Brief biographies of the Federal Dance Jury members

Chair: Béatrice Goetz (born 1959) is a sports scientist and dancer who studied at the University of Basel and “Dance experience”. After completing her training she danced for the MAJA LEX group in Cologne and in the Cathy Sharp dance ensemble in Basel. Since 2002 she has headed miR Compagnie, with which she won a Current Dance Works award in 2015 for “bits C 128Hz”. She lectures in dance and gymnastics in the University of Basel’s Department of Sport, Exercise and Health and works as a freelance choreographer. Béatrice Goetz heads the dance play club at the Theater Basel, which gives children and young people a chance to become actively involved in dance. In 2008 she choreographed the opening and closing ceremonies for the European Football Championship in Switzerland.

Winston Ricardo Arnon (b. 1984) is a freelance dancer, choreographer, educator and creative director. Winston Arnon was born in Suriname. He studied business and then completed a BA in contemporary dance, jazz and musical at the Amsterdam University of the Arts, before receiving a scholarship to attend the Alvin Ailey School in New York. He danced with Conny Janssen Danst in Rotterdam from 2009 to 2013, and from the 2013/14 season to summer 2020 was a solo dancer in the Bern Ballett ensemble under dance director Estefania Miranda, performing in works by, among others, Nanine Linning (Swiss Dance Award 2015 with “Requiem”); he also created pieces of his own during that period.

Marco Cantalupo (born 1961) runs Compagnie Linga along with Katarzyna Gdaniec. Marco Cantalupo was born in Genoa. After briefly studying circus he enrolled in the La Scala ballet school in Milan and received his dance diploma from the Staatsoper in Hamburg. He danced in a number of ballet ensembles, including the National Ballet of Portugal, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Stadttheater Bern, and finally the Béjart Ballet in Lausanne. From 1989 onwards he began choreographing for various independent companies in Italy. Compagnie Linga has been resident at the Octogone, Théâtre de Pully, since 1993. The company’s piece “Flow” won a Swiss Dance Award in the Current Dance Works category in 2019.

Gabriel Schenker (b. 1983) is a dancer. He heads the BA in Contemporary Dance at the Manufacture in Lausanne, along with Thomas Hauert. Gabriel Schenker was born in Washington D.C. in the US, grew up in Brazil, and has lived in Brussels since 2004. After gaining initial dance experience in Rio de Janeiro, he studied at P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels and co-founded the Busy Rocks collective, with which he toured as a dancer and choreographer until 2014. As a performer, he has worked with Eleanor Bauer, Robin Jonsson, Doris Stelzer, Louise Vanneste, Alexandra Bachzetsis, and in particular, on a regular basis, with Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s group Rosas and Thomas Hauert/ZOO. He also holds MAs in philosophy and anthropology.

Nunzia Tirelli (born 1958) Analyst of Movement CMA issued by LIMS, New York, is a trained choreologist (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance/London) and dance therapist (Art Therapy Italiana/Bologna) who previously worked as a dancer and actor in various ensembles. She is closely involved in projects teaching dance and theatre at primary and secondary schools in Italian-speaking Switzerland. Since 2002 she has been researching and working on Rudolf Laban and organising the Laban Events on Monte Verità. In 2014 she received a Dance as Cultural Heritage award for her reconstruction of Rudolf Laban’s dance works “Der Trommelstock tanzt” and “Istars Höllenfahrt”.

Simone Toendury (b. 1972) is jointly responsible for the performing arts programme at the La Bâtie festival in Geneva, along with Claude Ratzé. From 2014 to 2021 she was head of programming and production director for the performing arts, street arts, performance and installations at the Festival de la Cité in Lausanne. Simone Toendury was born in Bern and completed a BA in political science at the University of Lausanne. Her first involvement in culture came in 1998 as part of Expo.02. In 2007 she co-founded Tutu Production, a production and distribution agency for the performing arts that supports artists including Cindy Van Acker, Marco Berrettini and Massimo Furlan.

Mark Wuest (born 1961) trained as a dancer and now lectures in dance and body work on the BA and MA courses in contemporary dance at the Zurich University of the Arts and the Höhere Fachschule für zeitgenössischen und urbanen Tanz in Zurich, where he was involved in constructing the programme. Mark Wuest comes originally from the USA. He was a competitive swimmer and obtained a BA in dance from the University of Iowa. After further training he danced with, among others, the Kansas City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet in New York, the ballet of the Grand Théâtre de Genève and the Zurich Ballet. He has worked as a choreographer for ballet, contemporary dance, opera and musicals and is currently a member of the City of Zurich Dance Commission.

Last modification 26.01.2022

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