Springback Academy 2015

Based in Barcelona, Clàudia Brufau is a freelance dance writer who combines cultural journalism in several online and paper media with communication management. She trained as a dancer at Institut del Teatre, and holds a degree in English Philology by University of Barcelona (Erasmus at Goldsmith’s College). She holds masters degrees in Theatrical Studies (UAB) and in Cultural Journalism (UPF). In 2010 she started writing in magazines such as Dance Europe, and also begun to work as a reporter and screenwriter in musical programmes of the public Catalan Television (TV3). Currently she collaborates with private and public institutions such as L’Estruch (live arts creation factory), Fundació ‘la Caixa’ (programming series of dance on screen) or Institut del Teatre (as a contributor to the online Performing Arts Encyclopaedia and translator). Among other media, she writes for Revista Musical Catalana, Godot Barcelona, Núvol, and coordinates the dance section of the Performing Arts Critics in Catalonia (Recomana). claudiabrufau.wordpress.com Twitter: @claudiabrubo Instagram: @claudiabrufau

Elina Cire is a Latvia-based project, PR and international relations manager and writer with knowledge of working in visual, performing arts and film promotion. She has worked with British Council Latvia, National Film Centre of Latvia and Creative Europe Media Latvia.

Gaia Clotilde Chernetich is a dance dramaturg and researcher based between Italy and France. In 2017 she obtained a European PhD in Dance from the University Côte d’Azur and in Humanities from the University of Parma. Currently, she is a post-doc researcher at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice for the European project ‘Dancing Museums: the democracy of beings’. Her scientific publications and main research focus are cross-disciplinary and deal with subjects such as dance memory, dramaturgy, oral history and museology. As a contributor, she writes about dance and theatre for Doppiozero, Teatro e Critica and other publications. She conceived and collaborated to educational and audience development projects aiming to disseminate the choreographic culture. She participated to Springback Academy in 2015.   

Anna Chirescu is a French dancer based in Paris. She was trained at Paris National Conservatory and was an exchange student at UC Irvine. She has worked in France and abroad for different companies – notably Jean-Claude Gallotta, Luc Petton, Marie-Laure Agrapart, Paul les Oiseaux, Dance Theater Luxembourg, Bill Young Dance Company – and since 2013 has been a member of CNDC Company directed by Robert Swinston, with whom she performs works by Merce Cunningham. Anna also holds masters degrees in Modern Literature and Public and Cultural Affairs from Sorbonne and Sciences Po Universities. She started to write about dance on a blog she co-funded CCCdanse.com and for other French specialised dance media. She joined the Springback Academy in 2016 during Springforward in Barcelona. Anna has also started to work on her own projects as a choreographer, premiering her first piece in Paris in autumn 2018.

Luke Forbes is a PhD researcher at Monash University’s Centre for Theatre and Performance and his research interests include Australian and Indigenous Australian concert dance practices and historiography. He was awarded a Master of Arts Dance Studies by the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, Germany. Luke has presented research papers at the Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology in Bielefeld, Germany, and the World Dance Alliance Americas General Assembly at the UDLAP, Puebla, Mexico. His published research papers appear in Runway - Australian Experimental Art and the World Dance Alliance’s Journal for Emerging Dance Scholarship. Luke’s background in dance studies builds upon extensive dance training and a professional career performing in ballet companies in Switzerland and Germany. He has also contributed journalistic dance reviews and features to Australian and international publications, including Dance Australia, Dance Europe, TANZweb, Aerowaves Springback, Time Out Melbourne, and Dapper Dan Magazine.

Anastasios was born in Mytilene, Greece. He studied Communication and Marketing (BA) and Performing Arts Management (MA). From 2007 to 2015 he was co-editor for the publications of the Athens and Epidaurus Festival and currently he is a writer-contributor to many major theatres and institutions including Onassis Cultural Centre among others. He is a dance critic and theorist, writing critical essays on dance and reviewing performances for Greek dance portals (dancepress.gr and dancetheater.gr). As a writer, he has also been a member of Springback Academy (2015, 2016, 2018), a group of young critics from Europe formed under the aegis of Aerowaves. He teaches Dance History and works as dramaturgy consultant for performances in theatre and dance. As a performer, he has collaborated with Virgilio Sieni (Venice Biennale della Danza), Denis Savary (Athens Museum of Contemporary Art), Pierre Bal Blanc (Documenta14).

Marie Pons works on various projects related to contemporary dance and performance. As a dance journalist, she writes for several publications including Mouvement, LM Magazine, Inferno and Revue Facettes. She participates in All we can do is dance, a web project combining film and dance, and is coordinator for a forthcoming paper publication on dance in the North of France / Belgium. Through her writing, Marie has initiated dialogues and collaborations with several choreographers including Claire Buisson, João Costa Espinho, Meytal Blanaru, Thomas Guerry and Tatiana Julien. She is in charge of documenting through writing, sound and images for several European projects that focus on dance and its social implications, such as Dancing Museums (2016-2017) and Migrant Bodies (2018-2019).

Louise is a performing artist and writer based between Brussels and London. She has always been inspired and curious about navigating the different modes of making across Europe, and her work to date reflects this. She gained her first writing experience as a Springback participant in 2015 and has followed the developments of Springback, ultimately to the online magazine, with interest.

Louise is currently performing with Kabinet K, Eszter Salamon, Daniel Linehan and Charlotte Spencer Projects.

Photo: Mickael Marso Riviere

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.

Omar Khan is a Madrid-based journalist and critic, and editor of Suzy Q dance magazine.

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.