Bodywork/ Body Action

When Dawna Dryhorub first started ballet dancing at age three, the decision was already taken: “I want to be a dancer!” She took additional classes in tap dance, jazz dance and folkloristic dance, subseqently pursuing her dance education at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre where she specialised in Graham and classical dance. She received an invitation to collaborate on a project in Düsseldorf during the mid-1990s and swiftly became an artist close to the “Werkstatt”, the precursor of tanzhaus nrw. The native Canadian remained in Germany and participated in various productions by, among others, Rodolpho Leoni and Samir Akika. She offered trainings at Folkwang Tanzstudio for many years and was a guest lecturer for classical dance at the Folkwang University of the Arts. 2020 will see Dawna concluding her Master’s degree in dance sciences from Bern University in 2020.

Dancer, teacher and choreographer Alfonso Bordi, born in Mexico, followed his dance education the Boston and Atlanta Schools of Ballet. Following different dancing engagements in Canada, Ireland and Germany, he is now among the most outstanding protagonists at Düsseldorf company NEUER TANZ under the direction of visual artist VA Wölfl.

Anne Grafweg ist Tänzerin, dipl. Tanzpädagogin, ausgebildet an der Tanzakademie Arnheim, Choreografin und Yogalehrerin mit jahrzehntelanger Berufserfahrung in Tanzvermittlung und Körperarbeit. Sie unterrichtet Tanz mit einem Schwerpunkt auf einem Mix aus Ballett und zeitgenössischem Tanz und Hatha-Yoga mit tänzerischen Elementen an verschiedenen Institutionen in fortlaufenden Kursen und Workshop-Formaten.
Als Tänzerin hat sie sich in der freien Szene, in Stadttheatern, auf Messen, bei Events, in Fernsehshows und eigenen Stücken bewegt. Als diplomierte Tanzpädagogin unterrichtet sie alle Altersstufen und gibt auch Fortbildungen für Tanzpädagog*Innen u.a. im Bereich Kinderballett, kreativer Kindertanz, Ballett für Erwachsene und Crossover-Ballett-Modern.

Bridget is a longtime member of the teaching staff of tanzhaus nrw, as well as a working choreographer for german theater. She is the movement and dance trainer for the acting students at the Schauspielstudio at Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus. She has recently choreographed such productions as "Cabaret" und "Zauberberg" for Düsseldorf, "Liebe, Mord und Adelspflichten" for Krefeld, and "Shockheaded Peter" for Thalia Theater Hamburg. She has more than 35 years dancing, teaching, and choreographing experience. Her workshops and classes are characterized as well-rounded, fun, high-energy, and challenging. 

When Dawna Dryhorub first started ballet dancing at age three, the decision was already taken: “I want to be a dancer!” She took additional classes in tap dance, jazz dance and folkloristic dance, subseqently pursuing her dance education at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre where she specialised in Graham and classical dance. She received an invitation to collaborate on a project in Düsseldorf during the mid-1990s and swiftly became an artist close to the “Werkstatt”, the precursor of tanzhaus nrw. The native Canadian remained in Germany and participated in various productions by, among others, Rodolpho Leoni and Samir Akika. She offered trainings at Folkwang Tanzstudio for many years and was a guest lecturer for classical dance at the Folkwang University of the Arts. 2020 will see Dawna concluding her Master’s degree in dance sciences from Bern University in 2020.

For almost 20 years Irena Vujicic has been working in various dance and theater projects as a dancer, choreographer or teacher. She gives Physical Introductions as an intro to international guest performances and teaches advanced workshops for teachers who want to integrate dance and movement into their lessons.

My name is Iva Deković and I am a professional music, dance and movement teacher, as well as a certified yoga teacher and resilience coach with professional experience in the fields of music, dance, movement education and rhythm. I have been teaching various courses and workshops, dance and music projects in the elementary and primary school for over 20 years on behalf of the Department of Youth Culture of the city of Düsseldorf.

Dance educator Joseph P. Cooksey deploys Zena Rommett Floor-Barre Technique®, modern dance, modern ballet and jazz in his classes. He taught at the Juilliard School, at the Dance Theater of Harlem, at the Alvin Aily American Dance Center and at the Philadelphia College for the Performing Arts. He is a certified Zena Rommett Floor-Barre Technique® teacher as well as a Master Teacher at their respective annual certifications.

Kunie Baba has been a part of the tanzhaus nrw teachers’ team since 2010, convincing her participants (and us, too), with an irresistible mix of heart and knowledge. She was long active as a ballet dancer before finding her way into yoga. She is both a Federal Yoga Assocation and Yoga Alliance certified teacher, specialising in power yoga, hatha yoga and raja yoga.

Dance has been occupying a large part of Laura Virgillitto’s life since she was three years old. Following a five-year stay in New York where she studied at the renowned Martha Graham Dance School and at other places while also learning to utilise the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® for her dancer’s career, the native Italian came to Germany in 1997. She worked as a dancer with several different choreographers and companies. Today, Laura is mainly active as a freelance instructor with different companies and institutions both nationally and internationally, among them the Folkwang Tanzstudio, Stadttheater Bielefeld, PACT Zollverein, VA Wölfl’s NEUER TANZ, and also at tanzhaus nrw for about 15 years now. She is a GYROKINESIS® master trainer and heads her own studio in Cologne. She teaches the GYROKINESIS® movement system which puts an emphasis on somatic aspects, addressing both people with and without prior dance experience, as well as a contemporary training for professional dance creatives at tanzhaus nrw. 

Priska-Christiane Pithan has been working as a mind-body medicine therapist in clinical settings for over 20 years. In 2015, she was able to give space to her passion for creativity and learned the Tamalpa Life-Art Process® from Anna Halprin and her daughter Daria Halprin (USA California), the founders of the method. She has been working and teaching as a trained Life-Art Practitioner / Process Facilitator since 2017.
As a mother of two wonderful daughters, she lives and learns every day anew how to lovingly and creatively shape everyday life for herself and her fellow human beings. Her passion is to create connections. The connetion between dance, movement, body awareness and creativity with methods for healing and maintaining health. She is deeply touched by the transformative power of dance and creative media.