Manuela Tessi

Manuela Tessi starts studying contemporary dance with Elena Albano, Enzo Procopio and Davide Montagna and classical ballet at Teatro Carcano, Milano.

In 1999 she moves to the Netherlands to study at the Fontys Dansacademie in Tilburg, then she continues and finishes her studies at the Theatreschool in Amsterdam ( Modern Theatre Dance department).

Between 2001 and now she has danced in pieces by Phuong Nguyen, Ingrid Dalmeijer (de Meekers), Valentina Campora, Nicola Hepp, Maria Ines Villasmil, Martine Moulart, Pauline de Groot and Laura Moro.

In 2005 she works with composer Thomas Myrmel and vocalist Anat Spiegel. Together they form the collective Glue and create and present Sea Lawyers and Please come in, Please Wait in the Netherlands at the residency CESTA, in Tabor, CZ.

Her own creations include a dance video Access, Platform, Compartment (2004), There , where some sea birds whose name I didn’t know(2006) a solo that she continues to perform, and Lo Spazio Nudo(2006) a piece that she created for a group of vocalists and dancers. This last work was inspired by a previous research into the relationship between voice and movement, in which the group of vocalists and dancers worked together to find a common language that would fuse movement and voice work. In her movement research she is interested in finding the subtle balance between narrative and abstraction.

In 2006 she starts collaborating with Magpie Music Dance Company, ( since 2007 Magpie Umbrella) an Amsterdam based collective of dancers, musicians and visual artists founded in 1995 by dancer Katie Duck and Michael Schumacher and musicians Mary Oliver and Michael Vatcher a.o.

In 2008 she collaborates with composer George Cremaschi creating Not [exactly] Here, a piece that investigates in the relationship between live and virtual performance.

In 2009, next to Magpie projects in Amsterdam she continues a collaboration with Italian dancer and choreographer Laura Moro. Together they create the duo Swamp in B that they present at Dansateliers Rotterdam. She becomes part of T(H)EMIGRA ensemble, a dance and music ensemble directed by Laura Moro based in Veneto, Italy.

Since 2007 she is regularly part of Wonderland, a project lead by dancer Makiko Ito (member of Magpie). Wonderland is a serie of performances aimed towards children and their parents.

Further she works for Stichting Memo, performing for very young children (0-7) in creches and primary schools.

Next to her activity of dancer Manuela teaches regularly dance technique and improvisation workshops in Amsterdam.

Manuela website