Kim Baraka is a dance artist and scientist from Beirut, Lebanon, currently based in Amsterdam. Coming from a neo-classical dance background with the Beirut Dance Company, he subsequently develops a strong interest in improvisational dance methods, which he researches and teaches internationally. In his scientific career, he is an assistant professor in Social Artificial Intelligence at the Vrije Universiteit where he develops novel algorithms for rich interactions between people and robots.

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About Kim's method: Discovery through Movement (DtM)

Discovery through Movement (DtM) treats movement expression and research as a discovery process. Participants are encouraged, through a series of semi-structured exercises, to connect to themselves, the space around them, and others. From there on begins a process of personal and collective discovery, including one's own relationship to their environment, acknowledging one's own patterns and how to accept or break away from them, and building one's own journey driven by curiosity. DtM integrates concepts from contemporary dance techniques, somatic practices, yoga, and qigong, among others. It is, by design, accessible to all bodies and all abilities.

More info on www.kimbaraka.com

GN|MC Guy Nader | Maria Campos is an independent ensemble based in Barcelona, Spain. The Lebanese and Spanish artists collaborate together since 2006. Their works have been shown in various festivals and venues around the world. GN|MC have been invited as guest choreographers to create for different companies such as Tanzmainz company in Germany, XieXin Dance Theatre in Shanghai in China, EnKnapGroup in Slovenia and Eva Duda Dance Company/Movein Mission in Hungary. GN|MC was awarded the German theatre prize DER FAUST 2017 for their work FALL SEVEN TIMES created with Tanzmainz, Staatstheater Mainz and Tanztheather Braunschweig in Germany and GN|MC received the prestigious Prize City of Barcelona 2019.
Guy Nader graduated from Institute National des Beaux Arts at the Lebanese University in Beirut (BA in Drama). He received the danceWEB Europe scholarship in 2012 and he was awarded the first prize in Masdanza International Festival in 2010 for his solo Where The Things Hide. He is associated artist in La Caldera, Barcelona.
Maria Campos studied at SEAD in Austria and in The Netherlands where she graduated from the Amsterdam School of the Arts (MTD) in 2003. She has worked with Meekers, Protein Dance, Sol Picó, Angels Margarit/Cia. Mudances, among others.

Emmanuelle Gerin is a professional dancer , massage therapist and somatic practitioner. She holds a bachelor's degree in dance interpretation from UQAM (2013, Montreal) and a somatic educator certificate in Body-Mind Centering® (BMC) since 2021. Her dance journey revealed a particular affinity with somatic approaches, particularly in BMC®  and Authentic Movement.  She trained in countries across Europe (England, Germany, Italy, Spain and France) where she also danced with the Elans du Vide collective in outdoor "somatic" performances. She was involved with the French BMC® association between 2018 and 2022. 

Contact improvisation takes on a special place in her life since the creation of the Hélix contact association in her city (Lyon, France), where she co-teaches Contemplative Dance Practices between 2018 and 2020 and participates in numerous internships and laboratories. She is currently back in Montreal to pursue a master's degree in somatic practices, where she shares these different approaches, deeply nourished and amazed by the intertwining of these disciplines: contact improvisation, Body-Mind Centering® and Authentic Movement.

Tsharly Prince (1991) is a Lebanese dance & performance artist. 

His interests are rooted in the intersection of the political and the poetic body, and the many profound resonances this may create. 

His trandisciplinary choreographic work, collaborations and installations have been presented in several major festivals and theatres– including SPRING Festival (NL), Dansmakers Amsterdam (NL), Impulstanz (AU) Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis (FR), Vancouver International Dance Festival (CA), Oktoberdans (NO), Tangente (CA), Fabbrica Europa (IT), and BIPOD (LB). 

He has collaborated among others with artists such as Benoit Lachambre, Olivia Tapiero, Andrea Peña and Omar Rajeh.

Tsharly also holds a Bachelor of Music from McGill University, and continues to nourish his practice through the study of sound and composition.

