Fa-Hsuan Chen (Performing with CocoonDance since 2012 and working in costume design since 2018) was born in Taiwan. After completing her studies at the Tainan Women’s College of Arts &Technology, she pursued further education at the Folkwang University in Essen from 2001 to 2004. Following her graduation, she has worked as a dancer and costume designer with various choreographers and dance companies across North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and Switzerland. she has performed with Morgan Nardi/ Ludica (Düsseldorf), Double C (Wuppertal), DIN A13/Gerda König (Cologne), Angie Hiesl (Co-logne), and Irina Lorez (Switzerland), among others. From 2004 to 2012 she worked with the Ben J. Rie-pe Company(Düsseldorf) and had engagements at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf/Duisburg). She designed costumes for Overhead project “Blueprint”. She has also been collaborating with the Junior Company Bonn – They Might Be Giants since 2012.


Cristina Commisso ... (Performing with CocoonDance since 2020) grew up in Sydney, Australia – started her collaboration as a performer with CocoonDance in 2020- . She studied at National College of Dance in Newcastle and then in New York, US, where she also had her first engagement with Ballet Hispánico. Later finding her home in Europe, she was involved with various companies: Theater Osnabrück, Stadttheaters Bremerhaven and Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. As a freelancer she has been engaged with Of Curious Nature and CocoonDance who she has collaborated and toured with for multiple projects since 2020. Cristina

has worked with various choreographers like Edward Clug, Jiri Pokorny, Ed Wubbe, Marco Goecke, Rafaële Giovanola, Geoffrey Holder, William Whitener. She also creates her own works, her recent works a solo with title “She”, “opened her clenched fist” and “fell into the midst of every-thing” was also developed into a short film and was presented as part of the Lens Dans Festival in Brussels. 



Martina De Dominicis (performing with CocoonDance since 2016), born in Pesca-ra, started in early age training ballet technique in Pescara and later in Rome.

In 2008 Has joined the Junior Balletto di Toscana Company (Florence) for professional dance education and as dancer of the ensemble. From 2010 she started collaborating for Balletto di Milano, touring neoclassical pieces in Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Russia. Then she danced as soloist for two seasons in the Oper Graz Tanzcompagnie, where in 2014 she choreographed a short piece (“Next?”) for the company and later was invited to join the new dance company of Stadttheater Pforzheim. Among other choreogra-phers she worked with James Cousins, Tillman O’ Donnell, Darrel Toulon, Mauro Bigonzetti, Guido Sarli, Katrin Hall. Ultimately, she is busy in creating her own work, leading a physical coaching for MAA Kul-turverein in Vienna and also did her master's

degree in dance sciences at Linz (Bruckner University).


Margaux Dorsaz (performing with CocoonDance since 2022), originally from the Valais region of Swit-zerland, has been interested in the art of movement since she was a child. She began her pre-professional training at the Conservatoire Cantonal du Valais. Margaux's passion for dance led her to continue her training

as an interpreter at the School of Contemporary Dance in Montreal, Canada.

During her artistic training, she worked with a number of established and emerging choreographers, includ-ing Helder Seabra, Sita Ostheimer, Marie Chouinard, Sam Coren, Alan Lake, Parts + Labour_Danse... Enriched by her transatlantic experience, Margaux decided to continue her career in Europe. She is currently

a member of several companies in Switzerland, dancing in particular for Laure Dupont, ADN Dialect and Igokat. She made her debut on the French scene with Natacha Balet's company Tournicotti and with Fouad Boussouf, director of the Centre Chorégraphique National du Havre Normandie. She has recently shared the German stage with CocoonDance and la Cooperativa Maura Morales.




