Avshalom Latucha started his journey as a dancer at the Haifa dance workshop. Towards the end of his studies he met Roy Assaf, with whom he started working – initially as a dancer and later also as assistant and artistic associate – on creations performed in Israel and abroad. In recent years he engages in artistic dialogues with talented artists such as Adi Boutrous, Yossi Berg & Oded Graf, Mor Shani, Omri Drumlevich, and many others. He is also a member of Dana Yahalomi’s Public Movement group, and is currently making his first attempts at creating for a professional stage.

Photo: Brecht Bovijn

Daniel Dragomir is a choreographer, performer, contemporary dance teacher, and cultural manager. He has BA and MA degrees in Performing Arts – Choreography. He regards the body as the first and most important tool we can use in the act of creation and considers it necessary to explore through physical action and playfulness the limits of the container in which emotions, intentions, and thoughts are stored and from which they are emanated. Dragomir leads the “Contemporary Creative Dreamers” company, dedicated to the production of contemporary dance performances and to organization of movement and contemporary dance workshops. Dragomir participated in workshops led by Valentina de Piante, Ohad Naharin, Rob Hayden, Marta Ladnazki, Eva Sanchez Martz, Simona Deaconescu, Lali Ayguade, Edivaldo Ernesto, Christine Gouzelis and Paul Blackman, Akira Yoshida , Fabian Wixe, Vittoria de Ferrari Sapetto, and Natalia Pieczuro.

Photo: Vigh Laszlo Miklos

Danny Tavori is a contemporary circus and dance artist specializing in aerial straps, hair suspension, and acrobatic dance. He is a graduate of the FLIC Circus School in Italy, MFA in Contemporary Circus Practice at SKH Sweden (DOCH), and the FOCON program at Ésacto’Lido in France. Tavori collaborates with the French company “L’apres Plume” and together with Nir Jacob Younessi is the co-founder of the “Bdy.frqncy.proj” company which combines dance and sound through technology. His artistic endeavor focuses on the hybrid movement that occurs between the body and an object. The elements with which he works are integrated into his own body and have shaped him throughout. As a result, the performances he creates always seek to expand human limits, as is customary in the circus arts.

Photo: Self portrait

Eva Urbanová is a Slovak dancer, choreographer, and teacher. In her choreographies, she aims at studying and evaluating the mechanisms of the social system, at empowering women, and at demonstrating the concept of dualism. She concentrates on developing her own distinctive dance style and movement language, taking inspiration from the contemporary Israeli dance scene, the field of physical theatre, and Butoh. One of her greatest successes is her solo “The Essence” which won first place at the Gdansk Dance Festival 2022 and second place in the choreography category, as well as the audience’s prize at the 2021 Solo-Tanz-Theater Festival Competition in Stuttgart in 2021. Her latest choreography piece, titled “Anomalie” (2022) was chosen to be part of the main program at the Czech Dance Platform 2023.

Photo: Ivan Sefcik

Francesca De Girolamo is a dancer and performer. She graduated with a Major in Dance Performance at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, and had the opportunity to take part in various creations and repertoires from renowned choreographers in the contemporary dance field, among them Paul Blackman, Guy Shomroni, Oded Graf, Christine Gouzelis, Julven Hamilton, and more. She also worked for the Osterfestspiele of Salzburg in “Tannhäuser” under the production of Romeo Castellucci. “Nuncracker” is her first solo work, and in it her energetic and bizarre side comes out. The piece premiered in April 2023 at the Teatro Municipal Sà de Miranda in Viana do Castelo, Portugal, was presented at the Spectrum Festival Villach in Austria, and is now ready to be shared for the first time with the audience in Israel.

Photo: Phosphenes Foto

Gil Kerer has performed with the KCDC, the Vertigo Dance Company, and with numerous independent choreographers. He joined the Israeli Choreographers Association in 2017. Since 2018 he is a resident choreographer at the Menashe Regional Council, and in 2020 became co-founder of the Menashe Dance House. Kerer was commissioned to create pieces for various companies, dance programs, and festivals, such as Vertigo, the Haifa training Program and “Kaet” Ensemble (all in Israel), Oberlin College (Ohio), Malta Art Festival, Aura Dance Theater (Lithuania), and Theater Pforzheim (Germany). He received awards for his choreographies in festivals and competitions in Israel (Machol Shalem), Sweden (IL Dance), Germany (Hannover) and Denmark (CICC). Recently he received the Israeli Ministry of Culture Award for Dance and Interpretation (2021), and the Ministry of Culture Award for Emerging Choreographer (2022).

