our people
We are fortunate to continually work with inspiring and creative people including artists, choreographers, designers, directors, producers and tutors and yoga teachers. Find out more about them here.
DADA tutors 2026
Credit : Keith Leung
Alice Delva
Alice is a multidisciplinary artist of Italian origin, from Verona, whose work bridges dance and visual arts.
Since 2013, she has trained with Wanda Moretti and developed her practice with several European companies while pursuing contemporary dance studies in Turin.
Based in Paris, she performs in contemporary and vertical dance with her own company, Cie ADE, where she explores a movement aesthetic centered on physicality that is both poetic and raw.
She also collaborates with companies including Les Passagers, Retouramont, Scarabeus Aerial Theatre, Il Posto, and Volt Experience.
www.cieade.org
Ariadna Vendelová
Ariadna Vendelová is an aerial dancer, performer, and teacher from Slovakia. Over the last 15 years, she has performed in a variety of shows and her original creations throughout Europe, while developing an authentic movement language on aerial silks, as well as a unique methodology of teaching aerial dance.
Her work is deeply influenced by nature, ecology, and motherhood. On the boundaries between dance and new circus, her creations range from site-specific urban experiments, through theatrical works, to dances in natural environments. She speaks about intimate and personal themes as well as about abstract concepts in a way which intertwines performance, circus and dance art with mysticism, ritual, and communal experience.
Ariadna´s approach to teaching and sharing in workshops is greatly influenced by yoga, dance improvisation and life in nature, with an aerial dance technique focused on breath work, body-mind awareness and on principles of somatic movement, including floating pelvis, spirals, expansions and contractions, releases, and others. She loves to create organic sequences and preparatory technical exercises, where movers can find their own sense of pleasure and deep connection. Her approach to aerial dance practise, performance and sharing aims to be holistic and experiential, raw and intimate, natural and personal. She has taught at festivals, studios and retreats in France, Hungary, Austria, Italy or Czech Republic.
https://ariadnavendelova.com/
Pablo Fraile
Pablo Fraile is a Spanish circus artist specialized in aerial rope and aerial straps. He started practicing circus when he was 8 years old, and discovered really quickly his passion for this kind of art. He obtained a diploma of physical activities animator before going straight to the National centre of circus arts of Chalons en Champagne, in France, where he will graduate with the discipline of aerial rope.
In parallel to his artistic carrier, he developed his competence as rigger and technical manager, which allows him to work as both performer and technician in several projects.
In this moment, he works with the companies COLLECTIF TBTF, Hors Surface, and cie CMR.
About his pedagogical training (early years of teaching) Pablo started quite early taking part in different contexts of teaching until the moment that he became part of the teacher’s team of his hometown circus school. He is specialized in aerial disciplines, but he also feels confident in acrobatics.
Now, Pablo combines his artistic career with pedagogical interventions in circus schools and spaces all around Europe, where he works developing his own method of understanding and developing aerial movement through the comprehension of the relation between the dynamic body on the air and the apparatus.
Winstone Reynolds
The origin of my journey into movement arts traces back to the age of 17, when I first became curios to the possibilities of the human body in space. I was inspired by the interplay between imagination and physicality—the ability to envision a direction, define an orientation, and transform it into tangible action. This initial interest set me on a path to explore the connection between movement and intention.
Acrobatics somehow became the ideal medium for this exploration, leading me to formal studies at Circomedia (2010–2012) and ACAPA: Fontys Academy of Circus and Performance Arts (2012–2016). Here, I specialized in physical theatre, acrobatic dance, and a hybrid form of partnering that combined contemporary dance with acrobatics. My time in the circus arts was supported by an ever-deepening engagement with improvisational dance, which offered a nuanced framework for refining and expanding my understanding of movement.
My professional career began with Alexander Vantournhout Red Haired Men (2017-2018), where I contributed as both a performer and movement researcher. This experience opened doors to collaborations with companies, including Backsteinhausproduktion, how to sell a murder house (2017), Jasmine Ellis, Suzan’s Lonely (2020), Miet Warlop’s Springville (2023), and Yoann Bourgeois (2022–2024). And currently I am engaged with Fernando Melo and Kalle Nio’s piece Tempo 2025–2026.