Born in Zürich (Switzerland), Jenna Hendry (performing with CocoonDance since 2022) studied dance at Steps on Broadway in New York City and at Codarts Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Rotterdam. Since 2015, she has been working as a freelance dancer collaborating with choreographers and companies such as CocoonDance, bollwerk, Philipp Egli, Irina Lorez & Co, compagnie o., OONA project, Natalie Wagner and Damotus! Jenna, who also creates her own work, premiered her short piece “Mmmh?!” 2018 at Inkubator and the piece was selected for Tanzfaktor 2020, a tour for promising up-and-coming artists. In addition, “Mmmh?!” was selected for Aerowave’s 40 Winks 2020. 2019 she premiered “IUMI”, a collaboration with the Swedish artist Matilda Bilberg. “IUMI” was touring nationally and internationally and was part of the Aerowaves Twenty 21 selection.  In 2020 Jenna received a cultural award in the section dance by the city of Zurich.

Together with the choreographers Matilda Bilberg, Nerea Gurrutxaga and Maria Teresa Tanzarella she founded the collective UTOPISISTAS in 2018, which premiered their first collaborative piece at Tanzhaus Zürich (2021). Since 2021 Jenna is part of Bewegsungsraum, a group of cultural workers that lead weekly movement meetings at the Federal Asylum Center Zurich. 


Clémentine Herveux (performing with CocoonDance since 2021) born in Metz (FR), studied at the Central School of Ballet in London. She worked as a dancer from 2008 to 2019 with different com-panies like the Hessisches Staatsballett, Landesbühnen Sachsen, Tanzkompanie Giessen, and Ballet Theater Hagen, creating and dancing repertoire from choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Damien Jalet, Hofesh Shechter, Sita Ostheimer, Jeroen Verbruggen, Alexander Ekman and others. Since then, she is a freelance artist, collaborating with different collectives, CocoonDance Company with Rafaele Giovanola, Socompany with Sita Ostheimer, Liliana Barros, Jeroen Verbruggen, IVONA Company with Pablo Girolami, Snorkel Rabbit with Alba Castillo and Bryan Arias, and Gustavo Gomes. 


Marin Lemic (performing with CocoonDance since 2019) was born in Zadar.

At the end of 2008, he enrolled at the dance academy in Amsterdam (Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten- de Theater-school) in the Netherlands. In 2011 he graduated on the modern theater department (MTD) in Amster-dam, Netherlands. From 2012 to 2016, he worked at the state national theaters in Oldenburg and Mainz (Staatstheater Oldenburg and Staatstheater Mainz) in Germany as part of a contemporary dance com-pany where he works

with various choreographers like Ann Van den Broek, Sharon Eyal, Club Guy and Roni, Alessandra Corti, Felix Berner, Sungyop Hong. He is working as a performer and author on various dance projects in Croatia and abroad with choreographers such as Matija Ferlin, Adrienn Hod, Zrinka Lukčec-Kiko, Marjana Krajač, Jasna Čizmek-Tarbuk, Michael Langeneckert, Cocoon Dance. In 2019, the author's project "Transformers", which he creates together with dance artist Ida Jolić receives two awards from professional associations of contemporary dance of Republic Croatia for the 2018/2019 season: Best choreography (Ida Jolić and Marin Lemić). Best individual performance (Ida Jolić) In 2020, he received the Croatian Acting Award for the best male achievement in the play "Transformers", which was also nominated for the best choreographic achievement. In 2021 he creates his first whole evening solo piece “Bi-Polar B(e)ar/e”.  In 2022 together with Ida Jolić he creates the last part of trilogy “Transformers 3”.


Colas Lucot (performing with CocoonDance since 2020), born in Besançon (FR), studied ballet and contemporary dance in France in the CNSMD of Lyon. After his studies, he joined the CCN Nantes, directed by Claude Brumachon for a short time before being part of the company of Angelin Preljocaj in Aix-en-Provence. In 2010, he moved to Brussels and began to work with David Hernandez. Since then, he has been collaborating with David for several creations inside and outside the company as a dancer and as a choreographic assistant, in companies and schools such as Skanes Dance Theater, Zagreb dance company, Staatstheater Trier - Susanne Linke, PARTS, DOCH, Folkwang … . In 2012, Colas worked with Akram Khan and took part of the opening ceremony of the Olympic games in Lon-don.  Since 2013, Colas has been involved in several dance projects, with choreographers such as Theo Clinkard (England), Renate Graziadei (Germany), Stephanie Thiersch (Germany) , Sine Qua Non Art Company, Christophe Béranger and Jonathan Pranlas-Descours (France), Zagreb Dance Company (Croatia). Colas is also a certified Yoga teacher and has been teaching since 2019. In 2020, he joined Cocoon Dance company for the creation of “Standard”.


