Over three morning classes, I invite my peers into a movement and dance practice I am currently developing as part of my PhD research at KHiO. The work grows from an archival exploration of the life of the German-Norwegian dancer, choreographer, and movement therapist Elsa Lindenberg (1906–1990), and from a desire to write a dancer’s life "as a dancer, through dancing". Together, we will explore, question, and play with some of the influences that shaped Lindenberg’s work: German expressionist dance and Rudolf von Laban, Character-analytical vegetotherapy developed by Wilhelm Reich, and the somatic teachings of Elsa Gindler, known in Norway as "Spenningsregulering". 

llse Ghekiere is an artist and art critic who works as a dancer, writer, researcher and lecturer. She studied dance at the Conservatory of Antwerp and has a MA in Art Sciences from The Free University of Brussels. As a dancer she has worked with, among others, Michèle Anne De Mey, Mette Ingvartsen, Jan Martens. In 2017, she received a scholarship from the Flemish Government to investigate sexism in the Belgian dance field. She is the founder of ENGAGEMENT ARTS, an artists’ movement that tackles sexual harassment, sexism and abuse of power in the Belgian art world. This platform has made her a spokesperson on these issues, ranging from giving lectures and workshops in art education to speaking for the EU-Parliament. Her artistic work is deeply research based and explores the tensions between sexual liberation and oppression in the arts. Her critical writing has appeared in publications such as Norsk Shakespeare Tidsskrift, Rekto:Verso and Etcetera Tijdschrift. Since 2020, she has been a board member of PRAXIS and co-established the new Praxis Space at Hausmania. Recently, she worked as a dancer for the Norwegian choreographers Solveig Styve Holte and Janne-Camilla Lyster.