Open Class: Modern Dance

Carlo Melis is among the most longstanding teachers at tanzhaus nrw. He has been teaching modern and jazz dance at the house since 1989, integrating influences from contemporary dance. “Contemporary dance’s freedom challenges standardised techniques in modern and jazz dance, turning the gaze inward.” Accordingly, Carlos’ classes focus less on learning a technique but rather on rediscovering a strategy we have been carrying within from our earliest childhood movements: Being curious, experiencing oneself and one’s body, feeling one’s own emotions. The participants work on movements, but also always on their origins. “We only start dancing when emotions drive movements.” Carlo entered vocational training to become a construction engineer for the sake of his parents, yet he has been fascinated by the arts early on in his youth, playing in physical theatre and in Living Theatre. Following a workshop with Bob Curtis, a pioneer in Afro contemporary dance, Carlo discovered dance: “I had never experienced such intensity. From that moment on, I knew that I wanted to dance.” So, he started studying classical ballet, modern and jazz dance in his homeland of Sardinia at age 26. Later, he also graduated with a degree in theatre and dance education from several Italian universities. During a dance scholarship at the Folkwang University of the Arts, Carlo received tuition by great Wuppertal choreographer Pina Bausch, an experience that influenced his subsequent dance works. He contributed to TV productions, worked with numerous companies and taught at Arnhem University as well as elsewhere.