As a result of playing with sounds and words, an imagined stone figure emerges: Glorious George the Jewish Gargoyle. True to the philosophy “Love it or leave it” I decide to make it the title of a dance piece, and dance in it myself, alone. From this title and into the unknown, a journey begins in which the key principals are: play, juxtapose, move, stay curious. An improvisational approach applied to a creation process. Pen and paper, movement improvisation, Facebook, video recording, flee markets: these means help me to commit to my ideas, as random and meaningless as they may first seem. The end result is a collage of quesions in words, in composition and in movement. As I navigate between these questions, some of the possible meanings of Glorious George the Jewish Gargoyle are revealed.

Michael Shapira: After finishing his studies in interaction design in Stockholm, Sweden, and working there as a web developer, Michael turned to the field of dance and performance. He has studied improvisation in TIP, Freiburg, and has continued his study and practice mostly in Berlin. Since his graduation in Freiburg he has performed in both improvised and choreographed pieces and has created own performances. Influential teachers are Lilo Stahl, Bernd Ka, Nancy Start Smith, Rosalind Crisp and Julyen Hamilton. Core dance practices are contact improvisation and improvisation. Michael is currently facilitating an open improvisation training for professional dancers in Berlin.

Lea Kieffer: After finishing her university studies in Sport Science in Strassburg, France, Lea studied improvisation in TIP, Freiburg. Lea has worked and performed as a dancer with Choreographer Juha Marsalo, and in collaborations with Oleg Kaufmann, Jasminka Stenz, Laura Heinecke and Flurin Kappenberger. An enthusiastic and experienced contact improvisor, Lea has participated and taught in numerous Contact festivals in Europe and Israel. Lea also has her own label of self made clothes and has worked as a costume designer and artistic assistant for Adrianna Cubides in Vienna.