Yotam Peled

Contemporary for Dancers

21.04. – 25.04.2025, 12:00–13:30
26.04. + 27.04.2025, 13:00–14:30

Training for Dancers

Bio

Yotam Peled is a choreographer, performer and teacher working at the intersection of contemporary dance, martial arts and new circus, born in Kibbutz Beit-Keshet – Israel, in 1989. Since childhood he has practiced plastic arts, athletics and Capoeira. At the age of 21 he began dancing and pursued higher education in circus.
In 2015 he relocated to Berlin, and since then worked as a freelance performer with choreographers Maura Morales, Yann L’Hereux, Jill Crovisier, Mitia Fedotenko and Troels Primdahl, among others. With his ensemble Yotam Peled & the Free Radicals, established in 2019, he has been creating and touring his own work in Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, Israel, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Luxembourg, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Bulgaria, Hungary, Estonia, Malta, Panama, Slovakia, Greece, Switzerland and Vietnam. He was a resident artist in the Choreographic Center of Heidelberg, TalentLAB Luxembourg mentored by Hofesh Shechter, TanzLabor Roxy Ulm, Altofest Naples, Fabrik Potsdam, SESTA Zdar, Tanzhaus Zürich and PimOff Milan. His creations include Entropia (2018), ALPHA (2019), fauna futura (2021), HEIMAT (2021), migrena2x2 (2021), FISTS TO FLOWERS (2023) and Where the Boys Are (2023) – a production of Explore Dance selected for Aerowaves network in 2024.
He was commissioned to create for Skopje Dance Theater, Theater Strahl and Leipziger Tanztheaters. His artistic collaborations include Theater Munstrum, Cie. Hors Surface, Theater O.N. Yotam has been a guest teacher in Fontys Academy of Arts, Sandciel Circus School, Lake Studios, Marameo, Folkwang University of Arts, Dock11, Overhead Project, Iwanson Munich, PRISMA festival Panama, Art Factory International and Anfibia Bologna, Uscite di Emergenza Rome, Piste d’Azure Cannes, the National Dance University Hanoi, City Dance Center Seoul, Trois C-L Luxembourg, Tanzhaus Zurich, Berlin Circus Festival and E-motion Bodies Barcelona.

Class Description

‘Surrendering into movement’ is a class which centers around release, partnering and soft acrobatics. Inspired and informed by Qi-gong and Capoeira, it proposes a journey from stillness and emptiness to interactions between bodies, virtuosity and flow. We move with an approach which binds together risk, efficiency, availability, dynamics, sensitivity and playfulness.
The warm-up revolves around grounding and emptying work. Employing techniques and patterns from inner martial arts, we reform a connection with our physical-energetic center and breath as engines. We observe movement in the stillness and prepare our body to dance with simple waving and spiralling sequences aiding to soften and expand.
The second section is dedicated to interaction between bodies. Using exercises from contemporary release dance technique and Tuishou, a section of Kung-Fu focused on pulling and pushing hands, we mobilise our spine through three movement centers: hips, torso and head. With a playful approach we practice the availability of the body to follow and guide, as well as to ground and absorb. The third and concluding section dives into the universe of floorwork, isolation and soft acrobatics. With clear and sustainable technical tools we practice going in and out of the floor, articulating where movement begins, following the principle of head-tail and the liberation of the spine. This part of the workshop proposes a long flow in space with drills and sequences inspired by Capoeira, Flying-Low and Tai-Ji, based on Yotam’s lifelong research.