His artistic work and research was supported by the European Commission for Culture from 2017-2020.

In 2018, he received the Boghossian Foundation Prize for Dance and Performance awarded by Villa Empain in Brussels.

www.charlie-prince.info

Nivine Kallas is a multi-disciplinary artist actrice and choreographer experienced in performing arts, holding a degree in drama from the Lebanese University of Fine Arts. A certified practitioner of PSA from Oriantheatre and a Wushu gun martial artist, Nivine has trained in a variety of techniques with multiple choreographers and She has also collaborated with local and international artists since 2009.
Her most recent creation is Tarantism .
 

Mathi(lde) Loslier Pellerin is a Somatic artist in living art who questions the various postures of bodily engagement in their relationships to tangible and imagined spaces. Graduated from the contemporary dance creation program at Concordia University, they navigate today through dance, Continuum, (eco)somatics, writing, facilitation, Thai massage and performance to find in the experience of the body a deep engagement with the world around them. They are currently pursuing a Master in dance studies at UQAM, where they explores attention to sensation as a tool for activism. 

Elissa Mansour is a medical student, a dance enthusiast and performer.

Training regularly since 2013 at the Art & Movement Studio, she enrolled in a classical ballet examination program under the supervision of Alice Massabki and Elisabeth Schwartz, as well as a contemporary dance training with Corinne Skaff. She is a member of  La Compagnie Éphémère and performed in the dance film "While We Weave" (2015), and in live performances such as "Al(l)one"(2018) and "Soon I will disappear"(2020).

She has participated in various contemporary dance and contact improvisation intensives, camps and workshops with local and international artists such as Corinne Skaff, Jens Bjerregaard, Mal Pelo, and Lucia Carbone.

She has recently discovered a new pleasure in transmitting movement and dance through the “children art teaching program” at Ayadina Association.

Chiara Khatounian is a social worker. She has been practicing contemporary dance since 2015. A core member of La compagnie Éphémère, she performed in "Al(l)one" (2018) and "Soon I will disappear" (2020) and has been involved in the production of many of L'atelierCor activities since 2018. Her movement practice includes also Hatha yoga, theatre and drama therapy with choreographers, pedagogues and practitioners such as Corinne Skaff, Pascale Abtour, Carla Moukarzel, Patricia Nammour, Caline Bernoty, Zeina Daccache, Sally Bailey, Armand Volkas, Jens Bjerregaard and Lucia Carbone among others.

Chiara has a B.A. and a master's degree in social work and a B.A. in psychology.

Combining her personal and professional backgrounds, she experienced the body as a powerful tool that can express one's deepest feelings and thoughts. We are the container and the content at the same time, so why not take care of both, body and mind!

Nisrine is a multifaceted artist. She juggles between mediation and conflict resolution, literature, psychology, mentoring in creative writing, and support in personal development. 

To meet her needs for art and interaction, she founded Les Ateliers Cal'âme in 2016, a space that offers various personal development activities, using several artistic mediums (writing, role playing, clay modelling, etc.). The workshops can be tailored to answer the needs of individuals as well as corporates. 

Her love for processes and experimentation pushes her to explore the linkage between the mind and the body, a constant journey to self-discovery, or rather, self-revelation.

Corinne Skaff is a Lebanese dance artist , pedagogue & community organizer.

She is the host teacher for S.o.M.A 2023.

She approaches dance as a vital practice of self-embodiment rather than an entertainment proposition. In constant search for dances that make sense in the cultural and personal context, her movement and teaching practices are inspired by Contact Improvisation, contemporary movement practices, physical theater, dance science and ecosomatic principles. As a pedagogue, she is inspired by the state of continuous learning through play, and all that is ephemeral. She is interested in the strategies and politics of transmission, as well as the creation of community bonds through movement practices. 

She is currently based in Montreal where she is pursuing her Masters in Dance and Somatic Education, and works as co-artistic director of the Toronto-based dance company Jasad, to serve a broader generation of Arab talents from across the Atlantic Ocean.