanese culture has been in the core of both creations. I have started researching on Japanese culture reading books from Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima, but also seeing the performances of excellent Japanese dance companies such as Leni Basso, Saburo Teshigawara and Butoh dancer Akira Kasai. I could contribute with my dance experience and with my process of creation of solo pieces.

What I am interested about Pointe to Point is the experience of being with a group of dancers from different countries share their background and develop afterwards a group work with other participants.

Pavlos-Vasileios Kountouriotis (Greece)

performances on the national TV, secretly imitating the movements of the dancers in my room.

There is no doubt that what fascinates me the most about contemporary dance is its “no fixed point” aggressive politics.

Although the term was used by Merce Cunningham many years ago in mere reference to the use of space, I prefer using it to refer to the never ending freedom of creativity alleviated from the borders of preconceived aesthetics and techniques. This alleviation occurs only in revolution or comparison to tradition (the new exists only in reference to the old) and leads to the long needed democratization of arts. The constant effort of contemporary dance scene to define, construct, demolish and reconstruct its values and technologies is one of its most interesting attractions for my artistic trip.

I have always been busy with dancing both in moments of excitement and sadness. I had never been able to follow a proper dance class (until I became an adult) due to the biases of the Greek traditional society on masculinity and homosexuality. I was therefore reserved in watching scarce emissions of dance

When I entered the University, I realised the gap I was feeling and decided to combine my theoretical studies in 26 International Relations and Diplomacy with the practical need to move and create. My first courses where Martha Graham and Lester Horton Technique and Ballet and due to lack of men, my teachers had taken advantage of my talent to soon put me on stage with the professionals. After 3 years of hard training, I found myself dancing as a soloist with the Greek Dance Theater Dino Fanara all over Greece and France.

By that time, my passion for dance had grown so immensely that nothing could stop me. At the Amsterdam Theaterschool I discovered the contemporary dance scene with the most acclaimed teachers such as Zambrano, Azpillaga, Duck etc. Soon I found myself dancing in the National Theater of Northern Greece, Magpie Music and Dance Company and other contemporary dance companies and started teaching contemporary dance classes.

In the future I would like to create a big network for collaborations with different artists around the world to experiment with new contributions among art forms.

I would like to bring academic thought into dance in order to promote its development in its most secure way.

I believe that Pointe to Pointe is a very important step for my progress. I will have the chance to discover new ideas and procedures in visual arts and dance.

It will also enlarge my network for possible collaborations with other young creators from all over the world and get deeper knowledge of other contemporary cultures.

Research and Dance Space Center and performed with local dance companies.

In 2006, I choreographed and performed the solo “addiction” which was presented in New York, Athens and Liverpool (Leap Festival) and was recently selected for the “Side by Side” internet festival 2006. I am also giving dance and yoga classes.

Iritha Kyriakopoulou (Greece)

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I was born in Athens in 1976. At the age of fourteen it was almost clear for me that dance was helping me come in touch with my real self and express my inner thoughts and emotions. It made me happy. This is what I wish for the rest of my life.

When I finished high school I moved to Paris for one year in order to get more intensive training in classical ballet. In 1996, I entered the State School of Dance in Athens where I came in touch with contemporary dance and improvisation for the first time. This was a revelation for me and changed my dance perspective and orientation. In 20002001, I continued my training in New York with a national scholarship (I.K.Y.) at Trisha Brown Studio, Movement

I am looking forward to dance and collaborate with creative artists who like to experiment in order to share, expand and meet different dance vocabularies and experiences. I am interested in Pointe to Point because it combines different artistic disciplines and cultural backgrounds. I would like to contribute in this collaboration my experience and creativity.

Hanny Herlina (Indonesia)

There are many people who inspired me to become a dancer, but the one who opened my eyes and mind to learn seriously about contemporary dance is Sardono W.Kusumo. He is my teacher who remains supportive and holds valuable opinion in dance.

I feel passionately about the freedom of expression in contemporary dance.

I could explore all my expressions and ideas without thinking of traditional or modern approaches. Contemporary dance never discriminate about east or west, traditional or modern, all become one. The more differences, the more interesting things appear and improve perception of the creator.

My basic training is in traditional dance but I try to explore and develop it into something more interesting. I started at the age of six years training at Ekayana dance studio. I learned traditional dances from west Java and majored in dance in high school. After that I studied in Jakarta Institute of Art where I obtained my degree in 2003.

