Ema Alexandrescu, founder of Lumenesc, psychologist and performer, combines the creative sublime with the wild wisdom of nature, thus creating therapeutic experiences that deepen the being. Through her innovative approach, she links eco-psychology, photographic art, conscious dance and the mystery of spirituality, guiding those who wish to explore their multidimensional essence of self, opening the way to their own inner resources to build a life in harmony with oneself, others and nature.

The artistic dimension took on a clearer shape starting from 2023, through participation in multidisciplinary residencies and artistic researches (“ROOTS”, “Archives of the Soul”, “About rains, rivers, streams…”). As a performer in 2024 she performed in B.O.W. (Bodies Of Water), created by choreographer Cristina Lilienfeld as part of the “About rains, rivers, streams” residency, and in 2023 and 2022 it was part of the performative installations of the NOVA festival (All in One, Walk a Rhythm and Have You Seen My Body). She is currently working in a new dance production in collaboration with choreographers Alexandra Bălășoiu & Cosmin Manolescu, to be premiered in June 2025.

Contact: ema.alexandrescu@gmail.com

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/lumenesc_/


credit photo: Florin Constantin

Mădălina Dan is a choreographer and performer, one of the established creators of contemporary dance in Romania, active on international stages, but also very present and involved in the local choreographic context, in which she generously invests time, energy and knowledge. The artist creates complex contents and sophisticated working methodologies that she shares in contexts that become spaces of communication, being a true explorer and connector between people, collectives and ideas.
She is a graduate of the “Floria Capsali” Choreography High School in Bucharest and of the National University of Theatrical and Cinematographic Arts in Bucharest – Choreography section; she also graduated from UNATC with a Master in dramatic writing. Between 1998 and 2003 she was a member of the dance company “Oleg Danovski” in Constanta. Between 2014-2016 she studied in Berlin at HZT (Hochschulübergreifende Zentrum Tanz Berlin) in the SoDA (Solo/Dance/Authorship) master program. In 2015 she received the CNDB Award, and in 2016 she is Associate Artist of the National Center for Dance Bucharest. She is involved in mentoring program within the Dance and Performance Academy, an intensive education and training program in contemporary dance, run at the National Dance Center. Since January 2024 is an AREAL associated artists.

Her work has been presented at Springdance Festival Utrecht, Balkan Dance Platform – Novi Sad, eXplore Dance Festival – Bucharest, Temps d’Images – Cluj, SouthBank Center & Chisenhale Dance Space – London, Fabrik Potsdam, Hebbel am Uffer – Berlin, TanzFabrik-Berlin, Tanzquartier Wien, Dance Theater Workshop – New York, Firkin Crane-Cork, Alta Theater – Prague, Art Stations Foundation – Poznan, Sophien Saale – Berlin, FFT Düsseldorf, Impulse Festival- Mulheim, Lyon Dance Biennale, Schauschpiel Leipzig, Hellerau – Dresden, Bozar- Brussels, Sarralves Museum of Contemporary Art- Porto etc.

Photos: Alina Ușurelu

Alina Ușurelu is a curator, performer and multidisciplinary Bucharest based artist. She uses image, body and words to open the audience to unknown worlds. In 2014 she started dance photography and joined the contemporary dance community. In 2016 she made the short film “Up Stairs”, continued with the “Exposing Movement”, “Don’t take it personally”, “See You Soon”, “Don’t Bite Your Tongue” and “maGma”. In 2019 she participated in an intensive training program in performing arts in Lisbon and started working on international projects as a performer, as a visual artist or as an artistic director.

Since 2017 she is currently developing several interdisciplinary projects with Developing Art Association. In 2024 will participate in the research project ROOTS developed by AREAL and will colaborate cu Cristina Lilienfeld in the project “About rains, rivers, streems…”.

www.alinausurelu.com

Andreea Novac is a choreographer and performer based in Bucharest, Romania. Born in 1981, she
graduated Psychology (BA) and Choreography (BA, MA, PhD) at National University of Theatre and Film,
Bucharest. She started making her own work in 2008 and some of her performances were presented in
various national and international contexts. She participates regularly in dance, research, composition,
and improvisation workshops in Europe. Artistic residencies in Great Britain, Estonia, Netherlands, Italy,
Hungary, Luxembourg, France, Ireland, and Romania. She received a series of scholarships to participate
in the movement research workshops in Italy and Germany. She regularly teaches classes for
professional and amateur dancers, actors and works in theatre and film.

