CocoonDance Company: CHORA

Die seitdem rund fünfzig entstandenen abendfüllenden Produktionen wurden zu Gastspielen auf fünf Kontinenten und zu wichtigen Showcase Festivals in Deutschland, der Schweiz und Frankreich eingeladen. Mit seinen Arbeiten sprengt das Bonner Tanzensemble immer wieder das konventionelle Bühnenerlebnis - nicht nur, was den Raum betrifft.

Rafaële Giovanola (Choreographer), Swiss, born in Baltimore, USA. Studied ballet at Marika Besobrasova in Monte Carlo. After a first engagement as a soloist in Turin, Rafaële Giovanola was engaged by Egon Madsen for the Frankfurt Ballet. She danced the repertoire and co-operated with several choreographers like Jiri Kylian, Uwe Scholz and William Forsythe, the Frankfurt Ballet choreographer. Under his direction she stayed with the Frankfurt Ballet for eight years, being involved in all productions of this new groundbreaking era. Followed a long collaboration as a soloist with the Choreographic Theatre from Pavel Mikuláštik's in Freiburg and in Bonn. Rafaële Giovanola has been teaching for different state Compagnies and institutions. In collaboration with partners like Goethe-Institut and Pro-Helvetia she teaches workshops and Labs around the world. She wons national and international awards for her choreographic works such as in 2010 the sponsorship grant from the canton of Valais, in 2021 the cultural award of the city of Monthey and in 2022 the Deutsche Theaterpreis DER FAUST for her choreography “Sphynx” with tanzmainz. For her work in the field of art education Rafaële was awarded numerous prizes and was invited with her Junior Company in 2016, 2019 and 2023 to the “Tanztreffen der Jugend” Berliner Festspiele.

Rainald Endrass (Dramaturgy, concept), born in Schwäbisch Gmünd, studied German, Philosophy, Sociology and Theatre Sciences in Frankfurt. During this period, he gained experience in the fields of dramaturgy and direction, being assistant at the Schauspiel Frankfurt. Following several projects of the independent scene and after guest engagements at the Städtische Bühnen Freiburg, he was responsible for dramaturgy, and PR at the Choreographisches Theater since 1991. Together with Pavel Mikuláštik and his ensemble he changed from Freiburg to the Theater der Bundesstadt Bonn in 1997, where he also worked in the fields of drama and opera. He is also curating o several dance festivals in Bonn. In 2000 he founded the project CocoonDance together with Rafaële Giovanola for the production ’Jigaboo’, invited to the off festival in Avignon.

JanWiesbrock (collaborating with CocoonDance as light designer since 2022) grew up in Berlin where he made his first theatre experiences at the Orphtheater Berlin. From 2012-2017 he studied social sciences at the University of Cologne. During this time, he worked as the director of the film workshop at studiobühneköln. From 2017-2022 he was technical director of the Orangerie Theater in Cologne and worked as a freelance lighting designer for Ensemble Modern (Hard Boiled Variations - 15 ½ Cycles, Haus der Berliner Festspiele 2022), for CocoonDance (Junior Company Projects, Dreamcity, and an adaptation of Runthrough at the Beethovenfest in Viktoriabad, Bonn 2022), for Futur 3 (1934 - STIMMEN, NS-DOK - shortlisted at the Berlin Theatertreffen 2021) and for Wehr51 (IS  deutsche Räuber im Dschihad, awarded the Cologne Theatre Prize 2020). Since 2022 he is technical director of the CocoonDance Company and technical director of the festivals Urbäng, Into The Fields and International Tanzsolofestival Bonn.

Fa-Hsuan Chen born in Tainan (Taiwan) - collaborating as a performer since 2012 and as a costume designer since 2016 -.  After completing her studies at the Tainan Women’s College of Arts &Technology, Fa-Hsuan continued her dance training from 2001 to 2004 at the Folkwang University in Essen. Since then, she has danced for Morgan Nardi/Ludica (Düsseldorf), Double C (Wuppertal), DIN A13/Gerda König (Cologne) and Irina Lorez (Switzerland), among others. From 2004 to 2012 she worked with the Ben J. Riepe Compagnie (Düsseldorf) and had engagements at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf/Duisburg) as well as Angie Hiesl (Cologne).