I would like to improve my knowledge about dance from other countries and introduce my choreography to many places audiences, so people could know about Indonesian contemporary dance.

I would like to introduce Indonesian traditional mask dance from Cirebon, West Java which is characterised by its smooth flow and detailed movement along with Balinese mask dance for this project and I hope to get new experiences about dances, visual art, music and everything.

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Valentina Campora (Italy)

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I found the source of inspiration to become a dancer in my-self. But I also have to thank two teachers who show me the way to make it possibl: Rossana Molinaro and Sacha Ramos. At the age of 11, I started dancing and became motivated to become a dancer at the age of 17. But in Italy I didn’t find any school for Modern Dance which fit me or that I was fit for and attended the Theaterschool of Amsterdam instead.

My dream is to share many things with an audience and gather experiences, and one day I hope to pass these experiences to someone else.

I hope to confront my-self with dancers that come from different cultures. I am interested in the visual art, since this had been part of my studies. Dance performance and visual art are both something I am attract to, maybe I’d like to find a bridge between them.

Hajime Fujita (Japan)

thought that encourages on to look into the state of things carefully and understand in detail current situation (relationship with social and political system of knowledge). I noticed the approach in Phenomenology is close the dancers’ sensitive sense and persistence 30 for ‘moment”. If ways can be found to open us to intelligent possibilities that go beyond refined movements, as dancers, we can clarify the relationships between the different knowledge systems.

I would like to challenge Pointe to Point participants to question the “visual” approach particularly at such gathering where various artists from Europe and Asia are involved. I cannot imagine contemporary dance without any visuals.

Spectators come to the theatre to see dancers’ movement and would hardly take notice of a beautiful ceiling picture for instance during a performance.

In 2001, when I participated in a research project with French choreographer, Philippe Decoufle, I learned that strong images can offer stimulation, freshness and imagination to spectators.

When I studied about Phenomenology, I was inspired by Merleau-Ponty’s

Reflecting on that, my latest piece “Parole” aimed to reveal the minute movements in our communication to see how people confront each other.

I think nowadays, contemporary dance is concentrated on making “spectacles” but is unable to propose ideas and solutions for political problems such as 9.11 and Iraqi War. We are not living in an optimistic world but should not be satisfied with simply delighting spectators.

Sayaka Kaiwa (Japan)

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When I was about five, my mother took me to a trial ballet class and swimming school for me to choose. I chose swimming lessons because all the colorful floats and big pool of water were so attractive and I wanted to try.

But even after few years, I could not forget how much fun I had in the trial ballet class and thought occasionally that maybe I made a wrong choice. I remember feeling so happy and could not stop laughing the whole time I was at the class. So I asked my mother and started to take dance lessons when I was about ten. Jazz dance lessons, not ballet because it was more affordable.

What I like about contemporary dance is that almost anything is possible.

There is no specific form or style that I

have to follow in order for it to be called contemporary dance. The boundary of what’s contemporary dance is continuously widening everyday. I feel I can dance however I want and I can dance honestly without pretending that I am somebody else in contemporary dance. I would like to continue pursuing finding “my dance” and be able to express what I want to express without limitations of forms or styles.

Contemporary dance has possibility to be more accessible to people from different backgrounds.

I want to be a performer/dancer who gives out vivid and alive energy on and off stage. I want to be that person on stage who you feel like you’d known them for long time or makes you want to meet after watching a dance. I want to be able to speak every single language in the world. But since this is quite impossible, I want to communicate with people from all over the world through my dance. I want to collaborate with my friends and get to know many different cultures. I want to eventually go back to Japan, share what I have been experiencing, and help the artists get more support in my own country.

I would like to participate in Pointe to Point program because I am interested in overcoming or bridging this blurry line between dance and visual art. In both visual art and dance, I like art works with souls. It is amazing to me how much a still image can speak. As a dancer, I can learn a lot from visual art the ways of capturing the moment alive. I am hoping this opportunity open up a possibility for me to learn another perspective on expressive art form. I can contribute my willingness, positive energy, commitment and my love for dancing (and dancing!) to this project.

Heekyung Cho (Korea)

University of Arts. Since them I have been inspired by the pioneers of Postmodern Dance like Yvonne Rainer, Steve Paxton, and Deborah Hay. I understand contemporary dance as an embodiment of deliberate understanding on both Body and Dance in depth. Body is physical, cultural, social, psychological, philosophical, political, and kinetic with many layers of consciousness. Body is a human being.

