is an initiative for artistic creation and for the development of public encounters in the field of dance and choreography under the direction of Frédéric Gies.
DANCE IS ANCIENT
Dance is Ancient is originally a seven-hour performance created in 2016 where Frédéric Gies danced in the middle of and with the audience. Where is the boundary between the stage and the audience? How can we incorporate dance as art within a social context in an innovative way? How can we create new systems for audience participation? Dance is Ancient is a core piece of Frédéric Gies’ work and clearly articulates their vision, their innovative creation and their specific approach to the relationship with the audience.
Frédéric Gies moved to Malmö in 2018 with the desire to create a new relationship with their audience. The organization Dance is Ancient was born in 2019 as an answer to this goal and was very naturally named after the audience-based performance from 2016.
Today, Dance is Ancient is both a production company and an audience-focused curating organ. Both are being deeply intertwined through inviting audiences into new production work and through presenting old productions in new audience settings. Dance is Ancient’s work therefore revolves around 3 pillars: 1) the creation and production of Frédéric Gies’ choreographic work, together with a core group of close artistic collaborators, that is toured nationally and internationally 2) the sharing of knowledge and practices with other artists and the general audience in various formats including workshops, collaboration with other artists and organizations, mentoring programs and teaching in MA and MBA dance programs, 3) the curating of an independent dance platform, La Maison de la Danse.
Artistic Director
Frédéric Gies
Oscillating between clockwork composition and the intensities and chaos generated by dancing bodies surrendering to the desires and forces that traverse them, Frédéric Gies’ dance pieces bring to the forefront the capacity of dance to speak without having to demonstrate or represent anything. Drawing from their former training in ballet, their encounter with specific trends of contemporary dance at the beginning of the 90s, their dance floor experiences in techno clubs and raves and their study of somatic practices, Frédéric Gies approaches form as possibilities rather than constraints. Their dances weld forms seemingly foreign to each other, recycle and pervert dance history and heritages. They playfully collapse the distinction and hierarchies between erudite and popular forms of dance. Their pieces also address politics in a non-representational way. In their pieces, bodies as the instigators of movement don’t reinforce identities but excavate the complexity of their layers. Frédéric Gies’ work is also tightly connected to techno music and infused with references to clubbing and rave cultures. This is widely enabled by their long-term collaboration with the DJ and producer Fiedel.
They started their career as a dancer beginning of the 90s in France, where they danced with choreographers such as Daniel Larrieu, Olivia Grandville, Jean-François Duroure, Bernard Glandier and Christophe Haleb. During this period, they started creating their first pieces, in collaboration with other dancers (Odile Seitz, Frédéric de Carlo). In 2004, they moved to Berlin and in 2006, they created the piece Dance (Praticable), which encountered an international success. During their Berlin period, they also collaborated with other choreographers (Alice Chauchat, Isabelle Schad, Manuel Pelmus, Jefta van Dinther, DD Dorvillier). As they moved to Sweden in 2014, they initiated their work with techno music and started to develop and share their practice Technosomatics. They also briefly danced for Cristina Caprioli, as well as Ania Nowak.
Since 1996, they have created more than 30 performances, including commissions by Weld Company, DDSKS and Corpus. They present their works locally, regionally, nationally and internationally in various contexts, including dance venues and festivals, music festivals and museums (amongst others: Weld, Inkonst, Skogen, Dansens Hus, Impulstanz, CTM festival, Sophiensaele, Serralves, Roskilde festival, RAS, Moving in November, Wanås, Zürich Moves, La Casa Encendida, Art Stations Foundation...). So far, they have presented their work in 21 countries.
They have also a long history of teaching in various contexts (SNDO, HZT, TEAK, Ponderosa, DDSKS, Impulstanz...). Between 2012 and 2018, they directed the MA in choreography at DOCH-SKH. Together with Anne Juren, they were mentor for danceWEB at Impulstanz in 2021.
Recurring
artistic collaborators
Lights
Thomas Zamolo
After a long career as a dancer and since 2010, Thomas has focused on being a choreographer on working with lighting design and photography. In addition to its collaboration with Gies, Thomas has most recently created lighting design for Anna Pehrsson and Cristina Caprioli. He also has one long-term collaboration with choreographer Tilman O'Donnell. In parallel with his freelance assignments Thomas works continuously as a rehearsal director for Cullberg. Thomas has worked on all Dance is Ancient’s production since 2015.
Music
Fiedel
Since the 1990s, Fiedel has been one part of the international techno scene, both as a music producer and DJ. He has one ongoing collaboration with and residency at Berghain, Berlin. In 2014, Frédéric Gies and Fiedel started a close collaboration which has resulted in several productions, including the Chiron in Aries cycle and Shadowboxing.
Costumes
Grzegorz Matlag
Grzegorz is a fashion designer based in Berlin, Germany. He created the fashion brand Maldoror 2007 together with Dawid Mayser. In 2017, the store was opened at Sanderstraße 22 in Berlin, where the brand's own creations are sold together with vintage pieces handpicked by the owners. Matlag has also made stage costumes for, among others, Ania Novak and Jeremy Wade. Grzegiorz has created the costumes for Dance is Ancient since 2019.
