Springback Academy 2018

Evgeny Borisenko is a Berlin-based dance writer and dramaturge. Over the past few years he has contributed to a variety of publications including Springback Magazine, "Театр." magazine, European Dancehouse Network and numerous French online resources. Alongside writing, he has hosted panel discussions, post-show events and live-stream TV shows for festivals including, among others, Spring Forward Aerowaves, B.Motion and NID Festival. In 2021 he was reviewing Berlin dance and art events for tanzschreiber Berlin. Also, Evgeny is currently researching the issues of hauntology, spectatorship and body politics in contemporary dance and performance.

Alexandra is a freelance dance writer based in London. In addition to Springback, she writes for everything-theatre.co.uk, and seeingdance.com. Most recent work includes reviewing dance for thelist.com at Edinburgh Fringe 2018. She has a degree in dance and theatre, and is currently studying for her Masters in English Literature at Birkbeck, University of London, where she exhibited a multimedia research project Here was our House as part of Being Human Festival 2017. She has been a teacher of yoga and relaxation since 2010 www.alexandrayoga.co.uk She tweets @AlexandraFGray

Claire Lefèvre is a French choreographer and performer, currently based in Vienna, Austria. After graduating from London Contemporary Dance School in 2012, she studied in SEAD (Salzburg), taking part in the International Choreographic Exchange program. Her recent works Function Man (2016) and S/M (2017) have been showcased in several festivals in Austria and internationally, such as March Hare Festival (IS), Dance Days Chania (GR), TanzHafen (AT), Imagetanz (AT) and have been supported by DanceWeb, Life Long Burning, Im_Flieger, Tanzzentrale Nuremberg, Wien Kultur, WUK, Brut Wien and Huggy Bears. In 2017 she was awarded the BKA Start Stipendium für Musik und darstellende Kunst. Claire also teaches concept-writing to movers and makers.

Alfredo Miralles is a contemporary dance performer and cultural manager. His work in performing arts production joins his two career paths: dance and project management. Since 2009 he has combined his work at the Aula de las Artes programme of Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) with writing on dance, mainly working as a critic in SusyQ magazine. He is currently infused with the direction of the interdisciplinary art platform at UC3M, where he coordinates projects of dance and new technologies.

David Pallant is a contemporary dancer and performer, based in Berlin. Having trained at Central School of Ballet, London, and the Conservatoire National de Paris, he spent five years dancing with various European companies, including National Dance Company Wales and Stadttheater Heidelberg. Since moving to Berlin in 2016 to begin freelancing, he has collaborated with choreographers and dance artists including Shangchi Sun, Club Guy & Roni, Emi Miyoshi, Joshua Monten and Ivan Perez. Alongside his work as a dancer and dance writer, David is also currently studying towards a BA in English Literature.

Dr Betina Panagiotara is a dance researcher and theorist. She collaborates with artists as a dramaturg and producer, teaches history of dance, and organises educational seminars. Her latest research focuses on cultural policies and practices concerning dance and disability, while her doctoral thesis – completed with the support of the Onassis Foundation – explored the artistic structures and practices of contemporary dance in Greece from 2008 onwards. She graduated from the Panteion University Department of Communication, Media and Culture, and has a postgraduate diploma in dance studies. Her interests centre on the dramaturgy, history and anthropology of contemporary dance and performance. She has presented her research at international conferences, and has been published in reputable academic journals.

Lotte Wijers loves words (she went to Utrecht University to study theatre, dance and film) and images (she went to art academy in Amsterdam). Since she can remember, there has been this fascination about looking at movement (dance, if you will). She enjoys trying to catch the experience of it in understandable words (whether it is hosting talks in theatres, producing essays or reviews). To her, writing about dance is an endeavour to truly look and listen. By looking closely she seeks to write in other ways and to evoke to watch differently in return. That is what art can do: make us see the world differently. That is why Lotte loves contemporary dance and why she wants to share experiences with others.

Kelly is based in Edinburgh, Scotland and has been writing about dance, and the arts in general, for over 20 years. She has been Dance Editor and Kids Editor for The List Magazine since 1999 and Dance Critic and feature writer for The Scotsman newspaper since 2000. In this capacity she has interviewed choreographers and dancers across the world, and reviewed thousands of shows (including around 100 over three weeks each year at the Edinburgh Festival). Kelly has also written for Dance Europe, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The Sunday Herald, The Daily Record, Edinburgh Festivals Magazine, and contributed articles to many theatre and dance programmes, including several for the Dance Consortium and Edinburgh International Festival. She is a regular guest on BBC Radio Scotland’s Janice Forsyth Show, on the review panel. Kelly has also been part of the curation panel for ‘Made in Scotland’, an annual showcase of theatre and dance at the Edinburgh Fringe, and sat on Scottish Government funding panels awarding grants to youth dance projects.

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.