Dyane Neiman
... was born in Philadelphia, USA. In 1988, she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Hunter College, City University of New York. In addition, she studied at the Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, Erick Hawkins schools, and post-modern techniques with Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, and David Gordon, among others. With an invitation to teach, she moved to Germany in 1992. Her 1996 solo, "pistol" was a surprise success at the Theaterzwang Festival in Dortmund. The jury wrote: "Sign of the times: fear, violence, isolation. Through artistic virtuosity, she molds them together into a physically-experienced event of impressive strength." She became a steady guest of Theaterzwang, which takes place biannually. At the following festivals she won another three consecutive awards and with "Chicken Fodder and other fine stories" (1998), as dancer and co-choreographer in Silke Z's "fractured" (2000) and for her solo "GoGo Dancing" (2002).In 1998 she received a Choreography stipend from the German Foundation for Art and Culture. Commissioned by Meeting Neuer Tanz Festival in 1999, she created "The Rise and Fall of Semper Augustus" in collaboration with dancer/actress Adriana Kocijan.
In 2001 she created the solo "GoGo Dancing" and her first evening-length group work "Naked Ape - a zoo of strangers" was co-produced by the Tanzbühne Dresden for the International Dance Week Dresden. In November 2001 her performance installation "Squished - an exhibition of strangers" premiered in Museum Ludwig, Cologne.
In May she premiered her first dance film production in collaboration with film maker Tom Meyer "Don't forget" within the PACT Zollverein "Atelier May".
Presently she is working on a new stage production "Nightfeeding" (working title) during her residence at PACT Zollverein which will premiere in September 2003 in Bonn, Theater im Ballsaal.
She has worked with Nigel Charnock (choreographer), Rolf Dennemann (director), Thomas Linden (author), Ingo Reinhardt (visual artist), René Laloire (philosopher) among others who have influenced her work.
Dyane Neiman about her work:
"What moves me is the urge to speak. Not finding the words, I dance. Bored with babbling, I choreograph. Out of insatiable curiosity, I experiment. Possessed by personal and social themes, I look for answers. The answers are those movements, pictures, and stories that get you in the gut - and you don't know why. I try to compose the body, aware of its sensuous and sexual qualities, into a physical poem. I wait and wait, giving the body time and space to reveal its own stored-up histories. I try to offer the audience a feast of associative pictures. It's up to them to digest, vomit, or regurgitate it. I like to work with artists who provoke me and dancers who give me goose bumps just by standing still. I like to use humour as a sneaky way into people's souls."
In 2001 she created the solo "GoGo Dancing" and her first evening-length group work "Naked Ape - a zoo of strangers" was co-produced by the Tanzbühne Dresden for the International Dance Week Dresden. In November 2001 her performance installation "Squished - an exhibition of strangers" premiered in Museum Ludwig, Cologne.
In May she premiered her first dance film production in collaboration with film maker Tom Meyer "Don't forget" within the PACT Zollverein "Atelier May".
Presently she is working on a new stage production "Nightfeeding" (working title) during her residence at PACT Zollverein which will premiere in September 2003 in Bonn, Theater im Ballsaal.
She has worked with Nigel Charnock (choreographer), Rolf Dennemann (director), Thomas Linden (author), Ingo Reinhardt (visual artist), René Laloire (philosopher) among others who have influenced her work.
Dyane Neiman about her work:
"What moves me is the urge to speak. Not finding the words, I dance. Bored with babbling, I choreograph. Out of insatiable curiosity, I experiment. Possessed by personal and social themes, I look for answers. The answers are those movements, pictures, and stories that get you in the gut - and you don't know why. I try to compose the body, aware of its sensuous and sexual qualities, into a physical poem. I wait and wait, giving the body time and space to reveal its own stored-up histories. I try to offer the audience a feast of associative pictures. It's up to them to digest, vomit, or regurgitate it. I like to work with artists who provoke me and dancers who give me goose bumps just by standing still. I like to use humour as a sneaky way into people's souls."