Presenters

Danielle AgamiIsraeli choreographer Danielle Agami founded Ate9 as a platform for innovative movement and artistic research. With Ate9 she has created choreographies and numerous site-specific performances and collaborations with local LA institutions including the LA Philharmonic, The Music Center, CAP UCLA, The Industry Opera, CalArts, and REDCAT. Before founding her own company, Agami danced with Ohad Naharin’s Batsheva Dance Company where she was appointed rehearsal director from 2007-10. Agami went on to stage Ohad Naharin’s work with prominent companies around the country including Alvin Ailey and Atlanta Ballet. She frequently appears as a guest teacher at NYU Tisch, Juilliard, USC, and CalArts, among many others.

Agami will host a composition masterclass on Thursday, March 25th from 3:30-5:00 p.m. (ET). Photo by Cheryl Mann. 

 

Dege FederDege Feder – Choreographer, dancer, artistic director, and musician. She danced solo parts in Eskesta Dance Troupe and was among the founding dancers of Beta Dance Troupe. She has served as Beta’s artistic director and choreographer since 2013. She has performed in many international festivals in Germany, France, Columbia, Croatia, South Africa, USA (New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago) and more. She also performed on the main stages in Israel festivals and gave workshops and masterclasses worldwide in Jacob’s Pillow Festival, the National Ethiopian Theatre, Costa Rica National Dance Company, Ohio State University, and others. Received the Israeli Minister of Culture prize for dance creators in 2018.

Feder will lead a movement practice class on Wednesday, March 10th from 8:30-10:00 a.m. (ET). Photography by Dege Feder. 

 

Penny Godboldo PhotographPenny Godboldo is a 2018 Kresge Artist Fellow, Dunham Prof at Univ of Michigan, on IDTC board, former Demonstrator for Katherine Dunham, certified since 1993; teaches nationally and abroad, most recently Israel 2018 and online for Cumbe Dance in Bklyn, NY.

Using the arts for social justice, she teaches for VSAM (Very Special Arts Michigan) and directs the Maryanne Godboldo Forum for Parental Rights in memory of her sister, also a professional dancer, a member The Gathering (a Black woman’s collective), former Chair of Dance at Marygrove College and a Minister at Hartford Church.  Living her best life she teaches intergenerationally in Love; views dance as a vehicle for self-examination, healing, change and the pursuit of JOY!

Godboldo led the lecture-discussion “Survival/Resilience in Challenging Times Through the Wisdom of the Katherine Dunham Technique: A Way of Life” on Tuesday, October 20th from 5:20-6:35 p.m. (ET). Photography by Bree Gant. 

 

Michael Idov

Michael Idov is the screenwriter of the Palme d’Or-nominated LETO (Cannes 2018), director of the acclaimed feature THE HUMORIST, the creator of hit Russian TV series LONDONGRAD and THE OPTIMISTS, and the author of four books, including the recent DRESSED UP FOR A RIOT (Farrar, Straus 2018). A Latvian-born American raised in Riga, Michael moved to New York in 1998, winning three National Magazine Awards for his writing in New York Magazine before changing his focus to film and TV. He and his wife and frequent collaborator Lily are currently based in Los Angeles.

Michael Idov shared in a conversation on Wednesday, November 18th from 4:00-5:00 p.m. (ET). Photography courtesy of Idov.

 

Alon Karniel is a dance artist, rehearsal director and teacher based in Tel Aviv, Israel. He holds a BA in art and English literature from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. After completing his studies at the Haifa School for Dance, he went on to dance with the Vertigo Dance Company, Noa Dar Dance Group and a range of choreographers including Dafi Altabeb, Gil Kerer, Efrat Rubin, Amos Hetz, Shahar Dor, Leo Lerus and Anat Cederbaum. Karniel is a certified practitioner in the Feldenkrais Method® and has studied anatomy and biomechanics in the context of the Axis Syllabus. In 2012, he created the improvisation-based solo, “Moved,” staged as part of the Julidans festival in Amsterdam. Following several years of movement research, Karniel created the solo “Surrounding” in 2017, which premiered at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Karniel led a Feldenkrais Method® master class on Monday, November 2nd from 8:30 AM-10:00 a.m. (ET). Photography by Rosen-Jones.

 

Funda Oral looks straight into the camera, light cascading on her face and her chin resting in her hand.