A particularly meaningful connection developed with Yoann Bourgeois, where I moved beyond performance to assist in choreographic processes. Notable collaborations include Gothenburg Opera, We Loved Each Other So Much (2023-2024) and Requiem Mozart. These experiences deepened my understanding of the creative process and further shaped my engagement as both a performer and a movement researcher.
Alongside my performative work, I developed a teaching methodology rooted in the desire to share my research and engage others in a multidisciplinary dialogue. Teaching became a collaborative act, a way to test and refine ideas within diverse practices. This led me to join ferus animi // terra nova, a movement research collective dedicated to bridging scientific and artistic disciplines, such as neuroscience, evolutionary physiology, biomechanics, and philosophy, into an accessible and relevant framework.
Through the interconnected worlds of performance, teaching, and research, I have found myself in a liminal space—an ever-evolving terrain that grounds my connection to the art of movement. This fusion of disciplines provides not only a means of expression but also a profound investment in the adventure and evolution of the movement artist.
DADA tutors 2024
Alex Allan (2024)
Alex Allan is a Corde Lisse Artist and Dancer best known for his performative work that blends the boundaries of circus, dance and theatre. Originally from Sydney, Australia, Alex graduated with a Bachelor of Communications – Theatre & Media. Here he began exploring Circus techniques through the lens of Theatre. He then continued his formal Circus training in the Professional Aerial Program at the San Francisco Circus Center.
As an aerial and movement coach, Alex helps his students to develop a powerful yet graceful aesthetic in the air by conveying an understanding of momentum and efficient movement pathways. In his creative practice he is currently most drawn to developing research tools to create movement and choreography that isn’t restricted to the air but that can explore the horizontal space as well as the entire architecture of the ‘stage’.
He has both performed and taught workshops, retreats and teacher trainings across Europe, North America, and Australisia. Alex also currently teaches remotely through online coaching from his current home in Bristol, UK.
Magalie Lanriot (2024)
Magalie Lanriot is a Portugal-based dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She began her career as a contemporary dancer, but it was through vertical dancing that she found her home. In 2014, she was in the cast of ‘Rites of War’, a performance by Lindsey Butcher & Darshan Singh Bhuller (Gravity and Levity). This inspired her to develop her career as an internationally acclaimed choreographer and performer.
Since then, Magalie has dedicated herself to performing, teaching, and researching vertical and contemporary dance. She develops her projects in association with the University of Lisbon and the National Park of Mafra, providing international formation and research for Vertical and Contemporary Dance in Portugal and Europe.
As an independent artist, Magalie teaches at the Olga Roriz Dance Company and at International Festivals and Schools. She also mentors and participates in several independent projects, one of those with Olga Roriz, for the movie ‘Body Building’, directed by Henrique Pina. She has a creative approach to vertical dance embodying evolutions of the form, with a deep physical technique that is used only in service of her creativity, born in the moment.
In parallel to her dance career, Magalie studied Shiatsu, Thai, Osteo-Thai, and Chi Ney Tsang massage. She is interested in developing an approach where touch functions as a link, support, and an energetic tool for artistic creation and dance pedagogy.
Videos:
Dance class: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/875439453
Dancing on the wall: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/898706902
Contact on the wall: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/898705179
Laila Umeko : Trapezist, mover, circus artist (2024)
Traveller at heart, Laila was born in South Africa, grew up in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and is currently to be found – at least most of the time – in Brussels, Belgium. After 5 years of circus studies and professional hanging upside down, the winds of the world will be blowing her across Europe, to Dordogne where she’ll gleefully flit around the DADA spreading her trapeze magic. Well versed as a teacher, she is frequently sought after by trapezists and other aerial lovers for her creative style of moving through the air. Her stage work is a fusion of contemporary circus and performance which seeks to question (the world), to challenge (stereotypes), to inspire (joy) and to discover (nothing, anything, everything). Her research is anchored in the body, employing acrobatic movement, aerial dance and other elements to create a unique form of visual poetry. Her distinctive style and signature bright colours make it difficult to miss her in the rainy streets of the city she now calls home.
