BILJANA LIPIC is the founder of I-M-PULSE. Born in former Yugoslavia, she has been living in the UK since 1992, traveling throughout the world with her work.

Her life's dance has been between conflicting and interacting cultures, at the edges of personal and social space, poetics and politics, intimacy and war; her aims, personally and professionally, to embrace these kinds of dynamic tensions with communication based on authenticity, transparency and compassion.

An artist, teacher and director, working with adults and children, her vision is shaped by what life has taught her on the go, as well as by her studies, both formal and vocational, of architecture and design, dance and performance arts, psychology and body based ancient spiritual practices. The latter include yoga, martial arts and the less known Afro-American and European shamanic traditions, which still nurture the esoteric knowledge and the mystical formulas of the ecstatic life.

Finding Argentine Tango a central source of inspiration, she has played a pioneering role in setting up its social and cultural scene throughout UK and Europe. She is the founder of Zero Hour, one of the most popular tango venues in London and has been leading tango based workshops for over 15 years.

Her media work includes dance appearances in the movie Evita , True TV's Dance Tips with Aleksei Sayle, BBC's Tango ident, ITN's documentary Tell Tale Signs, as well as coaching for the BBC's dance series Strictly Dance Fever and Alek Keshishian's feature film Love and Other Disasters.

Since 1999, she has been making collaborative dance theatre work shown in venues across London and UK. La Milonga Interna, the full length piece, which she wrote and directed, was furthermore shown at the Madeira Festival '04 and critically acclaimed as "intimate, intense and most of all artistic.... sensual and colorful". Throughout summer 2008, she toured the UK's open air festivals with the Wired Aerial Theatre and their tango inspired show - Fervorosa.

In the areas of art film, live and performance art Biljana has collaborated with Martin Pickles (Camera Obscura) and Amanda Lorens (Buenos Aires Social Club). She has also performed in Anya Lewin's With Heartfelt Gratitude for the Painless Treatment.

 

 

 

...............................................................................

MIA JENSEN      www.myspace.com/miajensen

Although born and bred in Denmark, Mia Jensen has traveled for long periods, or lived in other countries, from a very young age. She completed her undergraduate studies in Social Anthropology at University of Sussex, near Brighton, and her postgraduate studies in Dance Anthropology at Roehampton University, London.

Since 2003 Mia has been a dedicated tango dancer. Her academic focus has also been on the Argentine tango and she has analyzed themes such as ritual, magic, "flow," culture, gender, the senses, and power in relation to the dance. Read her thesis here

After living two and a half years in Buenos Aires, where she worked as a tango teacher, Mia has recently moved back to Copenhagen, Denmark. Fluent in both Spanish and English she often translates lessons or workshops from one language to the other.

 

 

...............................................................................

NICOLA–FEE BAHL      www.being2being.co.uk

Nicola-Fee, originally from Germany, has lived in London for the last 14 years working in Classical Music Management. She also graduated as a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist from the Karuna Institute in Devon where she studied under Franklyn Sills and is currently pursuing studies with the Open University in Life Sciences.

She recently started a small Charity in Cambodia, which you can read more about on our Community Acts page.

 

 

 

...............................................................................

POLLY FOX-STRANGWAYS      www.sacred-folk-art.org

Polly is a professional Shamanic Artist, teacher of Sacred Art and a professional Healer.

Polly has lived a life working with opposites. After training at the Farnham School of Art in Hampshire she worked as a Shepherdess in the highlands of Scotland. Later she touched apon 'the highlife,' working as a Session Stylist for international magazines.

On completing that Polly travelled the world spending a year living in India, which opened the door to the world of spirit to her. Since then, Polly has gained ten years shamanic experience including training with The Foundation for Shamanic Studies and The Sacred Trust. She has currently joined with a six year Creative Blacksmithing apprenticship, and aims to open a forge for her community.

Her path is greatly inspired by a well-trodden European tradition and methodology known as the Path of Pollen. Along with her love of working with creativity, she is a dancer and a beekeeper which she believes keeps her vital and connected to the authentic nature of woman.

She continues to deepen her practice with teachers from throughout Europe. Within the world of art she is able to open up a space with a deep sense of trust, that brings invitation to the artistically shy. As healer for women her practice has brought her to the threshold of self, where the 'ordinary' and 'extra-ordinary' overlap. The weaving of this has unveiled a healing technique that should not be visited as a traditional shamanic healing practice, but rather specific of her spiritual heritage and gifts. This work deals with the nuances of 'vulnerability & knowings' that lay inbetween ordinary actions. Polly aims to work with integrity and be wholesome and holding for the individual and her community.

 

 

 

...............................................................................