Body is a flux.

Seeing the dance performance, “Shazam”, choreographed by Philippe Decoufle, was the decisive point that led me to be a choreographer/dancer. To my amazement, the performance was not simply movements of body as material or form, but a multi-disciplinary approach that embodied profound understanding of visual aesthetics. If Dance/Choreography can be defined in such open ways like the Contemporary Visual Art embracing many possible definitions (only to me named Contemporary Art!), I want to make a dance work. I thought. Until then, I had majored in Painting at Seoul National University.

I grew deeply into dance and got admission from Master’s program in Choreography at the Korean National

I’m curious about “how visual aesthetics in painting can be visible in dance in interpretations and recreations of each dancer. Questioning what is `seeing’ or `being seen’, I find that visual aesthetic functions differently in those two fields.

In this project, I want to experiment as a performer and witness all the exploration processes of others.

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Ava Maureen Bonita Villanueva (Philippines)

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After one performance, one of the audiences approached me and asked about the definition of contemporary dance. Audiences usually tend to focus more on the aesthetics of dance but this spectator went beyond what the eyes could see. Evolution was the key answer to the question he asked. I believe that contemporary dance is an evolving form of dance. It also goes beyond beauty. I feel very passionate about contemporary dance because it gives me freedom to move and express what my body feels to do.

My teachers and experiences at work have inspired me to become a dancer. I have worked with various choreographers and the experiences I have and learned with them made me

a passionate and dedicated dancer. I started taking ballet lessons at the age of five and trained with different teachers.

I majored in dance at the Philippine Highs School for the Arts and obtained a diploma and dance degree from the University of the Philippines. During my college days, I was a member of the UP Dance Company, guest artists of Phil.

Ballet Theater, UP Filipiniana Alumni Dance Group, Air Dance and Dance Forum.

I am currently a member of Airdance, a dance company that focuses on Contemporary Works. I also put up a ballet school in my hometown where I share my other passion, which is teaching small kids. To enrich my knowledge in dancing, teaching and choreographing, I wish that an opportunity to study dance abroad will come true. In return, I will definitely share this experience to my fellow dancers and students.

I believe that the programme will provide me an opportunity to further explore, discover how much more I can contribute to the evolution of contemporary dance in collaboration with other artists from different disciplines like the visual arts. I shall be very positive and cooperate with the other artists. I will contribute what I have learned and experienced in contemporary dance, and hope to be able to represent the Philippine contemporary dance appropriately.

Magdalena Ptasznik (Poland)

but I came back to the dance seriously as a young adult.

There is much in contemporary dance that I feel passionately about. I could simply say: everything. But this says nothing.

What I love in contemporary dance most is its openness: no strict borders, neverending possibilities – freedom. Then I love the other side – the permanent activity, permanent process, overcoming of difficulties, overcoming your body, yourself. What fascinates me about contemporary dance is also the fact that it engages the man as a whole. This is what I look for in it. To find that way of performing to work with the man as a whole – body soul, voice, mind etc.

I started dancing in my childhood but due to the illness I had to give it up.

During the teens I had some dance experiences like workshops and courses

‘I am lucky that I met dance’ – these are words I heard from a very claver man, Daisuke Yoshimoto, Japanese butoh dancer – but I can repeat them as mine. I 34 am happy that I met dance or I am happy that dance met me. I have been dancing for six years trying and attempted to find my own path.

There are many people who influenced me in my dancing, but the most important was for me the meeting with Anna Godowska, the dancer and choreographer from Warsaw. The most important things she learned me during five years of teaching are the “dance values” – to be always yourself, to be real and to have personal attitude to the work.

I consider very important to work and exchange the ideas with other people both for my development and for developing of group working skills.

This is why Pointe to Point seems very interesting for me. I really like the idea of confrontation visual and performing arts. These both languages are familiar to me but in the same time I perceive them very different. I would like to try out how can we, performers, communicate in work with the visual artists. How can we express the same qualities, emotions.

I would be very happy to have the possibility to work with people from other countries and cultures. I believe each international meeting opens new horizons and gives us new impulses for research and work.

I will do my best to share with the participants my own experience, to represent this, what is going on in Poland.

subject through this art. I get inspired with every part of reality, which I can change into the language of dance.