Julia Torggler (2024)
Julia Torggler was born and raised in Austria where she discovered her passion for dance at an early age.
After training to be a classical ballet dancer she graduated from Freiburger Academy of Dance in Germany. Various contracts and Tours as a show dancer marked the beginning of her career. In 2014 she was first introduced to Aerial Arts and immediately found her new love for this creative art, especially with the Aerial Hoop and Rope.
Julia has performed at various Events and theatres and travelled the world as an aerial artist on cruise ships.
Besides performing as a solo artist she also loves working behind the scenes. Julia worked as Choreographer and artistic director for many Shows and in 2021 released her first own varieté Show – The Vintage Varieté.
Right now Julia is based in Essen, Germany where she is teaching private classes and offering Showproductions for her students to grow into the performing arts business in a healthy and non-judgemental environment.
Julia was always a multidisciplinary artist combining her knowledge of Dance, Aerial Arts and Yoga.
In her classes and Workshops she promotes a healthy and sustainable approach to working with your body aswell as allowing our individual creativity to appear in the art.
DADA tutors 2023
Lindsey Butcher (2023)
Since graduating from London Contemporary in 1984 Lindsey has worked with numerous dance, theatre and opera companies as a dancer, aerialist, teacher, mentor and choreographer.
Dance credits include: Extemporary Dance Theatre, Walker Dance/ Park Music, Darshan Singh Bhuller, Vincent Dance Theatre, and Siobhan Davies Dance Company. Circus credits include: Ra-Ra Zoo, Gandini Juggling Project, The Dream Engine, Scarabeus, Momentary Fusion, Fidget Feet and Upswing to name a few.
As a dance and aerial practitioner she has over 35 years of professional practise and has been creating vertical-dance for almost 20 years. In 2003, (after winning the Jerwood Award for Circus), Lindsey founded the aerial dance company, Gravity & Levity (G&L) to provide a vehicle for her artistic vision.
What drives her work is a passion and curiosity for combining dance and aerial suspension techniques to liberate and intensify the possibilities of each.
Under Lindsey’s direction, G&L have created 3 full length touring aerial dance productions, an outdoor piece and several site-specific commissions and won the Dance for Camera award and are currently touring a re-creation of a piece they made 15 years ago, vertical dance duet Why?. G&L also founded and run the annual European Aerial Dance Festival in August and have just completed their 10th year.
Much of Lindsey’s aerial choreographic work over the last 20 years has been ‘building based’ vertical dance commissions and she teaches master classes in the UK and Internationally in Wales, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Canada, Panama and Brazil.
She is also a founder member of the Vertical Dance Forum, a transnational group whose aim is to disseminate this practice and support the development of the art form.
Aisling ní Cheallaigh (2023)
Aisling is an Irish aerialist homegrown and hand reared by a conglomerate of companies and coaches. She has produced and created two of her own works with fellow performer Ronan Brady, How to Square A Circle and Sub Rosa.
She delights in flight and movement and while she specialises in Aerial Hoop she is also an expert dabbler in Rope, Fabric, Doubles Trapeze, Hand-to-Hand acrobatics and the serious discipline of being hit in the face with a Cyr Wheel.
She has flown far and wide performing with companies and at events all over the world like Edinburgh’s Hogmanay (UK), The Islamic Solidarity Games (Azerbaijan), Montreal Completment Cirque Festival (Canada), Bliss Circus Nights (India) and Zero Gravity Festival (Estonia). She is free range, organic and corn fed.
