*1973, Austria
Artistic Director, Daghdha Dance Company, Ireland
'The way our culture has choreographed dance has always been reflective of the larger tendencies of how we, as a society, deal with the unknown, the unframable, the foreign, the spiritual and the animal. Conventional arrangements - those of streets, school exams, chains of command and soldiering performers - impose rigid frames upon dance. These systems are the embodiment of fear and the cultural suppression of that which is governed neither by subjective nor collective will. Our premise must not be to constrain movement into a set pattern, but rather to provide a cradle for movement to find its own patterns - over and over again.'
Michael Klien studied choreography in Vienna and London. Influenced by previous fine-art studies, he co-founded the enigmatic London-based performance collective 'Barriedale Operahouse' in 1994 (in operation till 2000). In 2003 he was appointed Artistic Director/CEO of Daghdha Dance Company, one of Ireland's premiere dance organisation, and has been responsible for the consistent growth of the company ever since. Under his direction Daghdha has moved to new premises and established its Professional Artists Development Programme as well as Public Events Programme. He is an acclaimed choreographer, curator and producer of numerous touring productions, installations and events (including commissions from Ballett Frankfurt and the Vienna Volksoper). Since 1998 he has been concerned with the theoretical and practical development of choreography as an aesthetics of change, a supra-discpline concerned with notions of governance and steering. He is currently finishing his PhD at Edinburgh School of Arts and has been lecturing about his findings at various renowned institutions (including the ICA, ROH, University of Limerick, ZKM, Laban Centre, Zodiak, Institute of AI, etc.). Winner of various awards and commissions.
Recent key projects include the choreographic works 'Sense and Meaning', 'Choreography for Blackboards', 'Sediments of an Ordinary Mind' and 'Limerick Trilogy' for Daghdha Dance Company, 'Slattery's Lamp' for IMMA's (Irish Museum of Modern Art) permanent collection as well as the publication of 'Book of Recommendations'.
last update - 12/08