Aleksandra Dziurosz (Poland)

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I have been involved in contemporary dance for over ten years. It has not only become an everyday activity but the biggest passion in my life, without which my days wouldn’t make sense. I decided to become a dancer at the age of 9. When I passed the exam to the ballet school I gave myself a goal: to dance until it stops being interesting for me. After 16 years dance is still as passionate because it’s so vast that I doubt I’ll have the chance to get to know it completely.

Discovering its new sides gives me the strength to stay in a ballet studio for hours, and I feel that nothing beyond it exists. I’m completely dedicated to dance, which makes me feel free, with no barriers or boarders, enabling me to express myself perfectly about any

After graduating from the National Ballet School of Bytom, I started to study at the Academy of Music in Warsaw. I also danced with the Joe Alter Dance Group (USA/Poland). After my studies, I became a teacher of contemporary dance at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music and the National Ballet School of Warsaw, and currently writing my doctoral dissertation on Dance Theatre. I cooperate with The Polish Dance Theatre in Poznan, and have choreographed a performance for them: ‘Homo Querens’.

I have choreographed around 40 etudes for ballet school concerts and academic exams and have choreographed concerts for graduating students of the ballet school of Warsaw. Being a teacher, dancer and choreographer, I’m still searching for dance and learning new things about it.

Pointe to Point will allow me, through contact with other choreographers and dancers, to expand my body language, by discovering new dance spheres, learning and analysing movement. This experience will free creations that are still unknown to me. As a person who is completely passionate about dance I will try to share all my knowledge and experience. I am ready to give everything to learn new creations while similtaneously creating myself.

Ramona Nagabczynski (Poland)

Poland in the 90s. A contemporary dance performance was rare and contemporary dance training was virtually non existent.

For that reason I decided to undertake studies in contemporary dance in the Hochschule fur Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt, Germany and in the London 36 Contemporary Dance School.

Like many things in life, my dance laden path began by sheer coincidence.

While still living in Canada as a ten year old girl I was “noticed” by my sister’s ballet teacher. My potential as a dance student was evidently based on my physical presence, which was at the time very suitable for ballet. Although I never imagined myself as a dancer, more as a visual artist, I decided to give dance a shot. The moment I did the thought and activity of dance completely dominated my life.

Enchanted as I was with the sublime beauty of ballet, I became fascinated by other existing or emerging dance forms, especially the incredibly diverse ranges of contemporary dance styles. This interest was quite difficult to pursue in

As a dancer, the fact that I become simultaneously the prisoner and proprietor of time puts me in a state incomparable to anything else in life.

There is also an analogical principle of momentum that we experience in the creative process of dance. Participating in the creation of a performance is always a landmark in our dance careers.

I must admit that certain people have inspired me to a greater extent than others. What was common amongst these individuals was both their ability to contribute but also their observatory skills regarding what can be contributed towards them in order to enhance the quality of their work.

From what I have concluded whilst reading the concept behind Pointe to Point, the project is focused on exchange of ideas on how time, space, music and the dancers’ body can be assembled and of cultural aspects that defy our artistic and personal identities. It interests me deeply how this aspect in particular will influence the process and the outcome of the work. Such is impossible to experience in a theoretical manner, it requires direct contact. Pointe to Point is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Marta Garcia Cerqueira (Portugal)

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I started dancing in 1992 at E.D.C.N, where I studied till 2001. After graduation, I received a scholarship for in New York. Since that time I’ve been participating in several workshops and courses, like the choreography course from Gulbenkian Foundation “Criatividade e Criação Artística” 2005, where I created the solo “Voltar do Avesso”. From the professional experience, I can point out my collaboration with: Manon Fait de la Dance Cie; Paulo Ribeiro Cie, with who I’ve been working since 2002; Peter Michael Dietz; Rui Horta; Miguel Moreira/ Teatro Útero and John Mowat.

At the same time I work as freelancer in performing arts, installation and film.

The body as a means of communication - to dance what cannot be said.

I am fascinated by the possibility of using one’s body to express states of soul, in other words, of giving corporal visibility to emotions. Apart from this, we speak of contemporary dance, which means the present instance, renovating and recycling, the opposite of stagnation.

Fluid communication, sharing and being influenced, even contaminated, by the other are essential concepts for me as they make me want to bring dance together with other artistic expressions in a multidisciplinary manner to allow me to explore and push back the limits of performance and avoid the easy and formulaic.

As a dancer/performer it is very important for me to broaden my knowledge of dance and performative arts. To this end, I try to take part regularly in different projects, courses, residences and workshops that allow me to find out more about new languages and work methods.