She is the co – founder of Developing Art Association and worked as an artistic consultant within National Dance Centre
Bucharest, co-curated Bucharest International Dance Film Festival in 2020 and was the artistic director of Caleido Festival in 2020, 2021, 2023. Since 2022 she is an associated artist at Areal.

She received the best choreography award for her MA graduation work offered by the National University of Theatre and
Film Bucharest and The Excellence Award offered by National Dance Centre Bucharest fort her
contribution to the development of contemporary dance in Romania.

portrait photo: Alberto Groșescu (portrait) | A truth and lie – photo Alina Ușurelu

Photo

The theme for this interdisciplinary meeting is the connection between sound, body and the natural environment and how movement can influence tsoundscape, while sound influences the body at a much higher level, deeper than what is visible. We are interested in exploring exactly these hidden threads between body, sound/music and nature and what kind of common triggers exist between the three universes. Studies show that the experience of listening to a sound automatically produces a mental image of the moving body, a wave that is visible during the neurological tests, confirming the strong connection between movement and sound. During 10 days, the meetings will be held both in the studio and in a natural environment and around the city of Bucharest where the artists can gather sounds, images and inspiration.

The programme of the bioAREALab, which will take place in the studio of AREAL | space for choreographic development and different natural sites around Bucharest, will include daily rehearsals and talks, field trips in nature/urban environment, evening workshops and improvisations, performances for/with local audience. The Lab will conclude with a hybrid live/online round table and informal sharing process presentation open to the audience.

We are looking for artists willing to get out the comfort zone, ready to explore new means of expression through the arts in dialogue (choreography and contemporary music), as well as with a desire to share their knowledge with other participants.

The project is co-organised by AREAL | space for choreographic development in partnership with Goethe Institut Bucharest and other local partners. Up to 4 foreign choreographers and musicians & composers from Germany (2 artists) and other EU countries will be invited to Bucharest to participate in this new physical dance & music lab together with AREAL choreographers Cristina Lilenfeld and Cosmin Manolescu and RO composer Sabina Ulubeanu.  

The deadline for registration is March 20, 2022 and the selected artists will be announced by the end of March 2022. Participating artists – choreographers, musicians/composers – will receive a fee, perdiem and free accommodation in rented apartments (each artist will have its own room). Travel expenses to Bucharest and health insurance will be in the charge of participants. The application dossier will include a letter of intention, two photos (one portrait and one artistic), video/sound links with own works and a bio/portofolio.

Please send your application to email areal@arealcolectiv.ro by March 20. The second edition of the bioAREALab will take place in spring 2023 in Timișoara, Romania. The Lab is part of AREAL | space for cultural development, a cultural programme co-funded by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. For more information please contact Cristina at lilienfeldcristina@gmail.com or Cosmin at cosmin@arealcolectiv.ro. More information about AREAL: https://arealcolectiv.ro/en/, video teaser

Cosmin Manolescu, initiator and co-founder of AREAL, said that “By being integrated into EDN, AREAL does nothing but follow the European journey we embarked upon in Romania more than 25 years ago. The constant presence of a new generation of Romanian choreographers in different European festivals and spaces over the past twenty years, as well as the projects involving choreographic collaborations that we implemented through the Gabriela Tudor Foundation in partnership with different dance structures from Austria, Cyprus, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, France, Great Britain or Portugal between the 2001-2018 helped shape a solid platform consecrated to the development and the advancement of contemporary dance in Romania. I wholeheartedly hope that the acceptance of the newly created AREAL collective into EDN will help increase the visibility of Romanian dance on the European stage and will offer Romanian artists wider perspectives for development and collaboration.”

In his letter of welcome addressed to AREAL, Laurent Meheust, President of European Dancehouse Network, highlighted AREAL’s “key role as cultural structure in the city as well as in the country,” while also expressing EDN’s appreciation for AREAL’s “expertise and collaboration capacity.” Laurent Meheust is expecting that AREAL contributes, by its inclusion into the European Dancehouse Network, to “securing a sustainable future for the dance sector.”

European Dancehouse Network is a network for trust and cooperation between European dance houses seeking to encourage collaboration and exchange between its various members in view of artistic, socio-cultural, and management skills and experiences. Between 2017-2021, the network is being funded by the European Union through the Creative Europe programme. EDN has recently published its first series of research papers in 2021, titled Dance and well-being, review of evidence and policy perspectives. Focused on solidarity and cohesion in dance, the present edition seeks to explore “how dance organizations have an impact and develop artistic practice increasing individual and relational well-being.”

