2006
It started with a childhood friend. She (Now, they/them) took dance classes at the Carolin Böse-Krings school. Located in Walle, city Bremen. I guess I mentioned to my mother that I would like to try. And there I was then sitting on my mothers lap, watching the bodies move in space. Remeberence of feelings such as excitement are, that I can still name. Or other: I foremost imploded to also exploded. My mother said, we had to go outside because I start crying. Looks like I was afraid of how my body reacted. And there... I was hooked.:) I joined the next week. Carolin Böse has this super unique talent. She can bring each and everyone to states of person, in which you can find new behaviors within yourself. Let me tell you, the moment she starts talking and discribing the imaginary world around you it becomes a exciting journey. I remeber my favourite one where we have to crawl through a dark electronic shop, because our character really really wants to have that brand new phone. Something quite surreal, or not?;) Its these sceneries (+Many more) that have teached me some valubale thought processes. The secrets that I have building and keeping in these characters were my fun, but also the inner light i carried to places I seemed lost/sad/unhappy. Going to ballett and football and school at the same was tough sometimes. But I have been gifted with quite some energy. Yet to say I can also sleep 10Hours EZ.
One day I sent my application to the Folkwang University in Essen. I was 18 years old and submitted last minute. I was really nervous when I went to the audition. I saw all the applicants going through their set routines and doing their stretches, to points in the world that I would never get to. But I had something they didn't. Fighting spirit. I did not like to lose and this audition fired me up. After each day of auditioning, I didn't stop repeating and rehearsing what was said and done. Hakan Sonalakan, a good friend of mine, who's from Bremen, and also Carolin, helped me a lot during those days. Until the last day, I couldn't stand it if I wasn't selected. On that day Lutz Föster taught and oh man, what an experience. I had never felt like this before in a dance class. There was one exercise that was similar to a ice-skate movement, the arms were doing a 'pull' trajectory, sideways down. And as that sounds very specific to where the intention is placed in space, he didn't care much about that. We did it first too brave, which resulted in him telling us to totally blast our voice, head, jaws, hands, upper body, eyes and mind. I was almost tearing by this utilisation. I felt like I was touching something higher, like I was being catapulted out of my body and back. Indescribable. I will never forget this day in my life. Three hours later. Good news, I was accepted. I was so lucky to get the chance to take part in this programme. It gave me a kind of belief that I was needed for a special job in this world. Dancing.
2018
2016
A year before my first step at a dance studio, I was footballing. Being able playing the opponent, while the ball, with all possibilites I have, was, what I loved. Something you would not want in the dance world. What I mean is to trick the opponent with psychological manipulations through confusion with words or vocals.(PM me for further interest;) ) In the end of every long lasting day at the fields my father and I would watch football in the club related pub. They were beautiful nutritious for my soul. I have to thank my father for that. Team: VFL 07, Blue & Yellow. Colours that scream expressionsm. Fierce, as we were it was common to place first in tournament or season-chart. Football in combination with Dancing highlighted flexibility, that my opponent would not expect. Their faces, when... . "ANTONIO, HERE/THERE" Never: "ANTONIO, SHOOT" Reason for that was my beloved: full-back layout. from day one until the end! 13 years of defending/coordinating will uprise these characteristics/skillset especially: "Area orientation - An open goal or a misplaced back line makes it easy for the opposition to score. Therefore, it is important to keep moving in relation to your opponents' forwards and your team's overall positioning. "Safety - Once you have received the ball from a team-mate, it is important not to lose possession in this risky situation. You may be the last player on the pitch facing the goalkeeper. "Accuracy - is secondary to safety. Passing the ball accurately to a teammate is one of the most important skills to develop. Only through your accuracy can the team build on a strong foundation of stability and counter-attacking. --- When I was 18, I quit football for dance.
My days at the university were set. I noticed progess and started I learned things, such as the importance behind relaxtion or leteral twist. some other defaults needed longer time for example flexibility and reorganisation of bodyparts. It was a privilege to work with students from many different backgrounds, including Taiwanese, Cuban, Swedish, Lithuanian, French, Japanese, Italian, Brazilian, Russian and Korean. They made me look at different perspectives of thought processes. Resulting out of these network and with the university programm, "Junge Choreografen", I realized two pieces, that you can have a quick look on if you would like. Through the connection of one of my Ballett teacher Ingo Meichsner, I recieved the opportunity dancing at the production of "Der Wiederspenstigen Zähmung" at the Aalto ballett in Essen. It was nervwrecking dancing a ballett, since my through for ballett were almost at level 0. More thriven I recieved then, I recieved the invitation, for dancing in a more contemporary based project with the performances being held in Finland. It was a great time. The confidence that my teachers brought to the classroom was transferred to me, and I felt a new kind of cutting edge in myself.
2005
My course between my graduation and current I would express with the word, tumbeling. I began my off-graduate journey with the invitation with the reknown choreographer Dimitris Papaioannou. The thought was, me joining the tour of "INK", as the second cast for the "Naked Men" part. The rehearsels were taugh for me. "INK" contains a lot of water so I was literally been thrown in the cold water. Very quick stomach pain appeared. Sadly it was not because of the cold water. It was because of expections from friends and family, expectation of collaborators, expectation of me to myself. Perhaps I was not ready, but after reviewing different ways working. I should say, that it can be more efficient solved. Because that rollercoaster there made this time a mentally traumatised session. There I was then, in Athens, with no job coming up because of the thought i might join the tour, and almost no place to stay at the moment. Thanks to Dafnis Kokkinos, ex-Pina Bausch dancer and now director of the National School of Greece, I managed to find some dancer friends and within this a place to stay in my beloved Athens. The time turned out amazing. I got to know my todays 4 best friends, which i never had best friends. I learned about the history of the beginnings of theater and also inheritated some characteristics that I value in greek volks.
There is a part of me that is passionate about the art of product design. I got to know this part of me when I was 18. It was one day I saw a designer bag on the internet that was worn on the chest. I loved the look, but it was a branded product that stood for luxury, which I did not see myself promoting. So I thought, why not create one myself, with the added bonus of having the expertise in sustainable mind building. When I thought about the material I would need, I thought of fabric. But to make it that way I would have to learn how to sew, by hand or machine. Too much effort and time, and too expensive. As fate would have it, in the last few months I had become aware of a second-hand shop very close to my home. Not knowing what to expect, I snooped around. This second-hand shop was run by a Turkish man. I got to know him very quickly and soon I was used to going there two or three times a week. He had two huge rooms full of random stuff. Sometimes I was there for up to 2 hours. I was fascinated by all these different objects from different eras and the unique purpose for which they were created. I felt and still feel the creativity swirling around me as soon as I enter the shop. I believe that this concept I have experimented with is one of my hidden understandings of my own satisfaction with creation. I hope to continue my journey of self-exploration into sustainable areas. Why did/do I move? and how?