Cristiana Casadio

Contemporary Dance

Donnerstags, 18:00–19:30
Intermediate–Advanced

Bio

After a career in rhythmic gymnastics, Cristiana was selected as a trainee with the Aterballetto Company, directed by Mauro Bigonzetti. She has received several grants, including those from the Merce Cunningham Studio and Peridance Center in New York. Cristiana has performed with various companies, including Enzo Celli’s Botega Dance Company (Italy), the J.K. Tyl Theater in Pilsen (Czech Republic), and from 2001 to 2009, she was a soloist with the Balletto dell’Esperia in Turin, directed by Paolo Mohovich.
Since 2010, Cristiana has been based in Berlin as a freelance artist, participating in numerous productions and projects both as a performer and choreographer (e.g. Berliner Ensemble, in the piece “Menschen, Orte und Dinge”). She collaborates with artists from various disciplines, and her works have been showcased in numerous international venues and festivals.
Her piece “Tangram” was shortlisted for the Total Theatre Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and won the first prize for performing arts at the Internationale Kulturbörse Freiburg in 2017. Cristiana’s artistic work has been supported by the Dachverband Tanz Deutschland through the Dis-tanzen program in 2021-2022, as well as by the Senate Department of Culture for work and research in the performing arts in 2023.

Class Description Contemporary for Dancers

After a gradual warm up, aimed to tone and stretch the body, the first part of the class is devoted to floor work. We place the focus on effortlessness, agility and clarity within the sequences. To allow the dancers to work on precision and fluidity, we focus on which part of the body leads and where the impulse of the movement originates, where it begins and ends. We will continue with more technically challenging combinations, playing with suspensions, out of balance, spirals, slides and falls. The class is influenced by different dance techniques mixed with my own research. In particular, the influence of ballet is present throughout, but keeping in mind that technique is a tool that makes the pleasure of moving richer.

Class Description Contemporary Dance on Thursdays

My class is influenced by different dance techniques – ballet, release technique, floor work – combined with my own personal research.We will begin with a gradual warming up, bringing awareness into the body, focusing on our weight and on our relationship with the floor, softening our bodies and at the same time stretching and toning. The class will then develop on different levels in space, using increasingly challenging combinations, playing with dynamics, suspensions, out of balance, spirals, slides and falls. We will explore different movement qualities and textures, applying images and sensations to the sequences and sometimes using small improvisation tasks. Special focus is placed on awareness of the impulses that initiate the movement, either physical or imaginative, allowing students to work on precision and, at the same time, to find their own personal way of moving in a given phrase.Inside the phrases we will work on technique, improving agility, coordination and efficiency, and especially on increasing the movement vocabulary to allow a bigger range of physical expression. But always keeping in mind that technique is simply a tool to make the pleasure of moving richer.