Workshop with Brigel Gjoka - Forsythe’s improvisation technique

Name: Workshop with Brigel Gjoka - Forsythe’s improvisation technique
Start: 2026-01-17T10:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-01-18T15:00:00+01:00
Location: BACH Leggere Strutture

Schedule

Sat, 17 Jan, 2026 at 10:00 am to Sun, 18 Jan, 2026 at 03:00 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

BACH Leggere Strutture | Bologna, EM

Forsythe’s improvisation technique
By Brigel Gjoka
17th and 18th January 2026
Forsythe’s improvisation technique is broken down into what he calls “modalities,” which are about 30 movement concepts, such as shearing, collapsing, folding, and matching. Once you improvise ways of moving your body in the different modalities, they become “reminder tools,” giving you a whole new set of ideas to use to trigger movement variation or invention.
Though born out of the ballet vocabulary, Forsythe’s technique is not just for dancers and choreographers; it can be of value to any creative artist. It opens up avenues that allow you to expand your ideas of what you thought your body could do . It’s about rediscovery and rethinking your previous education/knowledge and taking it down a different path.

Brigel Gjoka
Brigel Gjoka is an Albanian-born choreographer, dancer, and dance teacher with a career spanning over two decades. He received his training at the Tirana School of Ballet and the Rosella Hightower in France.
Between 2006 and 2010, he danced with Ballet de l’Opéra National du Rhin, Staatstheater Mainz, and the Nederlands Dans Theater. In January 2011, he joined The Forsythe Company, where he participated in William Forsythe’s new creations and performed a wide array of works. In 2015, alongside Riley Watts, he performed DUO2015 from W. Forsythe in Life In Progress, Sylvie Guillem’s world tour farewell to the scene, and was honored with the Leonide Massine Dancer of the Year Contemporary Stage Award at Positano Premia la Danza (Italy). Brigel’s career reached a pinnacle in 2018 through his ongoing collaboration with William Forsythe for over a decade, performing in Forsythe’s last creation, A Quiet Evening of Dance, at major venues worldwide, a performance that earned the prestigious FEDORA – Van Cleef & Arpels Prize for Ballet. Alongside Riley Watts, he served as a tutor at the Biennale of Venice Dance College 2023, where the staged Duo (2023 extended) from William Forsythe and the Juilliard School, New York in 2025.
Brigel is touring worldwide with Friends of Forsythe and Three Quiet Duets, projects that unite choreographers and dancers from different choreographic fields, premiering in MKZ Karlsruhe and Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2023, Venice Dance Biennale, Tokyo, Move to Move Dance Festival Aranya, and much more.
From 2014 to 2020, he served as the Artistic Director of Art Factory International, Bologna, Italy, where he designed and led professional intensive training programs for young dancers. He established an international art platform to support choreographic research, organizing improvisation and dance workshops with internationally renowned choreographers and artists. As a choreographer, he has worked with Xie Xin Dance Theater, Maggio Fiorentino, Theater Vorpommen, Theater Passau & Hector Solari. NAPA International Theater Festival Karachi, Kwang Tung Dance Company, Cannes Jeune Ballet,
LeggereStrutture with the support of Tonino Lamborghini. Between 2013 and 2017, he received support from the Goethe Institute in Germany as a sponsored choreographer. In 2019, he was commissioned by Sadler’s Wells, London, and PACT Zollverein Essen, to co-create Neighbours in collaboration with Rauf “RubberLegz” Yasit. The piece premiered in Essen, Germany, in 2019 and continued its journey performing at the Biennale de la Danse de Lyon 2021, and was later developed into a full-length production in 2022, featuring musician Rusan Filiztek. This project is turning worldwide and was produced by Sadler’s Wells, and co-produced with Van Cleef & Arpels for the Dance Reflections Festival in London, the Maison de la Danse in Lyon. Challiot Theatre de la Danse Paris, Biennale de la Danse de Lyon 2021/22, Torino Danza, Sydney Dance Festival, Julidans Amsterdam, La Filature Scene Nationale Mulhouse, Théâtre de Liège, MC2 Grenoble, Kalamata Dance Festival, Teatro Municipal Do Porto. Since 2004, Brigel has been touring globally, gracing the stages of renowned theaters and dance festivals. He has conducted international dance and choreography workshops at prestigious festivals, universities, and companies, including The Juilliard School New York, Biennale Dance College Venice Biennale, Tokyo Ballet, Beijing Dance Festival, Royal Danish Summer School, Université De Lausanne, CND Paris- Lyon, Dias Da Dança Porto, Gibney Dance New York, Sydney Junior Dance Company, and many more. Presently, he is creating a new project with Xie Xin Dance Theater, which will premiere in 2026. In 2025, he founded his company, Dynamo Kid, based in Paris.

DETAILS
WHEN:
17th and 18th January 2026 - time: 10am to 3pm
WHERE:
BACH Art Centre to Via Francesco Zanardi 230/2 Bologna, Italy
BOOK YOUR WORKSHOP
Workshop participation is limited
REGISTRATION:
please send email to [email protected]
www.artfactory-international.com