In 2021, EDN has also become part of an international consortium whose aim is to develop, over a period of 18 months, the European project Perform Europe co-financed by the European Union. The said project seeks to support the dissemination of performing arts productions across Europe. Following an international call, AREAL has been selected to participate in the second round of the programme, following which a series of partnerships will be initiated in order to advance several mutual choreographic and performative distribution projects. The overall budget directed towards financing the development of European partnerships comprises 1.5 million euros, while funding schemes offered to the participants range from 10.000 to 100.000 euros, with the due date for the final selection set for October 2021.

AREAL’s acceptance as a full member of European Dancehouse Network is seen as a great opportunity to take part in the development of the European choreographic sector and thus multiply its international collaboration perspectives.

AREAL | space for choreographic development is a 2020 initative of a collective including Delazero Association, Gabriela Tudor Foundation, Indie Box, Association for Theatre and Books, respectively of artists Alexandra Bălășoiu, Andreea Belu, Denis Bolborea, Simona Dabija, Mariana Gavrinciuc, Smaranda Găbudeanu, Cristina Lilienfeld, Cosmin Manolescu, Camelia Neagoe.

In March 2021, the AREAL space opened in Bucharest on 2 Anastasie Simu St. The space offers direct support to projects initiated by its founders and aims at increasing the cohesion within the choreographic field, to develop and attract new audience categories to contemporary dance. The activity of the AREAL space is coordinated starting from 2021 by an artistic collective composed of choreographers Alexandra Bălășoiu, Cristina Lilienfeld, Cosmin Manolescu și Valentina De Piante. Through its multiple artistic projects and the socially centred programmes of development that it initiates, AREAL seeks to exert a positive impact within the dance world but also within the local communities in which dance can act as fuel for social change on both an individual and collective level.

AREAL Associated Artist

Alexandra Mihaela Dancs, freelance dancer and choreographer, collaborates among others with Vava Stefanescu, Cosmin Manolescu, Florin Flueraș, Cătălina Gubandru, Doris Uhlich, Mădălina Dan, Andreea David, Zan Yamashita, Rui Catalao, Carmen Coțofană, Robert Bălan, Jean Lorin Sterian, Florin Fieroiu, Urvi Vora. In 2010 and 2012 she is a DanceWeb scholarship holder at Impulstanz Vienna. In 2014 she receives the Excellency Prize for her contribution to the construction of Romanian contemporary dance from the National Dance Centre Bucharest. In 2016 she conceives “Everything for Endorphins”, a program produced by CNDB, addressed to all the dance enthusiasts.

Since 2019 she is part of “pj.lo & the accidentals”. The solo “In search of dance” and the duets “Luați de VAL…s” and “SomaUc Freaks 1.0 & 2.0” in collaboration with Vlad Benescu are her most recent creaUons. She choreographs the theatre shows “Frici” by Ana Sorina Corneanu in 2022 and “Lizica” by Alex Tocilescu in 2023, in the later not only taking on the role of a dancer but also that of an actress. In 2024 she develops together with Vlad Benescu the concept of dancephonic theatre for the show “Tura de noapte” by Mihai Ivașcu.

Since 2021 she is an associate artist of AREAL – space for choreographic development. For several years she has been dedicating herself with the same passion she has for dance, to surfing.

The international conference “Re-thinking dance – New ways of working together internationally in dance” aims to create a space for reflection regarding the above questions and more as well to look into the future of dance during this pandemic time. The conference is the result of cooperation between AREAL Bucharest and European Dancehouse Network. Initially it was planned to take place live in Bucharest during a showcase initiated by AREAL | space for choreographic development, a collective initiative launched in 2020 in Bucharest by 4 dance structures, in connection with the opening of a new dance space. Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus crisis, the opening of the space was postponed for 2021 and we can only meet and talk online.

We invite everyone interested to join our efforts to re-think the future of dance. The discussion will kick-off with a short introduction of the Romanian dance scene by Alexandra Balășoiu (Indie Box, co-founder AREAL), Simona Deaconescu (director Tangaj Dance and Bucharest International Dance Film Festival) and Vava Ștefănescu (manager National Dance Centre in Bucharest). Subsequently Pia Kramer will briefly introduce the European Dancehouse Nework and a new initiative – Perform Europe – a new Consortium of Performing Arts Networks (IETM, EDN, EFA, Cirostrada and IDAS -Consulting), who recently won the tender for a Platform for the cross-border distribution of European Performing Art Works.

