It was/Matteo Cogliandro (IT), Pedro Tayette (BR), Elena Sofia Bisci (IT), Mischa Hall (AU), Yu-Teng Huang (TW), Katharina Illnar (AT), Pavel Povrazník (CZ), Lorenzo Ruta (IT), Nicole Stroh (DE), Hinako Taira (JP), Fleur Wijsman (NL), Alex Villard (MX), Noayama / AffineRecords(DE)/photo: flap

It was

Matteo Cogliandro (IT), Pedro Tayette (BR), Elena Sofia Bisci (IT), Mischa Hall (AU), Yu-Teng Huang (TW), Katharina Illnar (AT), Pavel Povrazník (CZ), Lorenzo Ruta (IT), Nicole Stroh (DE), Hinako Taira (JP), Fleur Wijsman (NL), Alex Villard (MX), Noayama / Affine Records (DE)

Ars Electronica Center, Deep Space 8K
Wed 4. Sep 2024 19:00 – 20:30

The piece It was is about the flow of one’s own individual and collective identity. The title includes a hint of change and movement, a transformation that resembles a metamorphosis. Something was, something is and begins, but both are always mutually dependent.

In exchange with the two choreographers, the media artist Alex Villard and the musician Noayama develop the image and sound layers for this piece. Very different ways of working meet and so It was becomes a unique symbiosis, albeit not always harmonious, of contemporary dance, visionary media and sound art.

Language: EN
Tickets: FESTIVALPASS+, FESTIVALPASS, ONE DAY PASS
Registration: required, please register below

Please note: Limited capacity, registration required – in addition to a valid ticket, you need a (free) ticket reservation for the respective event in advance. Reservations for Deep Space 8K events must be scanned on-site no later than 15min before the programme starts.

Warning of Strobe ligth/intense lighting/loud noise.

Bios

  • Photo: Stefanie Kogler

    Alex Villard

    MX

    Interactive media artist based in Vienna. Worked on major productions like the 2011 Pan-American Games and created content for projection mapping events and then moved into interactive experiences. Experienced video production manager in creative agencies working for artists like Dj Test, Alanis Morissette, Lenny Kravitz and others, and currently finishing a bachelor’s degree in Time-based and Interactive Media Art at the University of Arts Linz.

  • Photo: Philip Brunnader

    Elena Sofia Bisci

    IT

    Elena Sofia Bisci was trained in ballet and contemporary technique, the Graham technique and the Paul Taylor technique. From 2016 to 2017, she received a scholarship for the MOTUS Dance Company in Siena. In 2017, Bisci moved to New York, where she first worked with the dance company Hanna Q. In 2019, she completed the Peridance Center’s Certificate Program under the direction of Igal Perry and joined the Peridance Contemporary Dance Company (PCDC). In March 2019 Elena Sofia performed at the TDF Gala at Gotham Hall in New York. In 2020 she joined the Tabula Rasa Dance Theater Company. In New York she worked with, among others: Igal Perry, Johanna LjungQvist- Brinson, Julie Magneville, Alice Klock, Manuel Vignoulle, Yin Yue, Andrea Miller and Jae Man Joo. Since 2021/2022, Bisci has been a member of the TANZ LINZ ensemble at the Landestheater Linz.

  • Photo: Philip Brunnader

    Fleur Wijsman

    NL

    Fleur Wijsman first graduated as a dance teacher from Nova College in Haarlem in 2014 before she went to Amsterdam to receive her bachelor’s degree in Modern Theatre Dance at the Amsterdam University of the Arts. There she did choreographies by Emio Creco, Ohad Naharin and Roser López Espinosa. In 2017 she completed an internship at Introdans in Arnhem, where she also became a guest dancer. During the years at Introdans she danced choreographies by Alexander Ekman, Lucinda Childs, Mauro Bigonzetti, José Limón, Nils Christe and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. In 2021/2022 Fleur joined the ensemble of TANZ LINZ.

