Barbara Hanel, 1963

 

Barbara has been active in dance since her youth and has learned about many dance styles, such as oriental and African dance, salsa... as well as a long-term episode with contact improvisation and expressive dance.

For 15 years she has been deeply interwoven in the work of Ingo Taleb-Rashid, who has developed "Movement Concept", a fusion of dance, performance and martial arts (Capoeira, Nin Po) with his special movement language.

Through his Iraqi background, she also became familiar with Sufism and uses forms such as "whirling" in an artistic context.

As a permanent member of the El Haddawi Dance Company, she has taken part in many projects in Germany, the Czech Republic, Uzbekistan and Russia and she still does

 

For her, movement is a gateway to healing.

 

She also works as a dance therapist, Feldenkrais teacher and performer with laypeople or people with mental disorders who can benefit greatly from this resource work.

After falling in love with Butoh, many studies with Butoh teachers such as Atsushi Takenouchi, Aya Irizuki, Marco Nektan, Yumico Yoshioka, Adam Koan, Katsura Kan and many more followed and a complex and multifaceted solo performance work began to grow.

This was even more intensified when she became part of the "EPA, endlessly performing artists", a globally networked group of artists initiated by Marco Nektan.

 

Her latest piece “blind colors” was created in a fruitful collaboration with Coco Villareal from Mexico, the IX-Butoh-Theatre in Seville.

 

Even after many years, Butoh still fascinates Barbara with its expressive power and its transformational potential.

At the moment she combines shamanic ritual work with the principles of Butoh dance, always exploring new layers.