Cristina Commisso grew up in Sydney, Australia – started her collaboration as a performer with CocoonDance in 2020- . She studied at National College of Dance in Newcastle and then in New York, US, where she also had her first engagement with Ballet Hispánico. Later finding her home in Europe, she was involved with various companies: Theater Osnabrück, Stadttheaters Bremerhaven and Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. As a freelancer she has been engaged with Of Curious Nature and CocoonDance who she has collaborated and toured with for multiple projects since 2020. Cristina has worked with various choreographers like Edward Clug, Jiri Pokorny, Ed Wubbe, Marco Goecke, Rafaële Giovanola, Geoffrey Holder, William Whitener. She also creates her own works, her recent works a solo with title “She”,  “opened her clenched fist” and “fell into the midst of everything” was also developed into a short film and was presented as part of the Lens Dans Festival in Brussels.

Martina De Dominicis, Italien in Vienna based dance artist and choreographer. - After working with several institutional dance companies across Europe, she begins in 2016 to collaborate with Rafaële Giovanola for CocoonDance, performing and co-creating dance pieces that have been touring through Europe, Africa and South America. In Vienna she collaborated with Veza Maria Fernandez, Georg Blaschke Daphna Horenzcik and Alexander Gottfarb. She just received a Master in Movement Research at the Anton Bruckner University in Linz. Her current research and interest investigates in-between states of presence by exploring touch-sight based practices. In 2019 she co-initiated with Alberto Cissello the artistic duo collective Debocs. With the piece “yet to be born” (2019) they have been invited to perform in Germany, Austria, Italy and Croatia and to choreograph a version for students at ZZT in Cologne. Martina is also a co-founder of BACKPULVER_Think and Practice tank for contemporary dance.

MargauxDorsaz, begins to perform with CocoonDance in the year 2021) originally from the Valais region of Switzerland, has been interested in the art of movement since she was a child. She began her pre-professional training at the Conservatoire Cantonal du Valais. Margaux's passion for dance led her to continue her training as an interpreter at the School of Contemporary Dance in Montreal, Canada. During her artistic training, she worked with a number of established and emerging choreographers: Helder Seabra, Sita Ostheimer, Marie Chouinard, Sam Coren, Alan Lake, Parts + Labour_Danse. She is currently a member of several companies in Switzerland, like Laure Dupont, ADN Dialect and Igokat. She made her debut on the French scene with Natacha Ballet’s company Tournicotti and with Fouad Boussouf, director of the Centre Chorégraphique National du Havre Normandie.

ÁlvaroEstebanLópez Spanish, since his childhood, Alvaro has been fascinated by the human body and its movement, as well as its capacity to connect with others through subtle communication. This curiosity led him to his studies: Bachelor in Sciences of Sports and Physical Activities, Universidad Politécnica (Madrid), Diploma in Therapeutic and Sports Massage, Contemporary Dance Degree at Royal Conservatory of Professional Dance Mariemma (Madrid), Master on Psychology of Coaching at Universidad Autónoma, (Madrid). Since 2006, he is working as a freelance dance artist with several companies and choreographers, as well as projects in collaboration that have received many international awards and recognition. In 2013 he joined CocoonDance. As dancer, movement coach and part of the creative team, he continued to develop his own research and understanding of movement and composition. As a teacher he is guiding workshops and company classes with tanzmainz, Scapino Ballet and CocoonDance.

Born in Zürich (Switzerland), JennaHendry (collaborator as performer since 2022) studied dance at Steps on Broadway, New York and at Codarts Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Rotterdam. Since 2015, she is working as a freelance dancer collaborating with choreographers and companies such as CocoonDance, bollwerk, Philipp Egli, Irina Lorez & Co, compagnie o., OONA project and Damotus! VA Wölfl/Neuer Tanz in Düsseldorf. For her choreographic work she got many awards and invitations: her short piece “Mmmh?!” Tanzfaktor selection 2020, was selected for Aerowave’s 40 Winks 2020. “IUMI” (2019), a collaboration with the Swedish artist Matilda Bilberg, premiere at Rote Fabrik, is touring and was part of the Aerowaves Twenty 21. In 2020 she received a cultural award by the city of Zurich. Together with Matilda Bilberg (SE), Nerea Gurrutxaga (ES) Maria Teresa Tanzarella (IT/SE) she founded the collective UTOPISISTAS, which premiered their first piece at Tanzhaus Zürich (2021).

