It is Christmas, it is dark, but light is coming and it is time to give thanks for the year of 2016. And it has been a amazing year – as I am talking a bit about in the Christmas video I made for you to share my gratitude and love with you. The most amazing part has been spending time with the beautiful group of mentees that I have attracted to be a part of my life this year. 11 smart, vulnerable, prosperous, ambitious women who just rock the performing arts and will give us all wonderfull, thoughtfull performances in the next years to come.

Enjoy and embrace the new year with them
Susanne

Israel Aloni (Israel, Sweden and around the world)
Well he is gender fluid so he counts as a woman here…
I meet Israel at an IETM meeting in November 14, made a strategy developement process for his company ilDance in January 15 – and we have kept close since. I am in the advisory board of the company which is based in Göteborg, Sweden. He is a dancer and choreographer of provocative and investigatory works, and also an innovateur of the whole business of performing arts, doing an amazing amount of new work for no money by collaborating in totally new ways. And he also has a spinning mind and an elaborated thinking, that spins great texts.
Look for more here

Helle Fuglsang (Denmark and around the world)
I have known Helle for many years and we have been traveling in Africa together following our joint passion of new african collaborations into the jungles of Côte D’Ivoire. Helle is an innovative mimer, dancer and choreographer working out of Copenhagen, but mostly living and traveling in the world, where she with her alterego the amazing Wilma turns everything upsite down when she interacts with the local population. Her passion is adressing social issues and she does so with a refined humour and sense of the greatness in the ordinairy.
Follow Wilmas journeys on facebook

Elli Papakonstantinou (mostly Greece, a bit of Malta, and where life takes her)
I meet Elli when IETM was held in Greece some years ago, I visited her very interesting space Vyrsodepseio, saw an exciting presentation of her own show by ODC, and heard this socially engaged young woman talk on one of the main sessions. And I invited her to speak at The Nordic Performing Arts Days in 2014. She came back as one of my first mentees, she is manifesting with the haste and easyness being a light in the world, and she is a born networker taking part in several big EU networks. Her own work is new socially engaged and intriguing musictheatre ready to tour the entire world.
Find ODC here

Lotte Arnsbjerg (Denmark and a bit of NY)
Lotte is a wellknown Danish actress and singer that I used to do projects with more than 20 years ago. She came back into my life this year since we discovered that we have a great many things in common – a big interest of combining performing arts and spirituality, and of using performing arts skills in entrepreneurical ways. She heals, she teaches, she helps CEO perform better – and she works with performance as transformation using her own story of incest in powerfull ways. All this has lead to the new Transformation Festival, which will be held around the world twice a year.
Join the Transformation Festival

Petra Berg Holbek (Sweden, Denmark and Croatia)
Petra and I also have been crossing our ways before, lost contact and now she is back not only with me, but back in business creating lively poetic different performances based on a large scale of research. Working in her own company Aberdabei with creating and directly audiowalks and sitespecific performances – next one on the deportation of jews from Helsinor in Denmark. She is also engaged at several Danish theatres as one of her generations most exciting directors.
Aberdabei website on it way

Eja Due (Denmark with international view)
I meet Eja when I was a producer at Cantabile 2, where she was working with our 1:1 performances. She has continued this investigation and combined it with a strong social research based conceptualization of theatre. Her latest piece Lyst#2 being a lively enactment of prostitution facing a difficult discussion of what the sexworker is. She is looking for partners in EU to adress trafficing to make a bigger network debatting issues connected to this.
Take a glimps at Teater Bæst

Tora Balslev (Denmark)
Tora also comes from the Cantabile 2 univers, where she was educated from and toke part in several performances. Now she is investigating stage art as a cross-over between performance, dance and theatre, focusing on physical transformation, presence and humour. All performances are researchbased on social issues combined with movement. Latest performance Splastic adressing spasticity having a young spastic women dancing.
Follow Daily Fiction

Lee Brummer (UK, Israel, Sweden and Australia)
Lee is the artistic partner of Israel Aloni in ilDance and are developing their projects together. She is herself an eminent dancer and teacher.
Look fore more here

Lene Kreilgaard (Denmark)
Lene is performer, dancer and choreographer specialized in butoh forms – but a very strong performer in all genres with great stage presence. On the way to develope her work on new ways.
Check her here

Ditte Laumann (Denmark)
Ditte is also educated at Cantabile 2, but have moved into creating performances for children. She writes and conceptualized as well as being a great actress. She has her own company called Vild Kammerat (Wild Friend).
Visit the wild friend

Ellen Kilsgaard (Denmark)
Ellen is a dancer, choreographer, teacher and researcher educated at School for New Dance Development in the Nederlands. She has specialized in dance improvisation for and with kids having great succes in workshops processes in the school system.
Dans along here