Photo: Liron Waissman

Giovanni Insaudo is a choreographer and founder of “I Vespri” – a dance collective he established in order to provide his creative impulse to begin a journey through his own language and to search for his own artistic identity and movement. Within the “I Vespri” collective he created works such as “Keller”, “Acamante e Fillide”, “Crisalide”, and “AriK/KirA”, in addition to choreographies he created for the companies in which he danced, amongst them Dantzaz Konpainia, Balletto dell’Esperia, Gärtnerplatz Theater, and the Luzerner Theater. Insaudo performed at choreographic festivals and competitions in Spain, Poland, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Denmark, and his accomplishments have been recognized at the Certamen Coreografico Internacional Burgos New York; the International Choreographic Competition in Copenhagen; the Hannover International Choreography Competition; and the Rotterdam International Choreography Competition for Duets.

Hu Shenyuan is a young Chinese dancer and choreographer, renowned as a dancer thanks to his storytelling body.

He is founder of the HU-HU DANCE clothing brand and champion of the first season of “Dance Smash” on Hunan TV. Shenyuan won the Best Performance Award at the 4th Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition, the Silver Award at the 16th Rome International Choreography Competition in Italy, and the Jury Chairman’s Award at the 15th Seoul International Dance Competition. His most notable works are: “Nomadic”, “Ship of Theseus”, “SAMSARA”, and “Elephant in Room”.

Photo: Yingzhou

Bellahsen is a Tel-Aviv based independent artist, dancer, choreographer, painter, and mother. She started her professional career in the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company under the artistic direction of Rami Be’er, and since 2010 is a member of the Clipa Theater ensemble. In addition, she owns the “Levontin 6” cooperative studio in Tel Aviv with her partner in life Artour Astman. Bellahsen won the Israeli Minister of Culture and Sports Award for Best Performing Dancer (2007) and the Yair Shapira Award for Excellence in Dance (2005). Her chief works are This 2 Shall Pass (2022), Dream Drum Dance (2018), UNIT (2017), Dark River (2015), Chaos (2012), and ArtLana (2008). Bellahsen also participated in productions by Barak Marshall, Noa Shadur, Arthur Astman, Maria Kong, Inbal Oshman, Osnat Kelner, Ronit Ziv, Anat Grigorio, and more.

Photo: Rosalio Chimeria

Ilanit Tadmor is an independent choreographer, dancer, performer, social artist, and movement improvisation teacher. She is a member of the Israeli Culture and Art Council, and was director of the Ministry of Culture and Sport’s “Dancer in the Community” project. Tadmor presents the podcast “It Starts with a Movement” which connects dance with everyday life, and held a lecture at TEDx, “A body under Eyebrows: Improvisation as a Way of Life”, which was watched by tens of thousands of people. She also leads, together with the Palestinian choreographer Rabea Morcus, a dance group of Arab and Jewish youth, and since 2005 is head of the PLAY improvisation studio which offers classes, workshops, and professional training. Throughout her career Tadmor has created thirty-four dance performances with ensembles and artists in Israel and around the world.

Photo: Dana Shimoni

Luiza Braz Batista is a nonbinary Brazilian-German interdisciplinary artist, working mainly as a choreographer, performer, curator, and director. Batista began its career as a dancer in the Grupo de Dança Primeiro Ato in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. In 2009 it finished its master’s degree in Dance at the Folkwang Universität der Künste in Essen, Germany. During 2009-2015 Batista worked at the Folkwang Tanzstudio (Essen), and during 2015-2018 was a member of the Dance Ensemble of Theater Trier under the direction of Susanne Linke. During 2018-2022 Batista worked with the Acting Ensemble of Theater Trier, and since 2008 is a guest artist of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. Currently, Batista works freelance, creating a cultural bridge between continents, developing their own works, curating festivals (TEIAS CRIATIVAS Festival, Belo Horizonte, Brazil), and performing with diverse dance, theater, and performance companies and collectives worldwide.

Photo: Suilian Richon

Liebman Sharon is a Jerusalem-based choreographer, artistic director, and curator. She holds a B. Dance degree, a M. Mus. degree specializing in choreography from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, and a B.A. in Occupational Therapy. She is also a member of the Israeli Choreographers Association. Her works have been performed in festivals such as the Israel Festival, Machol Shalem’s Jerusalem International Dance Week, Tmuna Theater’s Intimadance Festival, Between Heaven and Earth Festival, the Suzanne Dellal Centre’s 80 Squared Festival, From Jaffa to Agripas Festival, and more. Her work has also been presented in museums and galleries such as the Israel Museum, the Bible Lands Museum, Haifa Art Museum, the Tower of David Museum, Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Museum of Muslim Art, and the Moscow Museum.

