I began to dance at the early age of three in Argentina. As a child, I loved to dance to any and every type of music. I would improvise a stage in my backyard and dance for hours in front of my family. At the age of 18, I moved to Buenos Aires to study dance at the prestigious Teatro Colon and after my graduation, I started working as a professional dancer.

During my professional career as a dancer I had the opportunity to explore diverse dance styles (ballet, contemporary, modern-jazz and tango) and work with different choreographers in several theaters around the world. Every piece that I danced in, no matter which style, as well as each choreographer that I worked with, all contributed to enriching my movement vocabulary, my body awareness and my love for dancing.

I danced professionally for 25 years and I decided to move towards teaching dance. I recently graduated from a Master’s program of Arts in Education (dance teaching) with the Royal Academy of Dance and Bath University of London. The studies opened up a new pedagogical perspective for me and allowed me to connect dance, pedagogy and science. This increased my curiosity in developing dance programs that expand the benefits of dance to professional, vocational and community dance students of all ages.

In 2016 Anneli Chasemore and I met Andrew Greenwood, Switch2Move and his wonderful work with movement classes for dancers with MS, Parkinson and Dementia during the Dance & Creative Wellness Foundation’s Forum hosted by the Het Nationale Opera & Ballet in Amsterdam. The Forum was the first attempt to connect dance professionals working in different dance & wellness programes across Europe. We fell in love with the challenge to create similar classes in Germany and we committed ourselves to develop a group with the necessary skills to pursue this endeavour. Although in July 2018 my professional career as a performer ended, a new exciting door was opened and IntoDance e.V was founded.

Dance has not only been my way of living but an instrument to discover and connect with myself and others, to express my feelings and to share who I am. I am learning every day from my wonderful colleagues and our dancers. Everyone is special and contributes to my personal and professional growing.

I was born in Bogotá and studied dance in Bogotá-Colombia, New York (USA) and Essen (Germany).
I came to Germany in 1997 and worked as a dancer for the "Tanztheater Christine Brunel", the "Folkwang Tanzstudio" (FTS) in Essen and the "Tanztheater Pina Bausch" in Wuppertal, among others.
I still teach contemporary dance in Berlin schools at TanzZeit. I have long been involved in the study and practice of the "Klein Technique" TM (Stretching, Alignment, Placement) together with Hanna Hegenscheidt, Barbara Mahler and Susan Klein.

As a choreographer, I have participated in various youth dance theater productions in Siegen (NRW), Oranienburg and Berlin. From 2014 to 2015 I completed the certificate course "Creating Dance In Arts and Education" at the Universität der Künste/ Berlin Career College and at Tanztangente Berlin. I teach "Biomechanics of Movement" at Tanzfabrik/Berlin. The classes are a fusion of Klein Technique, Perceptive Pedagogy, Fascia Therapy and Dance. In March 2021 I completed the three-year training in "Perceptive Pedagogy / Fascia Therapy" in the "Method Danis Bois"/ MDB. (body, perception, movement and thinking) at the AEMF "Academy for the Development of Human Abilities" in Berlin. In February 2024 I started to study the "Unfold Method" Mind-Movement- Instant composition INTENSIVE PROGAMME with Valentina Bordenave in Berlin. Since 2024 I have been teaching in the team at IntoDance.

I grew up in Argentina, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. I completed dance training at the ARMAR school in Buenos Aires in contemporary dance and composition. In 1996 I came to Germany to study at the Folkwang Hochschule Essen, where I studied stage dance until I completed my bachelor's degree in 1999. Since 2002 I have been living and working as a freelance dancer, performer, choreographer and dance teacher for cultural education in Berlin. I have received several research grants and have performed internationally in various contexts and roles.

Between 2017 and 2021 I completed a training in Perceptive Pedagogy and Fascia Therapy/Method Danis Bois in Berlin. Since January 2023 I have been offering individual fascia work sessions at "Aquariana" in Berlin-Kreuzberg (www.nataliatorales.com). In July 2023 I took over the co-management of the training center for Perceptive Pedagogy/Method Danis Bois "AEMF" in Berlin (www.aemf.info). I have been teaching as a trainer at IntoDance since 2024.
Photograph: René Löffler

I am a freelance dancer and dance teacher.
With a degree in philosophy and training in theater and dance (Mojud Centre and Auroville Theatre School), I moved from Genoa to Berlin in 2011, where I specialized in teaching dance to non-professionals at the UdK. I work as a dance educator in various projects and institutions, including TanzZeit, Tanztangente, Lebenshilfe, Mobile Dance and fabrik Potsdam. I am particularly interested in the topic of diversity in dance in relation to physical, cultural, biographical and age-related aspects. My many years of collaboration with projects such as tanzfähig, the company Pangea and Kuyum Arts are significant in this area.
I love the project Into dance, in which the artistic body expresses itself with great joy and have been working with this project since 2019.

