Teachers

ELINA IKONEN: 

One of the creators and head teacher of the ISLO Education in Dance and Somatics. She is a certified dance-movement therapist and a social welfare worker, with teaching experience of 30 years. Graduated in Dance Movement therapy and in social welfare work (North Karelia University of Applied Sciences), Vocational Teacher (JAMK University of Applied Sciences), Finland. Further/ additional education: Trager® practitioner, work supervisor, licensed massage therapist, additional educations in community art, dance pedagogy & workshops in contemporary dance and somatics,” including 60 weeks in a private dance school DoDance Center for New Dance/Finland.

In Education in Dance and Somatics she teaches pedagogy, somatic movement development, self-knowledge, authentic movement, contact-improvisation. She also facilitates the group learning process and offers one to one mentoring. Elina’s pedagogical approach is the underlying support in the process of adapting dance and somatics to one’s own professional and private life. It balances the group learning process and offers pedagogical tools. Dialogical and experiential learning and a group process can be a journey itself. Soft skills give structure to the creative and empowering process.

Introduction to classes by Elina:

Working life soft skills – which are the major learning target of any education in the 2020s – guide our journey to a yearlong pedagogical embodied process. Elina has been working with the subject for years and participated in creating Embodied Soft Skills Training in an Erasmus+ project called MOSS – Moving into Soft Skills. Movement approaches like, movement development and contemporary dance, dance movement therapy, Trager movement®, authentic movement, and contact-improvisation are used throughout the year. The learning process includes laboratory work like experiential tasks, conversations (one to one, small groups & in the group), presentations in front of the class, writing journals and committing to an individual study plan with integration to the contents of the education.

Elina’s teaching methods are various. This supports the student’s individual development. Diverse styles can give a broad understanding of the field of teaching. The paradigm of education worldwide is under a big shift. It is worth looking for a variety of options from laboratory to performative, authoritarian to horizontal etc. The process demands an open mind and trust in the unknown. It wakes up the creativity and challenges creating innovative approaches by oneself – not to repeat oneself.

These pedagogical themes spread over the study year. Each module focuses on a couple of themes in more detail.
Module 1: attention and focus, learning ability
Module 2: teamwork, communication
Module 3: creativity, leadership, self-regulation
Module 4: atmosphere, adaptability
All Modules include 1:1 mentoring by Elina Ikonen, 2-4 x based on one’s needs

LINDON SHIMIZU: 

(1983, Brazil) CVActor, Dancer, Performer, Teacher
+358 44 922 6277 lindonshimizu@gmail.com, lindon.shimizu@islo.fi
LANGUAGES: Portuguese, Japanese, English
VIMEO: https://vimeo.com/user49980015

Lindon Shimizu is a half Brazilian Japanese immigrant artist performer and teacher based in Finland. He holds a theatre degree and his physical learning includes theatre, Karate, Judo, physical training of the actor contemporary dance, performance, contact improvisation, somatic education, Body-Mind Centering.

At ISLO he teaches experiential anatomy, movement exploration, movement improvisation, contact improvisation, authentic movement, solo movement research and movement and technology. In the pedagogical and artistic field, he is interested in the dialogue of an ethical-political-body, as a strategy of being and creating, playing between what is private, and what is public, adding his experience in videos in this practice.

Since 2011 he has collaborated with the Brazilian dancer, choreographer and researcher Dani Lima. He has collaborated and performed the 100 gestures (2012), Small Collection of All Things (2013), was considered the best of their years by specialized critics. Body, Politics and Discourse in the dance of Lia Rodrigues (2007) and Gesture: Practice and Discourse (2013)started the research process “The 100 gestures that marked the century 20” during 2 years. Which gave rise to the show “100 gestures”. The same who won the APCA award for best cast in 2012 “Small collection of all things”. Presenting the last two shows in several theaters and festivals in Brazil. Having worked as an Interpreter-creator, producer, translator in the adaptation of the last work in Japanese especially for the Aichi Triannale (Triennial Festival of Contemporary International Art of Aichi Province), Japan.

Since 2011 Lindon and the dance artists Dasha Lavrennikov, have collaborated on projects such as “Fronteiras”(2011), “Groundless Ground” (2018) and “Project M” (2019). Searching for the mechanisms and dynamics that produce experimental encounters as outsiders within the contemporary context. Living and working between borders, they are developing collective modes of working as artist-curators internationally. He started his artistic career acting in movies. He began to practice acting techniques for videos at the School of Actors of Porto Alegre, having taught it years later. He has worked in several films, TV series, with reference to the long-movies “Ainda Orangotangos” by Gustavo Spolidoro and “Beyond the Grave” by Davi Oliveira. Currently, he searches for the possible relation between body/movement and technology (audio, video, media) and its limits. Since 2015 he develops his own work with video dances such as “4:44”, “인연 – bound -” and “Tremble”. The first one won the jury prize of NEWCOMERS AVARDS of International Scree dance Festival Freiburg.