The reason I want to join the Pointe to Point program is because I want to work in a manner that encourages collaboration, sharing and exchanging ideas between artists of different nationalities and from different artistic areas. I would like to be able to observe the meeting of young choreographers and visual artists, understand how they communicate and what kind of organisation is set up: chaos pure and simple or is some form of hierarchy needed? How does it work? What are the rules? Is it productive in the end?

In addition to this, I hope to contribute with my own creativity by re-evaluating things and having the chance to be reactive and think, talk, get excited about ideas and ask questions.

Vincent Yong (Singapore/the Netherlands)

of my stringent family background and traditional ideas.

At age 26, I can say that Contemporary Dance is still full of incredible possibilities as I realise different things I see each day. The more I learn, the more I know there is even more to come.

Learning keeps me humble, keeps me wanting to share and also gives me a chance to see the perspective of others.

I saw what I wanted to do with my life when I was 19 years old and it gave me the greatest inspiration through a person who showed me “the way” with an act of generosity and kindness by allowing me into his dance classes pro bono. His name is Rusman Rahmat, a person who lives his life real. Through him, I saw what I could do with Dance.

I hadn’t known that there’s such a career possibility since young because

Dance helped me to know myself better and to define who I can be and want to be, and because of that also I want to help other to be who they desires to be through a process of believe-building when I teach in class. Contemporary dance has its beauty lying in the vast possibility of making a piece that I can incorporate anything that is conceptconceivable. Passion of wanting to learn about myself and others and getting feedback from audiences is what drives me.

Having worked professionally for 6 years, I find it sometimes important to see things from the other side once again. I enrolled myself into Rotterdam Dance Academy to once again feel it inside; the mechanical side, seeking to reconnect the conscious with the subconscious.

I believe that ASEF Pointe to Point will be an interesting platform for me as it encompasses the value of “sharing” which I am doing daily and also it also puts emphasis on the “process” just like I believe in “HOW” things are done over “what” is done. I would love to share what I have but more importantly share my views as a person so we could all be inspired with personalities which makes the art and thus in return, makes the person. Ultimately, sincerity in giving from the heart makes the real difference.

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Raquel Gualtero Soriano (Spain)

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I believe contemporary dance is made by a body presence which communicates and transforms through physicality.

For me the act of communication and transformation are the most passionate potential that contemporary dance has to offer.

My interest in Contemporary dance began as a child when I saw a performance located in a very small theatre with funny characters exploding fireworks with their feet. This event woke up something inside me. I do not know if it was the colour, the strong sound or the movement but this single event left an impression on me which lead me toward pursuing a lifestyle and career in performance and dance.

I started as a dancer studying at the Modern Dance department in Amsterdam. When I arrived in the department of dance my understanding of performance was that text needed to play some role alongside the body expression. After so intense a study period directed on body work I began to research how words are easy to understand while dance contains a more mind orientated or feeling orientated form of understanding. The challenge of this has riveted my attention and direction on the contemporary dance.

After my study period of five years within the Amsterdam school my life has become a aimed at finding a fresh discovery every day. I have been able to continue dancing placing my soul in each step.

The Point to Point programme screams to me as an opportunity for me to arrive closer to inspiring people and situations.

The Fourth Asia-Europe Dance Forum project is like a journey through improvisation. Every day will be a new experience full of energy, alertness, awareness with reaction/interaction at a constant pace.

I am someone who tries to believe in honesty and who likes to work and be serious. At the same time I recognise myself as a person full of energy and adrenaline, which is what I can definitely share. I am seeking situations to open my body, head, thoughts, believes, movements, shapes and energy. To be able to participate within this project would be for me a means to arrive closer to what it is I dream of in performance art.

Rachanikorn Kawdee (Thailand) I began my life as dancer, as a pilgrim on the journey of a thousand miles, beginning with one simple step, for one simple reason; I wanted to be stronger.

I suffered from asthma as a child, always wanting to run and jump and fly around, but stopped by my own weak body, or just my misunderstanding of it, I was still always attracted to the beauty of bodies moving in space. As a way to strengthen my body and to learn something beautiful, I started to study ballroom dancing. I really enjoyed the movements and music of Latin dance, it was so dramatic; and through it I learned the importance of my muscles, the smallest ones, and how they can move together to create a whole idea in performance. I danced in two competitions. In the first one at Ramkamhang University; I did not win anything. In the second competition, I was not thinking about winning, I was just in love with dancing with and for other people; this time at Chulalongkorn University, I won a gold prize, first place.

