Dozenten
Karola Lüttringhaus
Partnering Class: We do everything together, in duet format, starting from our warm-up to across the floor phrases to combinations. We will build our repertoire of lifts from non-physical connections and unison work, via simple weight-sharing, to complex and athletic lifts.
My class is designed to explore inventiveness, originality and spontaneity with a sophisticated and intelligent approach to lifting that practices technical strength and anatomical understanding. This partnering class includes some improvisational and creative exercises but focuses on the mechanics of lifts and on the learning of repertoire.
We will use meaning and story to explain intent and quality of the movement given, thereby facilitating mastery of technical aspects of complicated, multidimensional phrases via internal processes.
Class will be fun and enjoyable, without pressure, fear or stress and with plenty of room for individuality and challenge. I look forward to sharing my movement with you.
Karola Lüttringhaus was born and grew up in Berlin, Germany where she founded ALBAN ELVED DANCE COMPANY/KAROLA LÜTTRINGHAUS in 1997. The company serves as an outlet for most of her artistic endeavors. As its artistic and executive director she has created over 40 original dance theatre works since its inception. Works range from shorter pieces to full evening length productions and from solos to group works of up to 22 participants. (www.albanelved.com)
During her student years at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (B.F.A. in Modern Dance and Choreography in '99) she was a dancer and actress for the Wheel Theatre Company under the direction of Russian actor/director Felix Ivanov (faculty at Juilliard School, NYC).
She worked for various companies, independent choreographers, film and television in the UK and Germany before moving to the US in 1999. She particularly enjoyed and felt honored to have had the opportunity to work with theatre icon Robert Wilson in Weimar, Germany on the production of “TSE – Come In Under The Shadow Of This Red Rock” . 1997 through 1999 she worked as a dancer and choreographer for Benoit Maubrey’s Audio Ballerinas, an experimental dance & technologies company.
As the director of ALBAN ELVED DANCE COMPANY Ms Lüttringhaus has collaborated multiple times with scientists from The Fitzpatrick Center for Photonics and Computer Programming at Duke University, and Wake Forest University's Computer Programming Department, and with independent audio engineer Robert Andrew Turner from Mojo Musical Supply (which led to the design and creation of the Movement to Midi Converter and the piece 'MIDI'). The Movement to Midi converter allows the choreographer to create a sound score live on stage by moving dancers through a light sensor and laser switch grid, which is programmed to provide specific sound and rhythm combinations. Interdisciplinary works include the use of infrared cameras, lasers and light sensors, 3D projections (red/blue and polarized/ full color), fractal computation, live stream, various cameras and projections, surround cameras ('Argus'), a Turing machine, and more. Further collaborations include projects with poets, musicians, composers and visual artists. Ms Lüttringhaus began incorporating aerial equipment into her works over a decade ago to give her pieces another level of expression. This work has earned her the reputation as one of the 12 leading aerial dance companies in the US, although the large majority of her works remains non-aerial.
The company created a custom build 15 foot tall metal structure, and a 14 foot tall red wooden chair that serve as playground for dance and story. Ms Lüttringhaus has performed site specific and aerial works in locations such as off the rock cliffs at Vedauwoo National Park, on fields and museum grounds, off of a pier, on beaches and inner city locations. As part of the American College Dance Festival she created a new work for students at the University of Louisiana at Natchitoches, LA this spring. She enjoyed artist residencies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of Wyoming, the University of Anchorage, Alaska and many others.
At the root of Ms Lüttringhaus’s voice lies a desire to explore the psychology of movement, a deep rooted love for intricate duet partnering, as well as large scale theatrical productions. Her work is fiercely physical, tracing the changeable electricity of thought and sensation that underlies human interaction and interpersonal relationships. The interdisciplinary nature of her works expands the boundaries of dance performance, creating startling and evocative psychological landscapes.
The company has gained a national reputation for an outstanding artistic integrity, solid choreographic work and a desire to delve into the unknown by embracing collaborations with scientists and by involving aerial works and unconventional performance venues into their repertoire. The company was featured on the cover of Dance Spirit Magazine in 2005 with an eight-page article entitled “The Flying Wonder Women of North Carolina”. Another article on Ms Lüttringhaus’ science collaborations and an interview with Ms Lüttringhaus were also published in the Dance Spirit Magazine over the following years. A quote from the Classical Voice North Carolina describes Ms Lüttringhaus’ work as “marked by an unpretentious athleticism and a philosophic quality. … the dances are closely reasoned sequences that exploit the physics of movement for its emotional resonance. Not pretty but often beautiful, Lüttringhaus' dances depend on the proud power and flexibility of the dancers' bodies – and their joint and mutual willingness to risk themselves.”
Ms Lüttringhaus’ repertoire is very diverse; pieces vary in style, content and movement vocabulary as she continually strives to re-invent herself as an artist. Ms Lüttringhaus is the proud recipient of the 2006 North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship.
Ms Lüttringhaus organizes an annual multi-week arts-in-education program with high school students in North Carolina (2010 will be the 8th year) working on the creation and performance of new works while encouraging young women to trust themselves and each other to be physically and emotionally strong individuals. In 2007 and 2008 she successfully presented the SARUS Festival for Performing Arts & Dance in Wilmington and surrounding counties, NC. The festival offered classes, a health fair, lectures, dance film showings, site specific performances at beach and downtown locations, as well as theatre performances of professional artists from New York City, Chicago, North Carolina and Virginia. Under the title of ArteNexus ('art that connects') Ms Lüttringhaus offers lectures, film showings, workshops, classes and performances that seek to connect the arts with social services, choosing topics of humanitarian and social value (i.e. Holocaust, mental Illness, racism, sexism, domestic violence). Ms Lüttringhaus seeks collaborations with organizations and individuals around these topics. For the recently performed 'INERTIA – Remembering the Holocaust' at Salem College in November 2009, she was able to invite Holocaust survivor Margot Lobree to speak to the public, offer a documentary film showing on the German Resistance in Nazi Germany, and organized an art exhibit on the topic featuring professional artists from throughout North Carolina.
ALBAN ELVED DANCE COMPANY/Karola Lüttringhaus was in residence at the University of North Carolina Wilmington for the academic year of '07/'08, followed by a one-year residency through July 2010 at the Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC and is now looking forward to a three-year residency with Salem College, Winston-Salem, NC. Ms. Lüttringhaus is active as a visual and craft artist, showing her large colorful abstract paintings and handcrafted wearable art in the art+life shop of the fluxus museum in Potsdam, Germany. She is a carpenter and builds and paints scenery and sets for her productions as needed. She is a licensed therapeutic massage and bodywork therapist (USA/NC-LMBT #8931) specializing in Orthopaedic Massage.