Springback Academy 2016

Nika Arhar works as a freelance critic and publicist in the field of performing arts, and a cultural journalist and moderator of talks and roundtables. Since 2012 she has been a co-ordinator and executive board member of the Association of Theatre Critics and Researchers of Slovenia.

Ka Bradley is an editor at Granta Books and Portobello Books, and an editorial director at 3 of Cups Press, a micropublisher which platforms marginalised voices. She reviews dance and theatre for Exeunt Magazine and The Stage. Her writing has appeared in Somesuch Stories, Catapult and Granta (among others). She tweets @ka_bradley.

Lucia Fernandez Santoro (1991, Argentina/France) is an academically trained dancer and performer who seeks redefinitions of performance, stage settings and audience. She works as a freelance everything, be it as a performer, producer, critic, dramaturg or teacher. After completing a BA in Dance at ArtEZ (Arnhem) she gravitated towards creating with artists from different disciplines. Mainly using improvisation and writing as artistic practices. Continuing with her interdisciplinary interest and non-linear approach to dance, she recently completed an MFA program at Sandberg Instituut (Amsterdam) where she developed her writing practice through poetry, fiction as well as performative installations. Lucia started writing reviews in 2016 as part of Springback Academy and joined Movement Exposed in July 2019. Still performing and working alongside makers, her multiple occupations serve and inform one another to develop a critical and comprehensive voice.

Ola has been working in the editorial office of Dance Zone, as editor, PR manager and translator since 2007. She used to work for international festivals (Tanec Praha and Prague Writers´Festival) as a coordinator. She lives in Prague, loves teaching Czech to foreigners and currently works at the French Embassy.

Stella Mastorosteriou is a dance artist and dance educator based in Thessaloniki, Greece. Currently studying undertaking the Master of Choreography COMMA, at Codarts and Fontys Universities in the Netherlands, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Architecture, where she explored the interrelations of dance and architecture, and a master’s degree in Political Science and Sociology, where she focused her thesis on gender issues in the dance process. In 2012 she co-created KINOYME dance studio in Thessaloniki, where she works, teaching and choreographing for kids and adults. She joined Springback Academy since 2016.

Riikka Laakso is a freelance dancer, choreographer and scholar working between Helsinki and Barcelona. She received her PhD from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona in 2015, after completing her career in dance pedagogy in University of Applied Sciences of Savonia (Kuopio, Finland). She is fascinated by the uncanny places and moments formed through corporealities, and her main interests in dance are gender, embodying thought, poetry of flesh and non-linear structures. Riikka lectures in dance at Institute of the Arts Barcelona (Sitges) for both MA and BA students, works for Zodiak – Center for New Dance (Helsinki) in the outreach department to open up the mystery of contemporary dance into wider audiences, and collaborates with an EU-funded research project in Artistic Research methodologies called Artistic Doctorates in Europe (ADiE).

Lena Megyeri manages and facilitates independent theatre projects in Hungary. Currently she works as the artistic manager of the Mozsár Műhely theatre space in downtown Budapest. Mozsár Műhely is a 100-seat venue that opened in 2016 in the former event space of a café, and since then it has commissioned about 6-7 new works in every theatre season. The managing team’s goal and mission is to support contemporary plays, independent artists and emerging talent. Lena’s passion for performance is also reflected in her writing: she has published in most major Hungarian dance and theatre magazines. Currently she is a regular contributor to the printed periodical Ellenfény, the online dance magazine Tanckritika and participating in the mentoring programme of Színház (Theatre), one of Hungary’s oldest and most renowned theatre journals. @lena_megyeri

Jelena Mihelčić is a journalist, dance writer and a public relations consultant living in Zagreb, Croatia. She has been writing about dance and making dance related videos since 2002. While working in an advertising agency, she was also the Head of Marketing and Communications for Croatian Dance Network. She joined Springback Academy in 2016. Social profiles: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter

Róisín is a dance artist and writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. She graduated from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in 2016. Her work has been performed at Resolution, Hidden Door and the Edinburgh Fringe. She is a writer for The Skinny, seeingdance.com and is a Scottish Review of Books emerging critic (2018). She has been part of the Springback Academy since 2016, and holds degrees in English Literature (University of Edinburgh) and Film Studies (UCL). Website: roisinobriendance.com

Francesca Pinder is British and based in Brussels. While studying dance at the University of Chichester (UK) and Dans och Cirkushögskolan (Sweden), she was selected as one of Youth Dance England’s Young Creatives. After graduating, she was invited to be an Associate Researcher for Lea Anderson and Marisa Zanotti’s online transmedia project The Pan’s People Papers. As well as writing for Springback Magazine, she has contributed to Subbacultcha Belgium. She has assisted with the projects of Bal Moderne including L’Incroyable Telepherique and Parckdesign 2016. Francesca worked at IETM - International network for contemporary performing arts, first as a Production Assistant and then as Project Officer. During her time there she assisted with events in Brussels, Polverigi, Bucharest, Valencia, Tehran, Beirut and Sardinia. She worked as the Communications Assistant for Aerowaves, and is currently Production and Communications Manager for ROBIN, a collectively autonomous society that supports the work of Flemish theatre makers Pieter De Buysser and Thomas Bellinck.

British born, brought up in London, Oonagh has spent her adult life living in Paris and Brussels where she is still based. She has been a freelance dancer, cultural journalist and producer/programmer since the eighties. As a producer/programmer she has worked with many independent dance companies as well as established institutions such as The Pompidou Centre in Paris, The Place Theatre in London and Les Brigittines in Brussels. She currently manages different arts projects from her own organisation, The Tinderbox, including the precursor of collective dance initiatives, the Bal Moderne. As a journalist, she has contributed to The Guardian, Elle Magazine, The Evening Standard, City Limits and Time Out as well as the Belgian, English language publications Agenda, The Bulletin and Flanders Today. She is also responsible for the Springback Academy yearly programme.

Donald Hutera has been writing and speaking about dance, theatre, live performance and the arts both in the US and the UK since 1977. Publications and websites to which he's contributed include The Times of London, The New York Times, Animated (Foundation for Community Dance, now known as People Dancing), Dance Umbrella, londondance.com and many others. He co-authored The Dance Handbook with former Time Out dance editor Allen Robertson, edited The Rough Guide to Choreography and is featured in Fifty Contemporary Choreographers. An experienced post-show host, Hutera has been a jury member for, among others, the Total Theatre Awards, BE Festival and Casa Festival. In 2013 he began curating, producing, creating and providing dramaturgy for GOlive Dance and Performance Festival and, the following year, co-founded Chelsea Arts Collective aka CAC with visual artist/philosopher Lilia Pegado.

Sanjoy Roy has written on dance for the Guardian since 2002, and contributed to many other publications including the New Statesman, Dance Gazette, Dancing Times, and he is London correspondent for Dance International magazine. He was formerly production editor and book designer for Dance Books Ltd. He wrote the Guardian's popular Step by step guides to dance, and conceived and scripted the much-loved animation series Planet Dance: a visitor's guide to contemporary dance. He has been a writing mentor at Springback Academy since 2014. He keeps an archive of his writing at sanjoyroy.net.