Collaborating Artist, From B to B: Àngels Margarit (b. 1960) belongs to the first generation of contemporary dancers who graduated from the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona in the 1970s. After continuing her studies throughout Europe and in New York, she dedicated herself to all aspects of dance: choreography, performance and teaching.
Between 1979 and 1984, she was part of the collective group Heura, one of the pioneer dance groups and a historical reference for dance in Spain, whose accomplishments crossed beyond the border, winning several prestigious international prizes. During her time with Heura, she began her career as a choreographer, most notably creating Temps al Biaix (1981), the country’s first contemporary dance performance conceived as an evening-length work. After five years with the collective, she decided work independently, the subsequent creation of the quintet MUDANCES (1985) giving her nascent company its name.
At the same time, Margarit, in association with other choreographers, opened the Bugé dance centre (1984), a space which has been an important training centre for professional dancers.
With her first performances, Mudances (1985) and Kolbesarar (1988), Margarit entered the international scene in which she would regularly present her work. The seriesSolo per a habitació d’hotel (Hotel Solo) (1989-2000),Atzavara (Century Plant) (1991),Corol.la (1992),Grevenhofkai(1992),Suite d’Estiu (Summer Suite) (1993),Saó (1995) — in collaboration with Maria Muñoz —, Arbre de te (Tea Tree) (1996), Tèrbola(1998),L’edat de la paciència (The Age of Patience) (1999), L’edat de la paciència/00 (2000),Peces mentideres (Deceitful pieces) (2001), El somriure (The Smile) (2001), Origami (2002), for young audiences, Estances (2003), a performance installation, URBS (2004), a special urban-project, Solo por Placer (2005), Larandland (2006) and the laboratories Arbraçada#1 (2007) and Arbraçada#2 (2008).
Her performances and activities have been coproduced and presented all over the world in festivals and theatres such as Biennale de la Danse in Lyon, Springdance festival in Utrecht, Festival Nouvelle Danse in Montréal, Klapstuk festival in Leuven, Vooruit in Gent, Luzerntanz in Luzern, Madrid en Danza in Madrid, GREC festival in Barcelona, the Internationales Sommertheater Festival in Hamburg, the Adelaide Festival of Arts in Australie, the Kanawaga Arts Foundation in Japon, the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York…
As an improviser Margarit has collaborated with Andreu Corchero, Maria Muñoz, Rosa Muñoz, Alexis Eupierre, Mònica Valenciano and with musicians Joan Saura, Steve Noble, Agustí Fernández, Marc Egea amongst others.
She has also created several dance films such as Boqueria in collaboration with Johanne Charlebois, El Mar, for the program Glasnost (TV Catalana) with music by Agustí Fernández, Subur 305, Peix, Ritual geogràfic and Cos recordat in collaboration with Núria Font, and Parc#1410 with Walter Verdin.
As a teacher, she has given courses and workshops in Spain, France, Germany, Finland, Canada, Colombia, and Venezuela, and has directed the Conservatori Superior de Dansa (CSD) de l’Institut del Teatre de Barcelona in 2006/07.
Throughout her career, Margarit has received numerous prizes, such as the Grand Prix du Concours chorégraphique de Bagnolet in 1988 for Kolbesarar, the Premi Nacional de Dansa de Catalunya in 1986 for Mudances and in 1991 for Atzavara, and the Premi Ciutat de Barcelona d’Arts Escèniques in 1993 for Corol.la.
In the fall of 2010, the theater Mercat del Flors in Barcelona organized a retrospective of seven of her works to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Mudances.
Finally, at the invitation of the Catalonian municipality of Terassa, Margarit conceived and directed the international dance festival Tensdansa between 2003 and 2007.
After training at the academy in Rotterdam, Swiss choreographer Thomas Hauert moved to Brussels in 1991. In Brussels, he danced for three years in Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's company Rosas after which he collaborated on other projects with Gonnie Heggen, David Zambrano and Pierre Droulers. The creation of the solo Hobokendans (1997) was the launching point for his company ZOO, through which he initiated Cows in Space (1998), a piece for five dancers which was consequently awarded two prizes at the Rencontres chorégraphiques of Seine-Saint-Denis. "A first choreography, offered in all coolness, and I'm already under its spell.(...) With Cows in Space, Thomas Hauert and his fresh new company ZOO have shown (...) that abstract dance can be a wonderful celebration and can convey formidable emotions."(Le Temps, 1998)
Since then, Hauert has created more than 15 performances with ZOO including Jetzt (2000), Do You Believe in Gravity? Do You Trust the Pilot? (2001),Verosimile (2002), modify (2004), Walking Oscar (2006), Parallallemande (2006),Puzzled (2007),Accords (2008),Solo for EKL (2009) and You've Changed (2010).
The work of Thomas Hauert and ZOO first developed from research on movement, with a particular interest in improvisation-based processes that explore the tension between freedom and constraint, individuals and the group, order and disorder, form and formlessness. Over the years the structure of the company has remained very stable, with several of the original dancers still currently involved. This longevity affords a depth to the choreographer's research that one rarely encounters in the field of contemporary dance today.
Hauert is widely recognized for his original contributions to dance: "His proliferative inventiveness does more than just exercise the imagination: it uncovers a new movement vocabulary, upsets the syntax, refines unpublished grammar rules in order to achieve singularly vivid language, " writes Rosita Boisseau of Le Monde. From Paris to Seoul, from Helsinki to Rio, his performances have been staged in over 110 different venues in 25 countries.
Moreover, in recognition of his work, the company has been awarded several prizes including that of the Swiss Dance Prize (le Prix de la danse suisse) given to modify in 2005. Accords earned Hauert and ZOO the distinction of being respectively chosen choreographer and company of the year in 2009 by the critic Katja Werner with the comment: "Thomas Hauert's company ZOO, a group of responsible individuals, a community that practices the most intelligent, the most sensitive, the most spiritual, the most surprising, the bravest, the most virtuosic and the most political dance form I've seen in a very long time." In 2010, the Belgian director Thierry De Mey created a film co-produced by European cultural television channel Arte, based on the ZOO's work Accords, set to Ravel's La Valse.
Hauert regularly participates in improvisation events around the world. Notably, he was invited by Sasha Waltz in framework of "Vif du Sujet" in Avignon in 2000, by David Zambrano in the series "David Zambrano Invites ...", by Gonnie Heggen, Frans Poelstra and Robert Steijn for the "Tarzan" project, and by Jennifer Monson and Zeena Parkins as part of Movement Research Fall Festival in 2008.
In addition to his work for ZOO, Hauert has also created several commissioned works among them Hà Mais (2002) for a group of Mozambican dancers, Milky Way (2000), Lobster Caravan (2004), 12 / 8 (2007) and Regarding The area Between the inseparable (in collaboration with the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, 2010) with students from Brussels' PARTS Academy, Fold and Twine (2006) at the Laban School in London, as well as Il Giornale della necropoli for the Zürcher Ballett based on the composition of the same name by Salvatore Sciarrino, with scenery by of Belgian artist Michaël Borremans.
Hauert is equally well known for developing internationally recognized teaching methods. In addition to an ongoing collaboration with P.A.R.T.S., he regularly gives workshops worldwide.