CSC | Migrant Bodies

John Mpaliza

CSC – Democratic Republic of Congo / Italy

John Mpaliza, also known as “Peace Walking Man”, is an activist for peace and human rights, an Italian citizen of Congolese origin. For political reasons, in 1991, John had to leave his homeland, the Democratic Republic of Congo and he landed in Italy in 1993. After various adventures related to the “life of migrants”, he managed to resume his studies graduating in Computer Engineering at the University of Parma. He worked 12 years as a programmer at the Municipality of Reggio Emilia but, on May 30, 2014, by his choice, he fired himself and he leave everything, including home, devoting himself, full time, to the organization of marches national and international peace programs.

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Katharina Senk

Austria – d.id

Katharina Senk is an Austrian dance-performer, choreographer and pedagogue based in Vienna. She was to be seen in the works of Doris Uhlich, Liz King, Georg Blaschke, Elio Gervasi, Anton Lachky and many more.
In her personal artistic practice Katharina looks for ways to join her interests in psychotherapy, neuroscience and epigenetics with her knowledge from the fields of dance, martial arts and movement.
Her choreographical and pedagogical dedication lead to collaborations with Art-University Graz, „d.id – dance identity“, „bosch 500“-Project, „Tanz die Toleranz“, Dschungel Wien and the association „Ich bin O.K.“ where she was working with people with and without disabilities for many years. Her Bachelor-thesis explored the importance of inclusion within institutions of Contemporary Dance education in Austria. It received an award from the Viennese Municipal Department for Cultural Affairs.
Katharinas artistic efforts earned her the training scholarship from Tanzquartier Wien for 2015/16, the danceWEB scholarship for ImPulsTanz-Festival 2017 and the Start-Stipendium 2017/2018 awarded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture.

Lara Crippa

Italy – CSC

Lara Crippa, born in Padua, spent her early years travelling and dancing. She studied ballet at the Academy Comini following methods Vaganova and Cecchetti, completing her repertoire studies with Elisabetta Terabust and ballet masters Franco De Vita and Raymond Lukens. She also studied Graham technique with Susan Sentler, and went to Vienna to deepen her studies in modern/contemporary technique (Limon, Cunningham, Horton, Flying). At 20 she won a fellowship for the first Professional Dancers Course held in Rovigo and Ferrara, where she studied the Italian contemporary repertoire (M. Bigonzetti, F. Monteverde, V. Sieni). She danced for Dimensione Balletto, Fabula Saltica, Il Posto and Tango Maudit. She started then to teach Ballet, with a Diploma in barre technique at the Academy Teatro alla Scala. At the same time she completed her classical studies and graduated in Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice (2000), followed by a Master degree in Technical Translation after which she worked for four years as Foreign Marketing responsible. Thereafter she had a seven years full-time teaching experience at secondary school, and kept working as technical English translator and interpreter. In Venice she also obtained a diploma in Managing and Promoting Cultural Events, after which she collaborated for two years with the Biennale of Venice, following the promotion of the Dance Academy – directed by Carolyn Carlson – and the UNESCO projects related to Dance/Music/Theatre. Moreover she was responsible for the President’s guests during Biennale Cinema. Since 2010 she has been specializing in Social Media Marketing, teaching web strategies and content creation. She collaborates as dance consultant for different e-zines, besides the creation of the Dance Blog Parole di Danza. She writes for Corriere della Sera | Corriere del Veneto – Sguardi di Danza, ABCDance Blog, and the specialized web magazine Dance&Culture. Among other collaborations: panel in dance competition, further training courses, and critical dance presentations. In November 2016 Micha van Hoecke put on stage her interview: Pensieri dell’Anima (OFFBEAT.lab project).

Liz King

Austria – D.ID

Liz King has worked professionally as a dancer and choreographer since 1967. After her engagement with the Stuttgart Ballet under John Cranko she focused on choreography.
In 1982 she co-founded TTW – Tanztheater Wien, which would become Austrias first independent contemporary dance company. TTW toured extensively throughout Europe performing at renowned festivals including Centre Pompidou, Europalia Brussels, Hebbel Theater, Berlin, Staatsoper Wien to name just a few. In 1989 she became director and choreographer at Stadttheater Heidelberg where she led a company of 14 dancers for seven years and created 11 full length pieces. In 1996 she returned to Vienna to restart TTW 2, bringing with her a young team of dancers from Heidelberg. In 1999 the company moved into the Volksoper Vienna expanding to 32 dancers, creating an innovative environment for contemporary dance and for large audiences. In 2005 Liz King co-founded D.ID dance-identity with her partner Manfred Biskup. After the untimely death of Manfred in 2010 Liz King continued building D.ID developing it to “Choreografisches Zentrum Burgenland“ offering emerging choreographers the chance to produce their work accompanied by experienced mentors. whilst collaborating with international partners as well as local community based activities. In addition D.ID shares projects with several international partners.

Max Biskup

d.id – Austria

Video artist and filmmaker based in Austria. Born 1978 in Vienna, studied at the Filmacademy Vienna. Works as video artist and director for film since 1999. His work includes video installations, documentaries, short films and music videos.
Recent projects: Artistic direction of visual art within RIVE – Rivers of Europe. (www.riversofeurope.org) – “Dedicated to Life” TV Documentary about the work of MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières) – Produced by Terra Mater Factual Studios. Runtime: 400 min – “Tabu” TV Documentary about sexuality in Austria – Produced by Concorde Film. Runtime: 450 minutes. Installations and short films shown at venues and festivals like: Opera Nuremberg, Volksoper Wien, Wiener Festwochen, TAT frankfurt, Museumsuartier, Tanzwoche Dresden, Berlin 36, Szene Salzburg, Festspielhaus St. Pölten. Collaborations with various international artists such as Catherine Guerin, Simon Frearson, Liz King, Madita, Superamas, Gelitin, Iv Toshain, Pilot Tanz, Stefan Obermaier, Dante Murillo and Tibor Nagy Grosso. Commercial work for clients like: The Red Cross, Ford, Louis Vuitton, MTV, ORF, Helena Rubinstein, Interspar, Vice Magazine, Easybank, My Cola, DM.

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