  • Photo: Philip Brunnader

    Hinako Taira

    JP

    Hinako Taira was born in Kobe, Japan and received a broad training in karate up to black belt, learned ballet with Owen Montague, Jan Nuyts, the Graham technique with Graham McKelvie, Alessandra Prosperi, Elizabeth Ann Auclair, and the GAGA technique with Ayako Kurakake.

    She toured through Ukraine with Toru Shimazaki and Emi Hariyama under the direction of Vladimir Malakhov and worked in Japan and Germany. In 2022 she danced in Aida at the Dresden Semperoper. Taira has also been part of various festivals such as Dance at the Gathering Prix de Lausanne Select Dancer Festival, as well as Vladimir Malakhov and the Stars of the World ballet. She has also received numerous awards as a choreographer such as the Award for Excellence FDFF Choreographers Award. Taira has been a part of the TANZ LINZ ensemble since 2022/2023.

  • Photo: Philip Brunnader

    Katharina Illnar

    AT

    Katharina Illnar began her dance training at the Ballettschule der Wiener Staatsoper and graduated from the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien in 2015. She later worked as a freelance dancer and performed in pieces by Nikolaus Adler, Esther Balfe, Jonah Bokaer, Willi Dorner, Elio Gervasi, Alexander Gottfarb, Andrey Kaydanovskiy, Liz King, Mani Obeya, Eva-Maria Schaller and Doris Uhlich, among others. She has performed in Paris, Zagreb, Budapest, Atlanta and New York City and at numerous festivals, such as the ImPulsTanz Festival in Vienna. In addition to her artistic work, she also worked as a project assistant and research assistant to Andrea Amort in the dance archive at the MUK Vienna from 2019-2022. Katharina became a part of the Tanz LINZ ensemble at the Landestheater Linz in 2022/2023.

  • Photo: Philip Brunnader

    Lorenzo Ruta

    IT

    Lorenzo Ruta received dance education in ballet, contemporary dance, Contact Improvisation and modern dance in his native Sicily. His first engagement took him to Catania to Scenario Pubblico and Compagnia Zappal Danz under the artistic direction of Roberto Zappalà. In the years that followed, he initially danced for the young Swiss company Cinevox Junior Company (including in Diva and Carmen) in choreographies by Franz Brodmann, Jacqueline Beck, Enrico Musmeci, Félix Dumeril, Olaf Schmidt, Martina Langmann, Tyna Beyerler, Azusa Nishimura and Ihsan Rustem. In the 2016/2017 season, he moved to the Konzert und Theater St. Gallen under the direction of Beate Vollack, where he also worked at the Theater Ulm (ballet director Roberto Scafati) and the Theater Pforzheim (ballet director Guido Markowitz). Ruta has been a member of the dance company TANZLINZ at the Landestheater Linz since February 2018.

  • Photo: Philip Brunnader

    Matteo Cogliandro

    IT

    Matteo Cogliandro moved to London at the age of 16 to train at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, where he worked on different dance pieces like Yidam by Ihsan Rustem, assisted by Ching Wong. In 2020 he took part in the Italian television show Amici. Matteo has worked on projects with Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures and performed in works by Cameron McMillan and Vidya Patel at the Royal Opera House. In Germany, he was part of Delattre Dance Company as an apprentice before starting to work with Fabula Collective in early-2022. Since 2022/2023, he has been a member of the TANZ LINZ ensemble at the Landestheater Linz.

  • Photo: Philip Brunnader

    Mischa Hall

    AU

    Mischa Hall was born in Sydney, Australia. He trained first at the Dance Spot and then at Tanya Pearson’s Classical Coaching Academy and later performed with the Sydney City Youth Ballet. He finally graduated at the Ballettschule Theater in Basel. His first engagement took him to Liberec, Czech Republic, to the FXS Theatre. Hall later moved to the JKT Theatre in Pilsen, where he performed in a variety of ballets, dance projects and operas. In early-2022 he danced the lead role of Daniel in Srdce (Heart), a co-production between Theatre JKT, the Czech National Theatre and Agentura Srdce. Mischa Hall is a part of the TANZ LINZ ensemble at the Landestheater Linz since 2022/2023.

