toula.de
halle-tanz-berlin.de

the cie. toula limnaios is an ensemble for contemporary dance, founded in 1996 by choreographer and dancer toula limnaios and composer ralf r. ollertz. in 2001, they were awarded the »meeting neuer tanz« prize. in 2004, their beckett trilogy was made into a television film entitled »atemzug« for zdf/arte. the company has received funding from the city of berlin since 2005 and were selected by the fonds darstellende künste to receive conceptual funding for »leading ensembles in the field of independent theater and dance« from 2008 until 2010. in 2012, they were awarded the »george tabori prize«.

in addition to their artistic work, they are strongly dedicated both to promoting innovative working structures, as well as establishing equality for dance in society. the cie. toula limnaios ensemble presents 50–60 shows every year and works with 12 salaried employees, who are supported by numerous of closely associated freelancers. with its flexible, lean, but highly effective structure and in co-production with international partners, the company continuously produces ensemble work of exceptional quality, making them one of the most successful ensembles for contemporary dance today. as a representative of the german dance scene for the goethe institut and the federal foreign office, they have presented their repertoire across germany and abroad since 2005. the company is institutionally funded by the city of berlin’s department for cultural affairs since 2014. the cie. toula limnaios presents dance that is watchful, critical and bold – with concern for humankind, made by and for people.

the HALLE TANZBÜHNE BERLIN is the production and performance venue of the cie. toula limnaios and its guests. in 2000, choreographer toula limnaios and composer ralf r. ollertz established a rehearsal space of their own in the protected historical building, which has since also become a workplace for a large number of other artists. in 2003, the halle tanzbühne berlin became a self-financed theater and has since established an international reputation for itself as an important venue for contemporary dance. the halle is a partner of tanz im august and co-produces with mousonturm frankfurt/m, musiktheater baltoppen, the international dance festival athens and the bregenzer festspiele. this architectural jewel has been now technically and infrastrucurally modernised.

toula limnaios (artistic director / choreography) was born 1963 in athens. after studying classical and modern dance, m. alexander and laban technique as well as music and dance pedagogy in brussels, she worked as a performer with claudio bernardo, régine chopinot and as an assistant with pierre droulers. later, she continued her education at the folkwang hochschule in essen, where she soon became a member of the folkwang tanzstudio under pina bausch. she made a name for herself in live improvisations with the musicians konrad bauer and peter kowald and founded the cie. toula limnaios in 1996. tours brought her to belgium, brazil, denmark, ecuador,france, greece, irland, italy, lituania, lettland, austria, poland, swizzerland, senegal, spain, cyprus, venezuela … beside directing her own company and theater, she works as guest choreographer in different theaters. in 2007/8, she was guest professor for choreography at the ernst busch in berlin.

Ralf R. Ollertz (artistic director / music) was born in 1964. he studied composition, electroacoustic music, piano and conducting. in the age of 21 he became musical director at the wuppertaler schauspielhaus. in italy he studied composition with salvatore sciarrino and at the folkwang hochschule in essen with nicolaus a. huber and dirk reith (electroacoustic music). together with christian banasik and marina panayioutou he was the artistic director of the ensemble for new music »go ahead«. over the last 20 years, he has written chamber music and orchestra scores as well as electroacoustic music and radio plays, for which he received numerous international awards and scholarships.

between 1998-2004 he was sounddesigner in the film studios babelsberg. in 2002 he composed the short opera “carcrash” together with willy daum for the state opera houses in hannover and stuttgart. together with toula limnaios he is directing the cie. toula limnaios since 1996 and the HALLE TANZBÜHNE BERLIN since 2003. in 2012 they received the george tabori award. tours, radio and television productions have brought him to countries throughout europe, south america, the usa, japan, australia and africa.

[Source: Festival-booklet “20 Jahre cie. toula limnaios” and www.toula.de]