Laetitia Bodin (2023)
A native from France, where she was a competitive gymnast, Laetitia traveled the world for ten years with Cirque du Soleil, including six years with Quidam as an aerialist. After a one-year break due to the birth of her son, she was eager to go back to the circus scene and was part of the creation of the show Zed (a Cirque du Soleil production based in Japan), with which she stayed for three years as a Bungee/Hammock and Hand-To-Hand artist. While performing in Japan, she met her husband-to-be, Nick, a Seattle-based rigger for Cirque Du Soleil, and followed him back to Seattle after the completion of her contract in September 2010. She worked again for Cirque Du Soleil in 2011 on their Quidam arena tour in a Hand-To-Hand act. After that she was fortunate to find a partner with whom she built a new Hand-To-Hand act and performed regularly in the Seattle area. Later moving to California, she taught circus arts at Circus Center in San Francisco and at Oakland’s Kinetic Arts. In 2016 she moved back to France to give birth to her second son. A year later she started freelancing as a performer and teaching aerial classes in the Dordogne region. She thoroughly enjoys teaching to be able to share her strengths in movement analysis, attention to detail and safety. She feels fortunate to have met so many amazing people with great qualities and skills throughout her career and is grateful that she still continues to do so.
Nick Terstenjak (2023)
Nick began his rigging career back in 2002. Inspired by sport rock climbing he always had an interest in how things worked while climbing around on cliffs and mountains.
In 2002 he worked for Cirque du Soliel in the Big Top show Quidam as a technical show rigger where he was mentored by the experienced rigging staff. Acrobatic rigging was the principle focus for a show rigger. The skills attained in this role became more and more interesting as his experience developed: splicing rope for supporting aerialists, installing anchors and pulleys, rope and cable winch systems, all of which were used to support human loads. The safety and security of what riggers did for the show was of the highest importance.
Nick has had the opportunity to travel and use his skills all over the world. From 2002-2008 he worked on a variety of Cirque du Soliel show.
From 2008- 2010 he worked as Assistant Head Rigger for Cirque du Soliel in Tokyo, Japan on the permanent show Zed. Nick trained the Japanese rigging crew on Cirque du Soliel’s methodology and safety culture for working with all things aerial and suspended.
During intermittent periods, he worked extensively as a sub contract rigging technician for various large-scale productions including arena and stadium rigging for Lady Gaga, Pink Floyd to name a couple.
Nick’s interests drew him towards rope access which he followed with great enthusiasm. As a Supervisor of rope access work, he has worked in many different environments such as wind turbines, bridges, dams, buildings, stadiums, and oil refineries.
In 2016, Nick made the big move to France with his family.
centre de creation teachers
Isabelle Delhon
assistant aerial teacher
Isabelle always loved to practice physical activity and contact with children. After studying in Paris from 1978 to 1982, she obtained a state diploma to teach physical education in schools. Isabelle taught different sports for children from 10 to 15 years old in a few places near Paris. In 1984, she started to teach at Notre-Dame college, Berck (Pas-de-Calais). In 2009, Isabelle relocated to the Dordogne region with her family. She began assisting at the centre de création in 2015.
retreat tutors 2026
Frances Crandon
Frances has had a career in Health and fitness for the last 30 years. The latter part she has focused more on ‘Holistic Therapies’ as the ability to relax is essential for a happy and content life and body!!
Frances love’s motivating and rebalancing via tailor made treatments for all….including massage and combining various techniques to destress and revitalise you.
Using essential oils, Reflexology….Indian head massage…Swedish massage….Sports massage all combined to rejuvenate you
*(If you would like a private 1h massage session, please speak to Frances / this session would be an additional cost).
Lizzie Bath
Lizzie is an artist and printmaker, and work with groups, teaching many creative practices. Lizzie like’s nothing better than being surrounded by people who are making art and discovering new ways to express themselves.
Lizzie believes everyone can do this with encouragement and without judgement! Lizzie also creates natural skincare from plant-based ingredients, and love sharing these recipes.
Lizzie also practices Reiki. Reiki is a complementary health approach in which practitioners place their hands lightly on or just above a person, with the goal of directing energy to help facilitate the person’s own healing response. It’s based on an Eastern belief in an energy that supports the body’s innate or natural healing abilities.
*(If you would like a private 1h Reiki session, please speak to Lizzie / this session would be an additional cost).