Rachel Brooker
Performer/Teacher/Choreographer
info@animadance.org
www.animadance.org
Yoga:
Rachel Brooker has been studying yoga since 1998 and teaching since 2004. She has studied primarily Anusara Yoga and is in the process of certification as an Anusara-inspired teacher. She also founded Anima Dance, a dance theater company based in Berlin, Germany. For more information, contact Rachel or join the mailing list.
Recent Works:
Postcards from Berlin, a series of dance films with Berlin schoolchildren. Under the direction of Jo Parkes (www.mobiledance.org), Brooker was one of three choreographers chosen to create site-specific dance films with children from marginal schools in Berlin, each film focusing on a place in Berlin, its history, and what it means to the students involved. Premiered May 15, 2009 in Kino Arsenal, Berlin, and simultaneously on the Berliner Fenster in subways across Berlin, running until May 22.
Oh, Beautiful: My Patriot Act, a look at a kaleidoscope of characteristics of the US through the eyes of an expatriate. Performed in a lecture-demonstration, April 20, 2009 Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA; January 22-25, 2009, at Brotfabrik, Berlin; at the Democrats Abroad Election Night Party at the Babylon Theater, Berlin, November 4-5, 2008; the studiobühne, Freie Universität Berlin, August 2007; Das Pumpwerk, Berlin, June 2007; Mime Centrum, Berlin, June 2007.
Invitation, an interactive dance installation. Performed at Rahmenlos Festival, Gaswerk Weimar, Weimar, June 2008; Dock 11, Berlin, May 2008; The Scrap Exchange, Durham, NC, USA, January 2008; Skizum Studios, Berlin, August 2007; schwelle sieben, Berlin, June 2007; ada studios and Mime Centrum, Berlin, December 2006.
Career:
Over 32 dance works, 1990 to present Dock 11, schwelle sieben, Das Pumpwerk, ada, Freie Universität, Brotfabrik Theater, Ladyfest Berlin, Kino Arsenal and Mime Centrum, Berlin; Gaswerk Weimar, Weimar, Germany. American Dance Festival, Durham Arts Council, Scrap Exchange, Sizl Art Gallery, Carrboro ArtsCenter, Ladyfest NC, Wellness Partners in the Arts, Ninth Street Dance, North Carolina School of the Arts, University of North Carolina- Greensboro, Carolina Friends School and Swarthmore College, USA.
Founded and directed Anima Dance, a dance theater company based in Durham, NC from 2000 to 2005 and in Berlin, Germany from 2006 to the present. Productions to date include 11 evenings of original choreography and two films. Work has been extensively funded by public and private donors. In addition, founder and site coordinator, The Field Berlin (www.animadance.org/projects/thefieldberlin.htm).
Performance:
Run Dry, a duet with and by Bernardo Coloma, music by Alessio Castellacci. Performed ada studios, March 2009.
Dreamball, a solo by Marc Bogaerts for the DKMS Life Dreamball Charity Gala, Martin-Gropius Bau, Berlin, September, 2008 and Musikakademie Rheinsberg, October, 2008. Assistant Director, Bogaerts Productions, September 2008- present.
Black Moon, a dance film directed by Marc Bogaerts, Brussels, Belgium, February 2008.
Secret Service, Felix Ruckert, January 2007, Amiens, France, April, June, August, October 2007, January 2008, Berlin, Germany.
Water Music, a concert for four dancers by Felix Ruckert, November 30-December 10, 2006, Dock 11, Berlin; January 2007, Amiens and Blois, France; February 2007, Kampnagel, Hamburg, Germany.
Los Girasoles, a quintet by Sabine Dahrendorf, April-June 2007, Barcelona and León, Spain.
Solitude, Dai Jian, Carolina Friends School, December 31, 2006, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
United Kingdom, Felix Ruckert’s “utopian society based on consensual hierarchy”, an audience-interactive and experiential work, September 18-October 16, 2006, Tacheles, Berlin.
Audio Ballerinas, Benoit Maubrey, 2006 and ongoing touring.
Zwischen Dingen Jenny Haack's evening-length, contact-improvisation-based work at Dock 11, Berlin, August 2-6, 2006 and at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Braunschweig, Germany, November 3-4, 2006.
La Mujer de la Arena, an evening-length duet choreographed by Barbara García Ruíz with the support of the Choreographic Center of León, Spain and an Emerging Artist Grant from the Durham Arts Council, Durham, USA. Performed June 2002, Auditorio Ciudad de León, and March 2003, Mercat des Flors, Barcelona.
Knistern, a work for nine dancers choreographed by Sabine Dahrendorf for the International Choreographers Concert at the American Dance Festival, Durham, USA, July 2001.
Dance Education:
Ongoing studies in Classical and Contemporary techniques and Anusara Yoga
Butoh Workshop, Yumiko Yoshioka, Berlin, 2006
Contact Improvisation Dojo, Jörg Hassman and Christine Mauch, Berlin, 2006
Fieldwork, The Field NC, 2005-2006
Field Day, Richmond, VA, 2006
Autumn Camp, Su-En Butoh Company, Haglund Skola, Sweden, 2004
Laban Centre Summer School, London, 2003
Movement Research Summer MELT, New York, NY, 2003
Duke University, 1999-2003; studies with Clay Taliaferro of the José Limón Company
American Dance Festival Six Week School 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2004
Swarthmore College, BA in Dance and Biology, 1999
Chapel Hill Ballet School, 1980-1995
Special Awards:
Jenny Hall Fund Award, 2004
Durham Arts Council Season Grant, 2002-2003 and 2003-2004, Durham Arts Council Emerging Artist Grant, 2001
Durham Arts Council Facility Grant, 2000
American Dance Festival Stagecraft Apprenticeship, 1999
Hallie Jo Stein Memorial Award for Contribution in Dance at Swarthmore College, 1999
Swarthmore Friends of Music and Dance Summer Fellowship, 1997