ClémentineHerveux, (collaborator as performer since 2021) born in Metz, France. She attended the dance school les Feux de la Rampe Metz in 2003 and the Central School of Ballet London in 2005. After a first engagement in Hagen form 2008 - 11)  under Ricardo Fernando and one season in Gießen with Tarek Assam, she moved in 2013-2015 to Dresden at the Landesbühnen Sachsen Radebeul under the direction of Carlos Matos. From 2015-2019 she was part of the the Hessisches Staatsballett under the direction of Tim Plegge. There she performed the repertoire and created with Ohad Naharin, Hofesh Shechter, Damien Jalet, Sita Ostheimer, Caetano Soto, Crystal Pite, Xin Xie, Marco Goecke, Marcos Morau, Wayne McGregor and more. Since 2020 she is a freelancer dance artist. She is currently collaborating with CocoonDance, Socompany, Sita Ostheimer, Jeroen Verbruggen, Snorkel Rabbit, Alba Castillo and Bryan Arias, IVONA company with Pablo Girolami, I-VESPRI with Giovanni Insaudo, Gustavo Gomes.

MarinLemić (collaborating with CocoonDance since 2019) born in Zadar. In 2008, he enrolled at the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten- de Theaterschool in the Netherlands. In 2011 he graduated on the modern theater department (MTD) in Amsterdam. From 2012-2016, he worked at the state national theaters Oldenburg and Mainz in Germany as stable member of the company where he works with choreographers such as Ann Van den Broek, Sharon Eyal, Club Guy and Roni… He is currently working as a performer and author on various dance projects in Croatia and abroad with choreographers such as Matija Ferlin, Adrienn Hod, Zrinka Lukčec-Kiko, Marjana Krajač, Jasna Čizmek-Tarbuk, Michael Langeneckert, CocoonDance. The project "Transformers", which he creates together with dance artist Ida Jolić received several awards from professional associations of contemporary dance in Croatia. In 2020, Marin received the Croatian Acting Award for the best male achievement in the play "Transformers".

Born in Besançon (FR), ColasLucot (collaborating with Cocoondance since 2019) .studied ballet and contemporary dance in the CNSMD of Lyon. After his studies, he was part of the company of Angelin Preljocaj, then he joined the CCN Nantes, directed by Claude Brumachon. In 2010, he moved to Brussels and began to work with David Hernandez. Since then, he has been collaborating with David for several creations inside and outside the company as a dancer and as a choreographic assistant, in companies and schools such as Skanes Dance Theater, Zagreb dance company, Staatstheater Trier - Susanne Linke, PARTS, Folkwang. In 2012, Colas worked with Akram Khan for the opening of the Olympic games in London. Since 2013, Colas has been involved in several dance projects, with choreographers such as Theo Clinkard, Renate Graziadei, Stephanie Thiersch, Sine Qua Non Art Company, Christophe Béranger and Jonathan Pranlas-Descours. Colas is also a certified Yoga teacher.

FrancoMento (collaborator for live electronics, composition since 2015) started experimenting on the turntables at the age of 13. In 1998 he founded the collective “Tribal Zone – Electronik Swiss Kollectif”. In1999, he brought out his first maxi on vinyl on his own label “Tribal Zone”. From 2000 -2004 Franco performed at numerous festivals and clubs throughout Switzerland. During this time, he created music for films, brought up Cds for his own label and started collaborating with different artists such as; Vincent Zanetti, the girls from La BlablaTek & Phil Parnell. In 2006 he founded Printemps Digital. – Solo on stage, Franco Mento improvises his live act using everyday objects for direct sound sampling as well as organic sounds and binds them with powerful, broken, upbeat rhythms, deep pulsating baselines and clicks ‘n cuts, which result in an uncommon, yet groovy style. He has toured in countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, Poland, China, Africa.