Photo: Liron Waisman

Margot Gelber is a New York City based artist who studied at the Boston Conservatory under the direction of Cathy Young. Upon graduating, she joined the Ate9 Dance Company in LA before relocating to New York to focus on her dance making. In 2014, Gelber was commissioned as the inaugural recipient of the Boston Conservatory Dance Division’s Alumni Commissioning Project. Gelber was selected to participate in Elizabeth Streb’s “Go!” Emerging Artist Program in 2014, was awarded the Houston Met Dance Emerging Choreographer Prize (2015), and the Bates Dance Festival Emerging Choreographer Prize. Gelber’s work has been featured in festivals and theaters throughout the US and internationally, including San Francisco, San Diego, Houston, Seattle, Boston, Poland, and Turkey. Most recently she has been invited to present her work at the Mexico City Contemporary Dance Festival.

Photo: Teal Thomsen

Miriam Engel is an Israeli and international choreographer, dancer, actress, and entrepreneur. She lives and works in Jerusalem, and has been creating and performing for about 20 years in Israel, Europe, the USA, the Far East, and Africa. Engel initiates international projects and major collaborations around the world, and is founder and director of the International Solo Dance Festival in Jerusalem. In 2011 Engel founded the “Angela Dance Cooperation” in Jerusalem – an artistic body that serves as a home for contemporary creation and produces original dance works alongside international ventures and interactive and location-dependent projects. She also serves as member of the board of directors of the Israeli Union of Performing Artists, as CEO of the “Merhav Mahol” Association, as member of the Choreographers Association, and is former artistic director of the Beit Mazia Dance Series. In addition to her original productions and many performances, Engel is invited as a guest artist to create, perform, lecture, and teach her repertoire and unique technique in organizations and festivals around the world, and is a regular guest artist and lecturer at DePaul University (Chicago) and at the SADC Center (Berkeley, California).

Photo: Liron Waisman

Pepa Sanz is a versatile dancer and choreographer. She has an extensive background as a performer of flamenco and Spanish dance and has been collaborating for over two decades in pioneering, daring, and innovative projects with important choreographers such as Mariemma, Antonio Ruiz, Pedro Azorín, Mario Maya, Alberto Lorca, Carmen Cortés, and Lola Greco. Sanz has also coordinated several pedagogic projects related to the scene, collaborating with Rubén Olmo, Daniel Doña, and Javier Latorre. Sanz received awards from the Unesco Aschberg Programme for Artists and the Certamen Coreográfico de Madrid, and has been awarded for Best Direction at INDIFEST 2022. Since 2011 Sanz is co-director of the “Caminantes Danza” company together with José Merino. The company produces dance-theater focused on contemporary flamenco and presents works in China, Thailand, Argentina, Ecuador, Portugal, Italy, and Bulgaria.

Photo: Jesus Robisco

Ronit Ziv is an accomplished choreographer and dancer, renowned for her remarkable contributions to the performing arts. She received the prestigious Rosenblum Award for Performing Arts and the Arditi Award for Research and Multicultural Creation. Ziv’s notable works have delved into the sensitive subject of gender-based violence, reflecting her dedication to addressing significant social issues through her artistry. Ziv served as a producer for numerous dance groups, domestically and internationally, and presently she imparts her expertise as a choreography instructor at Jerusalem’s Academy of Music and Dance. In 2022 she taught contemporary dance techniques at Tulane University and collaborated with the acclaimed Newcomb Dance Company, resulting in the highly successful production “Cassandra Machine”. Concurrently Ziv is writing her doctoral thesis at Tel Aviv University, focusing on the depiction of the naked body in Israeli dance.

Shlomit Fundaminsky is a performer, choreographer, and teacher. She creates dance and physical theater pieces which are performed around the world, and performs with the improvisation dance group OKTET. She received the Israeli Ministry of Culture Performance Award for the solo “Big Hand Little Hand” and was resident artist of BAMAH at San Jose State University. She also served as co-creative director of the Suzanne Dellal “Shadows in Dance” festivals 2015-2017. Fundaminsky has a M.Dance in choreography from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and a B.Ed in Dance education. She has 25 years of experience in performing and teaching, specializing in teaching improvisation, Release Technique, and composition. She teaches at the “Fresco Dance Company” and the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, and is co-founder and creative director of the Suzanne Dellal SHLOMBAL workshops.

Photo: Efrat Mazor

Tomo Sone is an independent choreographer and performer whose work pursues human relationships, presence, and inner struggles, whilst being inspired by a variety of interdisciplinary activities. She is currently exploring the combination between digital technology and technology of the body as a means of transcending the boundary between performer and audience, and will present the results of this exploration in September 2023 at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria. Sone was a finalist in the international solo contest at the 5th Festival Internacional de Danza Contemporánea de la Ciudad de México in 2020 (Mexico). Her works are presented amongst others at the Suzanne Dellal Center (Israel), the Gdansk Dance Festival (Poland), and the Kyoto Art Center (Japan). She is also the founder of the “Japan-Israel International Dance Project”.

Photo: Avidan Ben-Giat