Furthermore guest panelists from Austria, Germany, Serbia and Czech Republic Marijana Cvetkovic (Station/Belgrade), Gisela Muller (Tanzfabrik Berlin), Karin Pauer (choreographer, Vienna), Yvona Kreuzmanova (Tanec Praha/Prague) are invited to share their thoughts on the proposed topic as well to give a short update on their own current situation and projects. After a small break, we open floor to all participants to contribute with their thoughts on how to re-think dance of the future, but also on what kind of measures and initiatives the contemporary dance field needs urgently today. The conference and discussions will be moderated by Cosmin Manolescu, an artist and manager who played an important role in the development of contemporary dance in Romania.

Conference programme | November 14, 2020, 12:00-15:00 (Bucharest time)

12:00 – welcome speech by Cosmin Manolescu (Gabriela Tudor Foundation) and Pia Krämer (European Dancehouse Network)
12:10 – short introduction on the Romanian dance scene by Alexandra Balășoiu (AREAL), Simona Deaconescu (Tangaj Dance), Vava Ștefănescu (National Dance Centre Bucharest)
12:30–13:45 – Panel discussion – speakers: Marijana Cvetkovic (Station/Belgrade), Gisela Muller (Tanzfabrik Berlin), Karin Pauer (choreographer, Vienna), Yvona Kreuzmanova (Tanec Praha/Prague)
13:45–14:00 – break
14:00–14:50 – Open discussion on the topic – New ways of working internationally in dance
14:50 – Conclusions

The conference will be held in English and take place on the ZOOM platform, being open to a maximum international 50 participants – dance artists, artists, presenters, producers and dance journalists interested in the topic. The registration is open at https://forms.gle/k6kFc2bagMhZcLU57. All those who registered will receive the Zoom meeting link on November 11.
Participants to the conference can also get access to watch online the full programme of the Body Season of films and performances collective season initiated by AREAL and presented together with Creart/Teatrelli, Tangaj and National Dance Centre Bucharest, between November 12-16, 2020, including:

– Daughters, a performance by Simona Deaconescu & Tangaj Dance
– Urban Giff Show, a performance by Florin Fieroiu, Teatrelli production
– 85 percent of what you see, a dance performance by Cristina Lilienfeld, AREAL artist (premiere)
– INHABITED, a dance film presented by Smaranda Găbudeanu & PETEC Association
– Recorded Body, a film programme proposed by AREAL
– A place in time / Omnia, concept and choreography by Jan Burkhardt & Sigal Zouk, a dance film produced by National Dance Centre Bucharest (2020).

The links can be sent to all those interested who registered for the conference. For more information about the conference please contact Cosmin Manolescu, at cosmin@arealcolectiv.ro.

The Re-thinking dance | new ways of working internationally in dance conference is organised by Gabriela Tudor Foundation on the behalf of AREAL, in collaboration with European Dancehouse Network, Goethe Institut Bukarest and the Austrian Cultural Forum in Bucharest and is part of the “4 Bodies | Collective for dance” cultural programmd and of the “Body Season” cultural project cofunded by the the Administration of the National Cultural Fund.

AREAL| space for choreographic development is a collective initiative launched in 2020 by Gabriela Tudor Foundation, Indie Box, Delazero Association, Association for Theatre and Books and choreographer Andreea Belu, aiming to support collaboration, artistic creation, professional development and the dialogue between artists, public and the contemporary dance scene. The values of AREAL are research, creative processes in studio, mobility, interdisciplinarity, alternative education, awareness, well-being, time for reflection, meeting and dialogue space between dance makers, presenters and the public (www.arealcolectiv.ro).

More information on Romanian contemporary dance scene is available in the study The Contemporary Dance Scene in Romania – a research made by from the ecology of culture perspective by Ștefania Ferchedău & Raluca Iacob, produced by GT Foundation.

European Dancehouse Network is a European dance network created in 2009 and co-funded by European Union which today counts on 45 members in 26 countries. More information about EDN – www.ednetwork.eu

As a performer she worked with Simona Deaconescu (Tangaj Dance), Andreea Belu, Alexandra Gîrbea, Cristina Lilienfeld, Valentina De Piante, Anne Dubois and Mădălina Dan. In the frame of the Singing Bodies project she proposed a creative process developed in public spaces, throughout which she created the performative solo Spooky actions of a spoiled girl. In Voice Lab, she supported the production of the first acappella album in Romania, with original content developed through a diverse process of research on the relationship between body and voice. She collaborates as a choreographer with the Metropolitan Circus of Bucharest for the contemporary circus piece Reveria and the musical Bucharest, Je t’aime. She teaches regularly contemporary dance classes for beginner and advanced levels, adults, children and mixed groups of parents and kids.

Photo: Victor Vido (up left), Lavinia Pollak (below)