  • Photo: Philip Brunnader

    Nicole Stroh

    DE

    Nicole Stroh received her dance training at the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden, and also studied abroad at the Conservatoire National Supérior de Musique et de Danse Paris. While a student, Nicole performed on stage at the Semperoper in Dresden with choreographies by George Balanchine, Jiri Kylian, Ohad Naharin and Marius Petipa, among others. She also completed internships with the Ballett Dortmund and Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf/Duisburg. From the 2015/2016 season, she was engaged for five seasons in the ballet ensemble of the Theater Plauen-Zwickau under the direction of Annett Göhre. She has been a member of the TANZ LINZ ensemble at the Landestheater Linz since the 2020/2021 season.

  • Photo: Noah Berger

    Noayama

    BR

    Noayama is the alter ego of 21-year-old producer and interdisciplinary artist Noah Berger. Growing up near Munich, he came into contact with electronic music at a very early age. Socialized with the diverse facets of hip-hop culture and inspired by contemporaries such as JPEGMafia, Madlib, Earl Sweatshirt, Samiyam, Slauson Malone but also Jockstrap and Christian Vogel, Noayama has been constantly sharpening his production talents. He was encouraged by his father Michael Fakesch, one half of the Glitch-hop pioneers Funkstörung, who became famous in the late 90s.

  • Photo: Philip Brunnader

    Pavel Povrazník

    CZ

    Pavel Povrazník completed his dance education at the Dance Center Prague Conservatoire, where he also was a member of the Ballet Prague Junior. After graduating, he was part of the Tanztheater Nürnberg under Daniela Kurz from 2005 to 2008 and with Philipp Egli in the Tanzcompagnie Theater St. Gallen since 2008. Povrazník has also performed at numerous festivals, including the Bregenz Festival and the Aldeburgh Festival. He joined Tanztheater Darmstadt from the 2010/2011 season and moved to Austria to join the Landestheater Linz in 2013/2014. In the 2017/2018 season he received an Audience Award from Friends of the Linz Music Theatre.

  • Photo: Philip Brunnader

    Pedro Tayette

    BR

    Pedro Tayette was born in Brazil in 1998 and started dancing as a child. He completed his dance training at the well-known Escola do Teatro Bolshoi no Brasil. In 2019, Tayette was a member of the Europa Ballett Company in St. Pölten before becoming a part of TANZ LINZ. He has been a member of the TANZ LINZ ensemble at the Landestheater Linz since the 2019/2020 season.

  • Photo: Philip Brunnader

    Yu-Teng Huang

    TW

    Yu-Teng Huang performed on stage for the first time at the age of 10 as he showcased his diabolo juggling skills. He then chose to train in dance for three years at Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School and graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts. Later, he was invited by the Adelaide Collage of the Arts to participate in the production Winterreise in 2011. Two years later, he was part of ArtCross in London, performing “Gloves” choreographed by Dam Van Huynh and Mask by Guo Lei Join. He also performed Mr. R at the Festival d’Avignon 2014 with BodyEDT. He joined the TANZ LINZ ensemble at the Landestheater Linz in 2015/2016.

Credits

Matteo Cogliandro, Pedro Tayette – Choreografie
Elena Sofia Bisci, Mischa Hall, Yu-Teng Huang, Katharina Illnar, Pavel Povrazník, Lorenzo Ruta, Nicole Stroh, Hinako Taira, Fleur Wijsman – Tanz
Alex Villard – Visualisierung
Noayama (Affine Records) – Musik und Sounddesign

A cooperation of the Tanz Company of the Landestheater with the Department of Time-Based and Interactive Media Arts of the University of Arts Linz and the Ars Electronica Center.