Bio & Texts – Figure a Sea

Choreographer

American Deborah Hay (born 1941 in Brooklyn) has achieved icon status among choreographers. Rooted in 1960s experimental Judson Dance Theatre in New York, she has worked with Merce Cunningham, John Cage and Robert Rauschenberg. Hay examines always the perception of dance and she was one of the first to use everyday movements as part of the work, which became a milestone in dance history. Deborah Hay is part of one of the most radical and influential post-modern art movements. She later came to focus on solo works and has created works for artists including Mikhail Baryshnikov. The choreographer William Forsythe gave Hay an extra boost in her international career after the premiere of the duet she created for herself and Baryshnikov in 2000. During her long career she has been awarded several grants and awards. In the regular collection of Moderna Museet in Stockholm is a film of Merce Cunningham, with Deborah Hay dancing.

Composer

Laurie Anderson (born in 1947 in Glen Ellyn) began her career as a sculptor and performance artist in the late 1960s. Early in her career she worked as an illustrator and art critic. She is a pioneer in electronic music and has written both popular and art music and collaborated with, among others, William Burroughs, Peter Gabriel and Lou Reed. Since 1975, she has recorded seven albums. Anderson plays several instruments, variations of the violin being her main one. O Superman, from 1981 is one of her most famous songs, which also reached as high as second place in the British charts.

Lighting Designer

Minna Tiikkainen (born 1969, Helsinki, FI) started her experiments with light while studying fine arts. Her fascination with the immaterial quality of it led her to enroll in the Theater Academy of Finland, from where she graduated with an MA in Lighting Design. Since moving to Amsterdam early 2000, she has been working mostly within the field of performing arts and contemporary dance both in The Netherlands and abroad. She has also created several set designs as well as lighting designs for exhibitions. Her work is described as strong in its simple minimal approach and is especially appreciated for its significance for the totality of the performance. Her recent work features in production of choreographers including Jefta van Dinther, Mette Ingvartsen, Nicole Beutler, Keren Levi and Kate McIntosh.