N. Funda Oral studied Business Administration. After having worked in different companies in Istanbul and Milan in the area of finance and foreign trade, she decided to concentrate her efforts on methods to increase efficiency in collaborative teamwork. She is an activist and one of the founders of the Sulukule Platform. She was a volunteer in community service for the dislocated children and youth of Sulukule and coordinated the Sulukule Children’s Art Atelier near the demolished neighborhood until 2016. Through her work, she was invited to the United States Department of States International Visitor Leadership Program about “Promoting Social Change through the Arts”. Currently, she works as a facilitator of meetings and a freelance translator for French and English.

Oral joined the Turkish Hip Hop group Tahribad-ı İsyan for a performance and presentation on Friday, November 13th from 9:30 AM-11:30 a.m. (ET).

 

Tahribad-ı İsyan members stand in front of a white house amongst logs.

Tahribad-ı İsyan was formed in 2008 in the historical Sulukule district of Istanbul by then high school classmates, Slang and Zen-G.

After getting their dance, song writing, and theater education at Funda Oral’s Sulukule Children Art Atelier, their first break came with the song “Ghetto Machines” in 2012, which was written as a reaction to the gentrification of their neighborhood. The song was featured in Amnesty International’s Listen to Roma Rights album, which was released to support Romani musicians around the world.

In 2013, the band starred in Halil Altındere’s video, Wonderland, to critical acclaim. The video was showcased in the 13th Istanbul Biennial and later became part of MoMA’s permanent collection. That year, the band started to work on their debut album, also called Tahribad-ı İsyan, which was released on March 3, 2017. Their other singles include “Çamur”, “Sambiki Saru”, “Leyla”, “Ghetto Star”, “Susamam”, and “Çatapat”.

The band values service to their community and society. Slang and Zen-G paved the way for other children of Sulukule who want to pursue similar paths. They became teachers at the atelier and also taught at Çimenev Science and Art Center. In 2013, they organized hip hop workshops for earthquake victims’ children in Van, Turkey, and in 2014, they organized hip hop workshops in Suruç for Syrian children. Since 2015, they continue holding workshops for refugee and asylum seeker children in Istanbul.

Tahribad-ı İsyan offered a performance and presentation on Friday, November 13th from 9:30 AM-11:30 a.m. (ET). 

 

Miroslav SavicMiroslav Savić is a Serbian film director, writer, and teacher. He wrote and directed several short fiction movies and several theatre plays. He taught film production and directing actors at Columbus College of Art & Design (2019-2020). He currently works on an artistic research project that aims to examine complementary roles of documentary and fiction filmmaking methods and the potential of hybrid film to overcome limitations of clean-cut genres.

 

Miroslav Savic will offer the guest lecture “The Role of Cinema in Coping with Burdensome Past” on March 1st from 12:00-1:00 PM (ET).

 

Rachel Tavernier Photograph

Rachel Tavernier is a world-renown Master Dunham Teacher and also specializes in Ballet and Haitian Folklore. Rachel trained directly under Katherine Dunham in Port-au-Prince, East St Louis and New York. She also studied with former Dunham Company members and Master Teachers, such as Vanoye Aikens, Lucille Ellis, Tommy Gomez, Pearl Reynolds, Talley Beatty, Walter Nicks, Archie Savage, Theodore Jamison.

In 1999, Katherine Dunham named Rachel a Master Teacher in Dunham Technique. As well, Rachel earned her teacher certification from the Institute for Dunham Technique Certification in 2000. As an instructor and a consultant, Rachel was a collaborator on the 2002 Library of Congress documentary about Dunham Technique. Presently, Rachel is on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Dunham Technique Certification (IDTC), as chair of the Technique Committee. She is an integral member of IDTC, contributing to the annual Dunham Technique Conference as a visionary, organizer and teacher.

Tavernier led a Dunham Technique master class on Thursday, October 22nd from 5:20-6:35 p.m. (ET). 

 

Institute for Dunham Technique Certification

The Institute for Dunham Technique Certification was created in 1994 by Dr. Albirda Rose, with the approval and input of Katherine Dunham. In 1993, Katherine Dunham and Dr. Rose invited ten dancers to pursue Dunham Teacher Certification under the newly developed process of certification. This first group of dancers started the process after 10 years of attendance in the Dunham Technique Seminar and years of experience teaching Dunham Technique. Since Miss Dunham’s passing in 2006, IDTC, a working volunteer collective, has continued refining and reimagining the certification process to best train the next generation of expert teachers of the Dunham Technique.