Franco Mento (Music, DJing) first started experimenting on the turntables at the tender age of 13. In 1998 he founded the collective “Tribal Zone – Electronik Swiss Kolletif”. In the beginning of 1999 he brought out his first maxi on vinyl on his own label “Tribal Zone” and made his first live performance. From 2000 -2004 Franco performed at numerous festivals and clubs throughout Switzerland. During this time he created music for three short films, brought out two new Cds for his own label and started collaborating in the studio with artists such as; Vincent Zanetti, Fabrice Lig, Pascal Rinaldi, the girls from La BlablaTek & Phil Parnell. In 2006 he founded Printemps Digital, the collective and record shop in his home town.

 

Solo on stage, Franco Mento improvises his live act using everyday objects for direct sound sampling as well as organic sounds and binds them with powerful, broken, upbeat rhythms, deep pulsating baselines and clicks ‘n cuts, which result in an uncommon, yet groovy style. He has many projects cooking and plays live and improvises with many acclaimed artists such as Yannick Barman (with whom he formed the Live act F::R::Y::K), Vincent Zanetti, Jean Phillipe Zwahlen, Yves Messy, Laurent Bruttin, Cyril Regamey, Laurent Waeber, KiKu, Eugène Kovax, Malcolm Braf just to name a few. He has toured countries such as France, Belgium, Poland, China, Africa, Kazakhstan, and Kyrghistan. 

www.francomento.net


Bojana Mitrovic (performing with CocoonDance since 2022) born in Belgrade, Serbia, received her education at the University of Ballet in the Contemporary Department. She graduated from the Amster-damse Hogeschool de Kunsten in 2012.  Previously, she was part of the Serbian national dance sport team for four years, as well as the national folklore ensemble. In the 2011/12 season she was engaged with Club Guy and Roni, where she appeared in Mirage, Midnight Rising, Romeo and Juliet and The Soldier's Tale. At the beginning of the 2013/14 season, she became a permanent member of the Tanzcompagnie Oldenburg. Following Honne Dormann she moved to the Staatstheater Mainz in 2014, where the tanzmainz company was established. During eight successful seasons in the tanzmainz company she was in works  from Danièle Desnoyers, José Navas, Sharon Eyal &Gai Behar, Guy Weiz-man & Roni Haver, Garry Stewart, Koen Augustijnen, Taneli Törmä, Giuseppe Spota, Pierre Rigal, Adrienn Hód, Rafaële Giovanola and many others. 



Nora Monsecour (performing with CocoonDance since 2023) started dancing at the age of 9 at the Royal Ballet School in Antwerp. Before completing her training in 2018 at the Nothern School of Con-temporary Dance in Leeds (UK), she studied at MUDA, School of Contemporary Dance in Belgium. During her training, Nora worked with the Royal Ballet of Flanders and with various artists such as Gary Clarke, Francesco Scavetta and Avatâra Ayuso. In 2017, she reached the final of the BBC Young Dancer television show in the contemporary dance category. In the 2018/19 season, she joined the tanzmainz ensemble as an apprentice. She has been a permanent member of tanzmainz since the 2019/2020 sea-son.



Léonce Konan Noah (performing with CocoonDance since 2018), Ivorian with Cameroonian roots, ini-tially trained as a self-taught choreographer and performer. Before co-founding his own production structure under the label Cie Yé Fihmoa and joining Donko Seko, a choreographic centre in the Malian capital Bamako and the contemporary company of the same name led by the internationally active cho-reographer Kettly Noël, he first worked in various traditional dance ensembles.

