Jury
Programme Jury internationale tanzmesse nrw
Julia Asperska, Dan Daw, Natacha Melo and Quito Tembe are the current Associate Curators of the internationale tanzmesse nrw. Together with the co-directors they form the jury in order to select the performance programme and to co-curate the Talk & Connect section. The Associate Curators seek to broaden the network of the internationale tanzmesse nrw by engaging in a dialogue with artists, dance professionals, funding bodies and policy makers to gather a broad range of voices from the sector. Furthermore, they consult the co-directors on topics and values the internationale tanzmesse nrw should aspire to include in its future programmation.
Julia Asperska (Posen / PL)
Julia Asperska – art & culture manager, context curator, networker and organizer. Julia holds a Master in Ethnolinguistics from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (2006) and attended a postgraduate course on art history and curation at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (2013). Her passion for performing arts began with an internship at Brisbane Powerhouse, Australia (2008). Afterwards she worked in Teatr Dramatyczny in Warsaw and Warszawa Centralna Festival (2010). For 10 years she has been working in the field of international distribution for management companies such as Key Performance and Something Great. For 2 years (2020 – 2022) she managed a project of Somthing Great Collection – an initiative dedicated to performing arts conservation, research and presentation. Julia is currently collaborating with choreographer Tamara Cubas and her organization Campo Abierto in Uruguay as artistic advisor, curator and manager of international relations.
Dan Daw (Manchester / UK)
Dan is the Artistic Director/CEO of Dan Daw Creative Projects. Dan Daw Creative Projects is a disabled-led company that works collaboratively with a growing network of companies and artists to develop and tour new performance work that blurs the divide between theatre and dance.
Dan began working as a performer with Restless Dance Theatre in 2002, and since then he has gone on to work with Australian Dance Theatre (AUS), Force Majeure (AUS), FRONTLINEdance (UK), Scottish Dance Theatre (UK), balletLORENT (UK), Candoco Dance Company (UK) and Skånes Dansteater (SWE). Dan has been a part of the National Theatre Step Change programme (2012), Dance UK’s Mentor Bursary (2013), Sadler’s Wells Summer University (2015 – 2018) and Belgrade Theatre’s Agent for Change (2018), furthermore evidencing his ambitions as disabled artist to impact and lead the conversation on dance and disability. Currently, Dan Daw and Kampnagel are working on a promising model project that develops new forms of institutional self-reflection and artistic collaboration. The project is part of PIK – Inclusive Art Practice Programme by Kulturstiftung des Bundes.
Natacha Melo (Montevideo / UY)
Natacha Melo - artist, curator and cultural manager. With training in dance and performing arts disciplines, she has oriented her work to the cross fields of art and social organization, promoting collaborative projects such as the South American Dance Network, the Ibero-American Dance Platform (PID) and the National Dance Plan of Uruguay. She has organized meetings of researchers, managers and artists in several regional countries, facilitating and designing training and articulation processes for the sector. As a curator, she has collaborated with programmes, festivals and meetings such as Linha de Fuga (Portugal), FIDAE (Uruguay), Mentor-Protegé de Rolex (Switzerland), IPAM (Barcelona), Southern Exposure (USA) and Conexions Danza (Iberescena-PID), as well as calls from the Ministry of Culture of Uruguay, Colombia and Ecuador. Currently, and with the aim of forming collaborative training spaces, she is part of a group that has been mapping, publishing and investigating the state of
management in the Ibero-American living arts.
Quito Tembe (Maputo / MZ)
Quito Tembe has a degree in management and cultural studies. He started his career as a dancer and theatre actor, but has also worked in set and lighting design for international films as well as dance and performance productions. As a cultural manager, Quito created one of the largest street festivals, Aldeia Cultural, as well as the contemporary art project Tridisciplinary. He is also the artistic director of the international platform for contemporary dance KINANI. He is currently involved in the development of artistic tours on the African continent and, on a national level, in the collaboration between platforms and festivals through the Othàma platform. Furthermore, Quito Tembe is co-curator of the festival Festival Afro-Vibes 2021 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and a member artistic director of the festival Danse l'Afrique Dance 2021 in Marrakech, Morocco. In November 2023, KINANI will host the Biennale de la Danse en Afrique.