Dancer
Elise Brewer
Elise has a BA in contemporary dance from Dans and Circus School in Stockholm. Her artistic activity consists of collaborating with other artists, developing own artistic projects and working to strengthen the free dance field by developing and supporting sustainable structures for the dance to operate within. All her work in dance involves a hybrid of doing, thinking, reading, write and discuss. She performed in Constellations and Alliances: Chiron in Aries Recital #4 and Frédéric will create for her a solo in the frame of La Maison de la Danse at the Autumn 2023. She also works as an artistic assistant in some projects of La Maison de la Danse.
Dancer
Andreas Haglund
Andreas works as a freelance dancer and performer and choreographer. He has a BA in Dance and choreography from The Danish National School of Performing Arts. He is a member of Dance Cooperative; a new platform, dance studio and place for intersectional practice and performances in Copenhagen. Andreas has, among other things, worked with choreographers such as Jules Fischer, Andros Zins-Browne, Ágnes Grélinger, Thjerza Balaj, Paolo Gile, Stina Ehn, Antonia Harke and Denise Lim. Andreas performed in several Chiron in Aries’ pieces: Hope, Barricades and Legacies, Constellations and Alliances. He will also collaborate on the future opus of the cycle.
Dancer
Brittanie Brown
Brittanie is currently a freelancer who received her B.F.A. in Dance from The Juilliard School in 2011 after being named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts in 2007. Throughout the years, she has performed original works by Alexander Ekman, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Christopher Roman, Stijn Celis and Victor Quijada. Brittanie has worked with companies such as the GöteborgsOperans DansKompani, Skånes Dansteater, Norrdans and Corpus. Brittanie performed in Barricades and Legacies and will also collaborate on the future opus of the cycle.
Dancer
Declan Whitaker
Declan is a British-Irish artist. He has a master's degree in choreography from London Contemporary Dance School and a degree in Curatorial Practice from DOCH / UniArts, Stockholm. As a dancer he has worked with the National Dance Company Wales, Martin Forsberg and Helena Waldmann. His choreography has been shown at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, The Place, Royal Opera House, International Dance Festival Birmingham and more. Year 2019 got he danceWEB scholarship at Impulstanz. Declan performed in several Chiron in Aries’ pieces: Hope, Barricades and Legacies, Constellations and Alliances.
Dancer
Elizabeth Ward
Elizabeth is a choreographer and performer based in Vienna. She previously had her base in New York City, Athens, Brussels and Portland. Her work explores the collective histories about dance lines accumulated in a dancer's muscle memory as a form of living archaeology. As a dancer, she has collaborated and participated in works by, among others, Michikazu Matsune, Manuel Pelmuș, DD Dorvillier, Miguel Gutierrez, Jennifer Lacey, Michael Turinsky, and Anne The law. Elizabeth earned her bachelor's degree from Bennington College in Vermont. She performed in Queen of the Fauns, Hope, Barricades and Legacies and Constellations and Alliances.
Dancer
Disa Krosness
Disa is educated at The Danish National School of Performing Arts and works as freelance dancer, choreographer and producer. She sits on the board of Stockholm Dance Center where she initiated the DCIntro platform. In 2010, she launched Friends with Benefits, an open and physical network for female dancers. Since September 1, 2014, she has been working and presents work at Tegelscenen, Stockholm. She has also worked with Weld Company. She performed in Warriors and Barricades and Legacies.
Dancer
Julia Plawgo
Julia is a dancer and choreographer based in Berlin. She graduated from the BA dance, context and choreography at HZT. She has appeared in works by Ola Maciejewska, Rosalind Crisp, Ania Nowak, Cécile Bally, Kasia Wolinska, Lyllie Rouvière, Julek Kreutzer and Przemek Kaminsky. In 2019, she showed her first own work "I wanted to show you the world, but I had only 2 GB" at the Performing Arts Festival in Berlin.is a dancer and choreographer based in Berlin. She graduated from BA dance, context and choreography at HZT. She has appeared in works by Ola Maciejewska, Rosalind Crisp, Ania Nowak, Cécile Bally, Kasia Wolinska, Lyllie Rouvière, Julek Kreutzer and Przemek Kaminsky. In 2019, she showed her first own work "I wanted to show you the world, but I had only 2 GB" at the Performing Arts Festival in Berlin. Julia performed in Warriors and Barricades and Legacies.
Production,
project management
& marketing
Ambre
Andriamanana
Producer
Ambre has a double MA in Business Administration and project management from a top-ranked French business school. She started as a producer at CCNR/Yuval Pick, one of the 19 institutional dance centers with national and international influence in France. Parallel to her work in cultural projects she helped several associations and French startups to develop their businesses and communities. She also founded the first board game café in Skåne and ran it between 2020 and 2023. She started working with Frédéric in July 2022 and has since worked on both the production’s side and the development of La Maison de la Danse.
CONTACT:
ambreandriabis@gmail.com
Designer
Mert Sahbaz
Mert is a Stockholm based art director and designer, and worked with Dance is Ancient for the first time in 2022. Since then, he has regularly collaborated on different projects and had a major role in developing the new visual identity for Dance is Ancient as well as the new website.
LONG TERM
PARTNERS
Dance is Ancient has close relationships with several dance institutions. Frédéric is associated artist at Weld, Skogen and MARC since respectively 2008, 2014 and 2019 and regularly shows their work at Inkonst since 2018.
Dance is Ancient is also supported by Kulturrådet (Verksamhetstöd), Region Skåne and Malmö stad.