JOHANNSEN Thomas (NL)

THOMAS JOHANNSEN (NL)

Thomas Johannsen is a theatre director, performer and workshop teacher.

For developing his multidisciplinary work with instant composition, he has trained with many international teachers of voice, dance, theatre and improvisation (e.g. Jonathan Hart Makwaia, Julyen Hamilton, Germaine Acogny, Enrique Pardo, Linda Wise, Franki Anderson, Andrew Morrish, Claire Heggen, Ephia Gburek, Katarina Bakatsaki & Frank van de Ven, Dominique & Francoise Dupuy,€¦)

Thomas performs regularly as a vocalist and actor/dancer in different settings of instant composition. He leads a vocal improvisation ensemble in Amsterdam called The Genetic Choir. His text theatre background, visual street theatre experience and the numerous projects with musicians, video and performance artists, dancers, puppeteers and actors keep him on the edge in facilitating cross-disciplinary work and coaching people with a big variety of performing backgrounds.
Next to this, he is a black belt aikido practitioner and uses the principles of this Japanese martial art frequently as inspiration for his work and teaching.

"I work with improvisation because of my fascination for self-organizing processes and the unbelievable possibilities of €˜working in the moment€™. This point where not only the performers, but also the audience realizes that they are here, now, together - and that, in fact,anything could happen.
You share faith, bravery, doubt and tenderness in that moment. You share foolishness and the human condition. I am riveted by this work, seeing performers composing their movement, music or text on the thin edge of brilliance and naivety, spinning multi-layered threads of story and meaning that keep your imagination on the tip of the chair.€

More information you can find on pages www.thojoh.com and www.genetic-choir.org