I started studying dance at the age of ten at the Rudolf Nureyev Ballet School in Ufa, Russia. When I was 14, I moved to Milan to study at the Teatro alla Scala Ballet Academy. After completing my studies I accepted a position at the Staatsballett Berlin, where I danced for almost two decades.
Now I enjoy using my experience and knowledge of dance to teach and guide others. It brings me great joy to see people discover and develop their passion for dance.

I started dancing as a small child and never wanted to stop. As soon as I discovered performing, I had found my place. Growing up in New York City, I was privileged to be able to study balet from a young age at the School of American Ballet and I had numerous performing opportunities with their affiliated company, New York City Ballet, dancing at Lincoln Center.

I was lucky to have had, and am forever grateful for, my twenty year-long career as a professional ballet dancer, dancing in several companies in the USA before coming to Berlin in 2004 to join the Staatsballett-Berlin. During my career in Berlin I was promoted to soloist and retired at the end of the 2015-16 season. Since then I have worked for Tanz ist Klasse!, the education and outreach department of Staatsballett-Berlin, where I work regularly with school children developing new work as well as bringing the world of ballet to new audiences. This experience has enabled me to see ballet and dance through new eyes and rediscover the magic of it all.

My perspective on dance was further expanded when learning the methods of Andrew Greenwood and becoming a certified Switch2Move practitioner. Teaching dance to people with Multiple Sclerosis or Parkinson’s has shown me how beneficial and healing dance can be, which led me to become a founder of IntoDance e.V. In April 2017, I began studying for my bachelor’s degree in social work and would love to pursue the ways in which social work and dance can overlap and enhance one another.

I am always delighted to see how people who are very different can meet in dance. In addition to my work as a doctor and psychoanalyst, I have been co-director of tanzfähig, the initiative for more physical diversity in contemporary dance that I founded together with Evelyne Walser-Wohlfarter, since 2011. I organize dance, am involved as a dancer in various pieces and teach contemporary dance and, above all, improvisation. Since I have lived with a disability from an early age as a result of polio, I have acquired my own dance training with lessons from Alito Alessi, Adam Benjamin, Jenny Haack, matanicola, Heini Nukari and others.

Initiative Tanzfähig: www.tanzfaehig.com
Photo: Maximilian Gödicke

Since I can remember, movement has always been a great part of my life. My first attempt was when my mother took me to a ballet School in Cordoba, Argentina, where I was born. Suddenly I disappeared, only for my mother to find me already inside the ballet studio trying my best to move and reach the barre. I realised then that I was about to discover a new world.

The dream of dancing continued. I entered the Colon Theatre Ballet School in Buenos Aires when I was 14 years old. Years later, ballet and life brought me to Germany, where I danced professionally and eventually discovered that teaching was my path.

In 2013 I suffered a severe stroke which forced me to start anew in many ways. I had to use a walker for several weeks, however quitting dance was not an option for me. I was given a new chance and was determined to improve. Busy with my therapies, I noticed that something was missing, so I brought my old stereo to the rehabilitation gym. When no one was there, I slowly started moving to the music again.

It was not easy at the beginning, but I felt encouraged and motivated. I left the rehabilitation within 8 weeks, already enjoying dancing and fully recovered. The following year I finished my pedagogical studies in dance and started teaching again, adults and children.

After my friend took me to a "Switch2Move" workshop for teachers in Berlin, I could not stop crying. I realised, I had already experienced in my own body what music and movement can do to enrich our quality of life. I joined IntoDance hoping to share my professional and personal experience and help people to discover the healing powers of dance.

I began dancing and performing at a young age in the US. The older I got, the more central a role dance started to play in my life. After finishing my Classical Dance Study at Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts in Connecticut, I danced briefly in the US with MOMIX Dance Company before taking a position at Staatsballett Berlin, where I spent the majority of my 20-year professional career.
After performing for over 30 years, my passion for dance has moved from stage to studio. Having completed my teaching studies with the Royal Academy of Dance, I now enjoy teaching dance and the discoveries that are made when we couple our creativity and movement capacity together to express ourselves. There is a special pleasure to be had in exploring our inherent ability to communicate through movement. It is a great privilege to guide and accompany others on their movement journeys.

How I discovered dance:

My interest in telling stories, creating pictures by movement, and the search for new approaches of working with groups led me on a journey from social work, via theatre, to the discovery of dance and what dance can be.

During my Social Work studies I was amazed at how the act of doing theater brought out new sides of my fellow students. Having the desire to bring this experience to a wider community, I started doing internships at various theaters and companies all over Germany to learn how to teach different groups. During this time, I met the great dance project tanzbar_bremen and discovered the world of mixed-abilities dance.

Having the wish to do this work as a professional artist, I enrolled at the mime school Die Etage in Berlin and discovered a theatre where the telling of stories is based on movement and pictures. Besides mime, I was introduced to different dance styles, acrobatics and acting.

Together with a colleague I founded the mime duo Panthea Mime Theatre where we stage and perform our own theatre pieces. Mime, as well as dance, are an essential part of my artistic work. In 2017 my journey led me to IntoDance, where I can continue sharing, searching and experiencing the creation of art within the community.