BojanaMitrović (collaborator as performer since 2021) Belgrade, Serbia, she received her education at the University of Ballet in the Contemporary Department.  She graduated from the Amsterdamse Hogeschool de Kunsten in 2012.  Previously, she was part of the Serbian national dance sport team for four years, as well as the national folklore ensemble. In the 2011/12 season she was engaged with Club Guy and Roni. At the beginning of the 2013/14 season she became a permanent member of the Tanzcompagnie Oldenburg. Following Honne Dohrman she moved to the Staatstheater Mainz in 2014. During eight successful seasons in the Tanz Mainz company she was in works from Danièle Desnoyers ,José Navas, Sharon Eyal &Gai Behar, Guy Weizman &Roni Haver, Garry Stewart, Koen Augustijnen, Taneli Törmä, Giuseppe Spota, Pierre Rigal, Adrienn Hód, Rafaële Giovanola and many others. Since 2022 she is a freelancer and a new member of one of the most exiting companies in free dance scene CocoonDance company.

EvandroPedroni (collaborating with CocoonDance since 2022), brazilian artist based in Vienna, working in the field of dance and performance. After his studies in the Performance Major Program at SEAD – Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (2013) he was a scholarship holder at TanzQuartier Wien (2013/2014) and in 2016 he has received the START scholarship from the Austrian Federal Chancellery. In 2017 he premiered “S/M – Stage/Made” in collaboration with Claire Lefèvre. He featured in productions by Martin Nachbar, Oleg Soulimenko, Hubert Lepka, Milan Kozanek, Edan Gorlicki, SETanzTheater, Akemi Takeya, Elisabeth Tambwe, LaTrottrier Dance Collective and others. Evandro’s works have been showcased in several festivals in Germany and Austria such as Impulstanz (AT), Imagetanz (AT), Freier Tanz Delta VI (DE), and has been supported by Tanzzentrale Nuremberg, Wien Kultur, WUK, Brut Wien, Bears in the Park/Wien, Theater Felina-Areal (DE), and EinTanzHaus (Mannheim).

JörgRitzenhoff (collaborator as a composer since 2005) born in Düsseldorf, studied classical composition with Prof. Ingo Schmidt at the College for Music in Wuppertal. The composer of electric-acoustic music lives in Cologne and has developed music and performance projects in association with the Bundeskunsthalle and the Theatre Company of Bonn, the cultural capital of Europe Weimar, the Westdeutschen Rundfunk and the Deutschlandfunk Berlin (German public radio programmes). The Theater Bonn as well the Cologne Theater Company (Kölner Schauspielhaus) commissioned him for several projects among others, music for „The Tempest“ directed by Karin Beier. Continuing cooperations with choreographers like Rafaële Giovanola (CocoonDance), Barbara Fuchs (Cologne), Morgan Nardi und Naoko Tanaka (tanzhaus nrw, Düsseldorf/Grand Théatre de la Ville, Luxembourg), Gudrun Lange (fft düsseldorf), LaborGras (Berlin) oder Helge Letonja (steptext dance project, Bremen) mark his work in dance.

SusanneSchneider (collaborator as performer since 2013) has a BA in dance (HfMT Cologne) and an MA in Contemporary Dance Education (HfMDK Frankfurt). Since 2013 she has been working as a freelance dancer amongst others with CocoonDance, Overhead Project, Özlem Alkis, Stephan Herwig and Anna Konjetzky (Nomadic Academy) and is involved in the artistic processes in various roles. For her transmission of dance is central to dance as an art form, that is building bridges between a researching dance-artist, a dancing participant and a sensing audience-member. In formats such as Physical Introduction and Physical Traces she is giving a sensorial entry before and after a dance performance. She is teaching classes with a focus on kinesthetic empathy for professional dancers, less experienced dancers and in school projects. One concern is to bring artistic research into educational contexts and to blur the line between studio and stage, training and performance.