He has been invited to perform in Port-au-Prince, Bonn and Berlin and has held residencies in Bamako (Mali) and Rome. In his own works, he mainly exaggerates themes of everyday life, personal experiences that penetrate him and drive him to movement. He holds a master's degree in contemporary dance from the National Cen-tre of Choreography (CCN) and the International Institute of Choreography (ICI) 2022 in Montpellier (F). Léonce is connected to CocoonDance Company through the project "Signifying Ghosts", initiated and funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation in the TURN Fund from 2018 to 2019. Léonce is known to German audience through his participation in the piece "Ex-Situ" (2019), "Runthrough" (2022), "Ein Mensch wie ihr" (2022).


Evandro Pedroni (performing with CocoonDance since 2022) is a Brazilian artist based in Vienna, working in the field of dance and performance. After his studies

in the Performance Major Program at SEAD – Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (2013) he was a scholarship holder at TanzQuartier Wien (2013/2014)

and in 2016 he has received the START scholarship from the Austrian Federal Chan-cellery. In 2017 he premiered “S/M – Stage/Made” in collaboration with Claire Lefèvre. He featured in productions by Martin Nachbar, Oleg Soulimenko, Hubert Lepka, Milan Kozanek, Edan Gorlicki, SETanzTheater, Akemi Takeya, Elisabeth Tambwe, LaTrottrier Dance Collective and others. Evandro’s works have been showcased in several festivals in Germany and Austria such as Impulstanz (AT), Im-agetanz (AT), Freier Tanz Delta VI (DE), and has been supported by Tanzzentrale Nuremberg, Wien Kultur, WUK, Brut Wien, Bears in the Park/Wien, Theater Felina-Areal (DE) and EinTanzHaus (Mann-heim).



Susanne Schneider (performing with CocoonDance since 2013) has a BA in dance (HfMT Cologne) and an MA in Contemporary Dance Education (HfMDK Frankfurt). Since 2013 she has been working as a freelance dancer amongst others with CocoonDance, Overhead Project, Özlem Alkis, Stephan Herwig and Anna Konjetzky (Nomadic Academy) and is involved in the artistic processes in various roles. For her transmission of dance is central to dance as an art form, that is building bridges between a re-searching dance-artist, a dancing participant and a sensing audience-member. In formats such as Physical Introduction and Physical Traces she is giving a sensorial entry before and after a dance performance. She is teaching classes with a focus on kinesthetic empathy for professional dancers, less experienced dancers and in school projects. One concern is to bring artistic research into educational contexts and to blur the line between studio and stage, training and performance. www.susanneschneider.org



Ada Sternberg is a dancer, dance teacher, singer and dj from Berlin. While studying political science at Freie Universität Berlin she also focussed on artistic and socio-cultural projects. In 2018 she completed the interdisciplinary danceprogram at motion*s Berlin. Her interest lies in the fusion of performing arts and current political and social discourses. She performed in various dance and theatre productions, video projects and toured with her band Le Very. Besides urban and contemporary dance she also started to work with somatic practices (training of fascia / fluentbody). For CocoonDance she is working in the field of the mediation of dance. She also works with the Junior Company. One of her heart projects in Bonn is the socio-cultural centre Alte VHS.


Louis Thuriot (performing with CocoonDance since 2024), born in Aalst (BE),

began his dance training in 2012 at Kunsthumaniora Brussel and continued his studies with a Bachelor’s degree in Per-forming Arts at Codarts Rotterdam. After graduating in 2018, he completed an internship with Poetic Disaster Club – Club Guy and Roni in Groningen. That same year, he became a member of Tanzmainz / Staatstheater Mainz, where he performed in works by choreographers such as

Guy Weizman and Roni Haver, Sharon Eyal, Andreas Denk, Rafaële Giovanola, Roy Assaf, among others. Louis won first prize in the Solo category at the Brussels International Contemporary Dance Contest, second prize at the International Solo Dance Theater Festival in Stuttgart, and received a grant from the Jiří Kylián Foundation. In 2022, he joined Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, where he performed in world premieres by choreographers such as Jan Martens, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

and Alain Platel.  www.louisthuriot.com