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Ása Richardsdóttir
IETM, Belgium
Ása Richardsdóttir joined IETM as secretary general in March 2019 after having been an active member of the network since 1999. She has led a versatile career in the performing arts, culture, academia, banking, politics and media. Her former positions include television reporter at RÚV Iceland, founder of theatre, Kaffileikhusid, executive director of Iceland Dance Company, president of Performing Arts Iceland, director of ICE HOT Reykjavík Nordic Dance Platform, board member of Landsbankinn bank and city councillor. Ása has been active in the development of international opportunities for the Nordic performing arts scene for a number of years as well being active politically in her own country, in particular as a feminist and environmentalist. She is co-author of the guide for artists and producer of It Starts With a Conversation.
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Jo Mangan
Curator and Director, The Performance Corporation, Ireland
Jo Mangan is Director of The Performance Corporation. Recent work for the company includes Emperor 101, (Live/Virtual Reality) presented at Dublin Theatre Festival and at SXSW in Austin Texas, and The Dead (Opera) in Dublin and Kilkenny Arts Festival. Other current and recent directing work includes the Fedora Digital Prize winning VR Opera Out of the Ordinary for Irish National Opera and 72 Hour Lost Weekend and Woman in the Machine (film, live performances and installations). As recent Director/CEO of Carlow Arts Festival, she pioneered Digital work including VR Cinema and a VR Festival Campus. She created the BIG House Festival and was Director of the Bram Stoker Festival (both winners of Best Irish Festival). She has served on many boards, including as Chair of the National Campaign for the Arts. Jo founded the company’s SPACE Programme - Ireland’s longest running multi-disciplinary international artists residency with a current focus on Arts and Immersive Technology.
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Israel Aloni
ILDANCE, Sweden
Israel Aloni is the Artistic Director & Co-Founder of ilDance, which they initiated in 2012 together with Lee Brummer. ilDance, an independent contemporary dance company and organisation, is based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Israel is an independent choreographer, educator, performer, writer and provocateur. Their choreographic work has been commissioned and presented across Sweden and internationally since 2001. They are the developers of The I.Aloni Experience - a movement research and development practice. They are also the architect and coordinator of International Contemporary Dance Collective which in 2018-2020 was co-founded by Creative Europe. Furthermore,Israel is the Artistic Director of COMPASS, a national infrastructure for young and emerging contemporary dance artists across Sweden.
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Katja Sonnemann
Akademie für Performing Arts Producer, Germany
Katja Sonnemann is as a freelance producer, lecturer, consultant and facilitator. She is the initiator and director of the AKADEMIE for Performing Arts Producers of the Bündnis Internationaler Produktionshäuser e.V.. Her previous positions include head of artistic planning at Schaubühne Berlin and Gorki Theater Berlin, head of artistic production at Theater der Welt Festival 2015 in Stuttgart, independent producer with Rimini Protokoll and andcompany&Co. Katja is involved in various national and international networks and is founding member of the German performing arts producers’ network produktionsbande. She delivers workshops and seminars and advises national and international artists and companies in the independent performing arts.
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Virve Sutinen
HAU Hebbel Am Ufer and Tanz im August, Germany
Virve Sutinen is a curator and cultural worker with 30 years of professional experience in arts and culture as artistic director, managing director, producer and editor-in-chief. Specialised in performing arts, dance and questions of international networking and mobility, Virve has held several positions of trust in European and Nordic cultural networks and funding bodies. She has served as the president of IETM, chaired for the Nordic Culture Point’s Mobility and Network Programme, and is a founding member of EDN, European Dancehouse Network, and ICE HOT Nordic Dance Platform. Since 2014, Virve has been the artistic and festival director of Tanz Im August Festival in Berlin, produced by HAU Hebbel am Ufer. Her most recent activities include the initiation of Big Pulse Dance Alliance, multi-annual Culture Europe project of 12 European dance festivals, and membership in the jury of EFA for Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe (EFFE) label.