For me, ballroom dancing was like the gateway to the artistic world.

At the time when I met Patravadi Medjdhon, and Manop Meejamrat, I had never danced as an artist before. I was unfamiliar with the idea of dance as an art form in the contemporary or classical

style. I only new dance as a social idea, it was the most fun I could have, but it was also something just for fun and for beauty, but like in a mainstream idea. It was these two master artists who opened my eyes as once ballroom dancing had opened a gate. They have shown me the experience of dance as a language, a way to communicate what is beyond the reach of words and beyond the confines of language.

From my teachers I learned how the contemporary evolves from the traditional, that each form has a philosophy of the body and its expressions. I have had the great fortune to be given the opportunity to study under their guidance with many other artists in Thai classical and folk dance, modern western styles, acrobatics, and much more.

I want to be a part of the Point-to-Point program because I want to engage with other artists in exploring the language of dance and how it evolves as we meet each other from distant places. I want to know more about how I can express myself, what I want to say, and how I can understand the world with others through language of dance. I want to encounter as many forms as I can, and find my own development as an artist who can communicate what my teachers have taught me to know, “beauty with meaning.”

I have been teaching physical movement and dance as an introductory course for young adults at the Patravadi Theatre for one year now, and I have gained much confidence in myself through this experience of leadership, and now I also feel ready to share with my contemporaries any knowledge that I have. I could give a workshop in Northern Thai folk dance, and share my experiences as a developing artist in Bangkok. I feel that making art is about sharing knowledge and new ideas, cultures and traditions and discovering and representing the present moment in which we live. I am very excited to meet people who share the same passion.

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Asia-Europe Foundation Jean Anes Director for Cultural Exchange 41 Vanini Belarmino

Project Executive Cinema Art Foundation Project Staff Agnieszka Wlazeł Sylwia Kujawska Patrycja Kondziałka Agata Etmanowicz Witold Kon Marek Szymkiewicz Tomasz Opęchowski Egurrola Dance Studio Magdalena Cichocka Lidia Tofil

Acknowledgments Amrita Performing Arts (Cambodia) Annie Sarthou Celine Breant Chari Villa Christina Polychronidou Chia Ming Chien Daniela Klivarova Fred Frumberg Gilles Pailhe Jason Quibilan Jean-Marc Adoplhe Jun Sabayton Katja Werner Krzysztof Bartczak of the Embassy of Poland in Singapore Lamb Khairun Maria Jose Tavares Mohamed Khairuddin Nur Hamin Naoto Iina Patravadi Theatre (Thailand) Paul Henson Pedro Macedo Rollo Andrew Ramano Sim Hussein Véronique Rabin Le Gall

Cinema Art Foundation consists of people who have been committed to film environment for many years both in Poland and in the whole world. Throughout the cooperation with a great number of festivals in Europe and many organizations acting in the whole world (UNICA, Independent Film Union member of UNESCO) we have been organizing world independent film 42 festivals in 1997 and 2003, in which films from 30 various countries had been presented. www.offon.org

Egurrola Dance Studio – the biggest dance school in Poland. They own 2 dance venues both in the center of Warsaw. One with 6 dance studios (185 m2, 140 m2, 160 m 2, 115 m2, 60 m2, 70 m2) and one with three (165 m, 101,5 m2, 120 m2). All studios are built to fulfill all requests of dancers – mirror walls, professional dance floors, special ventilation system and comfortable infrastructure. The Egurrola Dance Studio is not only the space for dance.

There are professional and amateur dance groups which cooperate with many organizers of performances, concerts and especially TV shows. http://www.taniec.com.pl/cnt/sale.php?action=sale_galeria

The “Fabryka Trzciny” Artistic Center is a center for arts and education comprising a Performance Hall, Theatrical Stage, Exhibition Hall, Club & Lounge, as well as a multitude of spaces designated for film screenings, fashion shows, symposiums, conferences, specialist training and other private or corporate events. The Fabryka building, originally constructed in 1916, is one of the oldest industrial sites located on Warsaw’s east river bank, in the Praga district. It was this desolate and ruined factory that was discovered by renowned composer, TV and music producer as well as cultural director - Wojciech Trzcinski. http://www.fabrykatrzciny.pl/

notes, thoughts & reflections.

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