My dance career has been characterized by childlike wonder, an uninhibited love of movement and joyful creativity, as well as pain and physical alienation.

For me, a successful day now includes the experience of feeling and celebrating what moves us. I want to share this curiosity with as many living beings as possible.

After my studies at the University for Stage Dance (Palucca) in Dresden and Berlin, I had engagements on various stages in Saxony. In Berlin I completed my training as a dance and theater teacher. I teach artistry, dance, choreography, directing and theater.

My focus is on participatory approaches to artistic and educational processes and the synthesis of many areas of art. I pay particular attention to the development of all my students' potential. I have been studying coaching at the University of Applied Sciences for Health and Sport in Berlin since 2019.

Dancing and moving my body has always been a part of my life. From a young age, I started ballet and developed the classes as I got older into contemporary, jazz, hip hop, tap, and musical theatre at a dance school in Cambridge called ‘Bodywork’. There I developed my passion and technique, which evolved into me training professionally with a BA Hons at London Studio Centre, then based in Kings Cross, London.
After graduating I went on to be part of the West End show “Thriller Live” and worked as a professional dancer for 10 years in London, dancing for a variety of well-known artists such as Celine Dion, Florence and the Machine and Kylie Minogue. After writing my dissertation on CandoCo, a disabled dance group based in the UK, it was an honour to perform alongside them at the 2012 Paralympic Closing Games, which inspired my continued appreciation for the many layers that dance has to offer. I danced on a variety of live TV shows and performances around the world, combining contemporary, lyrical, commercial and hip hop styles, nourishing my passion for the art form.
I was motivated to explore different ways of moving the body, and subsequently trained to become a yoga teacher. My journey continued when after attending workshops available in London and Berlin, I became a ‘Switch2Move’ practitioner, offering movement as a therapeutic art form. Alongside my dance career, I offer workshops embodying a “non-linear” movement method, yogic techniques and movement meditation, with various themes and collaborations, to provide a creative and explorative way to express, expand, and release blockages by moving the body.

I am a doctor of neurology and specialize in neurological movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis and dystonia. These diseases are very diverse and almost always chronic. This means that a stable interdisciplinary therapeutic approach is not only recommended but necessary for their optimal treatment.
I am particularly passionate about the vision of making it hip for us to network and deepen our knowledge without advertising, to talk and work with each other in the same language and at eye level. This cooperation could be a strong pillar and lead to a sustainable improvement in therapy and the quality of life of everyone involved.
The Move Neuro e.V. association has been supporting the IntoDance project since 2024. I am delighted to be able to support such a wonderful project as the new project manager.

I am a trained dance and movement therapist and teacher and have been living in Berlin since 2015. I have been working as a professional dancer since 2007 and completed a bachelor's degree in psychology in 2013. After moving to Berlin, I continued my studies in dance movement therapy and completed internships in this field. I have been working as a dance and movement therapist with psychiatric patients since 2021. I also offer expressive movement workshops with a focus on inclusion and body awareness in collaboration with other Berlin associations. Since 2023 I have been working with IntoDance with great pleasure and offer their dance/movement trainings.
You can find more information at: www.mariacristinacanta.com

I have worked internationally as a professional dancer with various choreographers as well as a soloist and performer.
I have lived in Berlin since 1994, where I have choreographed and danced in several performances and performances and completed various further training courses.
Since 2009 I dedicate my knowledge to the dance education of new talents, e.g. in the 'Musik und Kunstschule Schwedt'. I carry out projects in schools and daycare centers (TanzZeit, Kinderkünste Museum, ITZ...) as well as for people with and without disabilities (Tanzfähig, MAD). I lead dance groups and workshops for women over 50 and give seminars at universities on the subject of 'music and movement'.

Whilst celebrating my professional career, my father told of his amazement when I was 9 years old and my profound sentence as a child, that I was “ only happy when I was dancing “. As from this moment on, my family realised that they needed to listen to my dance teacher who said that she could no longer do anything for me! So aged 11, I left home to pursue my dream at a vocational school. At 18, I graduated from the Royal Ballet School, London and joined the Berlin Ballet at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

My stage career spans 30 years and I have been exceedingly fortunate to share both rehearsal spaces and world stages with stars of the dance world, learning from Nureyev, Makarova, Evdokimova, Schaufuss, Béjart and Petit to name but a few. Working with several choreographers, and performing their individual styles, has also enhanced my dance knowledge greatly.

Creative interests have drawn me towards choreographing, organising dance events, designing stage sets and even creating breastfeeding clothing! Whilst still performing, I was part of the initial creation of the education programme for Staatsballett, Berlin, studying project management for schools at the Technical University, Munich and receiving a teaching diploma from the Royal Academy of Dance, London. My own experiences play a key role in my work today, in finding new ways to pass on the joy of dance to all learners of any age, ability and background in various formats and venues.

I got to know IntoDance many years ago. Since then, I have regularly taken part in the dance training sessions. At the beginning of 2023, I became part of the project management team and support the project with my skills as an administrative assistant.