Kathy Altman: while highly trained in many forms of dance, it wasn't until her catalytic meeting with Gabrielle Roth 30 years ago that her true calling found her. As Co-Director of The Moving Center School, Kathy was the first person asked to help Gabrielle bring her work out into the world. Over the past 20 years Kathy's teaching has brought thousands of people back to the joy of their own, original movement. Using dance as the medium, Kathy illuminates for her students "as on the dance floor, so in life". She is devoted to inspiring people to live the teachings of presence, patience and practice long after the music ends. www.movingcenterschool.com
Eva Karczag is a pioneering dance-maker, dancer and educator. Her performance work and teaching are informed by dance improvisation and mindful body practices. Through her performing and teaching she aims to communicate her love of full-bodied dancing and her interest in the practice of being in the moment. Her ongoing collaborations with Chris Crickmay have led her into the world of objects and installations.
Chris Crickmay is a visual artist and writer specialising in installation work and in collaborative work connecting art and dance. He has a particular interest in the role of the arts and creativity in everyday life. He is the co-author, with Miranda Tufnell, of two books: Body, Space, Image: Notes Towards Improvisation and Performance, Dance Books, (1990) and A Widening Field: Journeys in Body and Imagination, Dance Books, (2004).
Simon Whitehead, movement artist, works from his base in rural West Wales. He has developed a body of work from the pedestrian. Encountering situations at walking pace, his works are place-sensitive and often involve a process of ritual reconstruction through the body, live performance, sound and sensual media.
For the last five years he has worked closely with sound artist Barnaby Oliver . For more info www.untitledstates.net.
Simon has just launched his book Walking to Work published by Shoeless (2006), an anthology of his work from the last 10 years, incorporating writing, drawing and photography.
Catherine Hossenlopp, a native of France, trained as a dancer at the School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam, graduating in 1990. Following her interest in the relationship between body and mind, she went on to study Body-Mind Centering (BMC) in the USA and then taught BMC and movement in the UK for 6 years. Moving back to France in 2000 Catherine has continued to develop her BMC and movement work and is currently studying osteopathy.
Kirstie Simson called “a force of nature” by the New York Times, is an award-winning dancer and teacher who has “immeasurably enriched and expanded the boundaries of New Dance” according to Time Out Magazine, London. Simson’s eternal subject is freedom, as she dares to go beyond the boundaries of form and structure to create movement out of the rhythm of life itself.
Katrina McPherson, award-winning video dance maker, originally trained as a dancer before going on to have a career as a director of arts and documentary programmes for television. Her video dance works have been screened at festivals all over the world. She is the author of Making Video Dance, Routledge (2006).
Simon Fildes was a musician before becoming a video and sound artist. He has worked in collaboration with Katrina to create the ground-breaking net dance works www.hyperchoreography.org and www.move-me.com. Both Simon and Katrina are lecturers in Media Arts and Dance at Dundee University and are the directors of Goat Media Ltd.
For more info www.left-luggage.co.uk