CurriculumVitae2020_Manuela LuciaTessi
Bio
Born in Milano, Italy, I live in the Netherlands since 1999. I graduated from the Theaterschool in Amsterdam (Modern Theatre Dance department) and have spent the last several years creating, performing and teaching.
In my movement research I have an interest in movement prior to dance as a formal language, I believe that content and functionality provide form. I look for sensuosness and embodiment in dance, often referring to kinesthetic empathy, how is the movement being read by the spectator not solely with the eyes and intellect, but perceived on a visceral level.
Live music plays an important role in my performance work. What drives me in the work is the desire to deeply understand the relation of musicality of movement and sound.
Since 2004 I have studied and worked with Katie Duck, who has been one of my greatest creative influences alongside the many dancers and musicians who have collaborated with her.
Some of the most recent projects include Unfolding , a duet with musician Vilbjørg Broch, a choreography for Ikaros , a piece by composer Aspasia Nasopoulou for November Music Festival 2018, All at Once, a quartet with dancers Thalia Laric , Kristina Johnstone and pianist Coila-Leah Enderstein, two solo works created in collaboration with Vincent Cacialano and Paul Estabrook, The Loom, a Berlin quartet with flutist Friederike Wendorf, dancer Mata Sakka and pianist Rieko Okuda, Dutch based duo El Otro with guitarist Arvind Ganga. In 2015 I created The Weight of Words , a performance installation that investigated the relationship between figure, movement and projected text. I have been working as a dancer with Makiko Ito in her project Wonderland since 2006, a series of performances of music and dance for children and family. At the moment I am working on the Shell, a solo to be presented in May 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Since 2014 I collaborate with flutist Friederike Wendorf in Berlin, creating the project Musiktanznulldreissig, a series of performances and sessions aimed at fostering the collaboration between live music and dance in performance. I have been curating a series in Amsterdam at cultural centre OT301 (Music Dance Performance Series) until 2019. Since 2018 I started a new project in Cape Town (MusicDance Performance Residency) in collaboration with dancer Thalia Laric and pianist Coila-Leah Enderstein.
I regularly teach movement classes and improvisation workshops at: Improvisation Summer Course Amsterdam, Fontys Dansacademie in Tilburg, Theatreschool Amsterdam, Dansdrift den Haag, Buitenkunst Drenthe, Dock 11 Berlin, Movement Academy OT301 Amsterdam and I ve also worked for many years with small children aged 0-6, teaching movement with the Russian School of Arts and performing with Stichting Memorabelemomenten.
www.musicdance.net See works at https://manuelalucia.com/videos/
Manuela Lucia Tessi 