Solène Weinachter
Solène’s love for dance started when she was 5, doing pirouettes (only) on her kitchen floor. Later, she formally trained in the regional conservatoire of Lyon and then pursued her training at London Contemporary Dance School where she obtained a BA(Hons) and an MA in contemporary dance and performance.
Since 2007 Solène has worked with a wide range of dance and physical theatre companies in Europe including: Scottish Dance Theatre, Gecko Theatre Company, Troubleyn, Vera Tussing Projects, Lost Dog and Joan Clevillé Dance.
Solène is based in Scotland where she co-created with Jer Reid Collective Endeavours in 2010.
Alex South
Alex studied science and philosophy at the Universities of Cambridge and Glasgow, and gained a master’s degree in clarinet performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He is an active member in the diverse and lively Glasgow music scene, specializing in contemporary and improvised music: he plays with Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, is a founder member of the Scottish Clarinet Quartet, and belongs to the avant-garde folk group The One Ensemble which forms part of the Scottish government’s Made in Scotland Showcase.
The One Ensemble and Scottish Dance Theatre recently toured the UK, Mexico and Brazil with their collaboration Miann. This work helped to crystallize Alex’s fascination with the parallels and differences which exist between music and dance, with the interplay between the moving and sounding bodies of improvising musicians and dancers, a fascination which he is thrilled to be exploring through the practice of Collective Endeavours.
As a freelance musician, in the past couple of years Alex has performed/recorded alongside a gamut of well-known artists from the worlds of contemporary classical music (Henri Bok, Ros Dunlop, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra), free jazz (Tony Bevan, Lori Freedman, Zeena Parkins), alternative rock (Ashley Paul, Alex Rex, Sound of Yell) and Scottish traditional music (Alasdair Roberts, Chris Stout, Wounded Knee).
Nerea Gurrutxaga
Nerea grew up in San Sebastian, Basque Country. She graduated from LCDS (2014) and undertook an apprenticeship with Scottish Dance Theatre as part of her postgraduate diploma, where she internationally toured and performed pieces by Anton Lachky, Jo Stromgren and Fleur Darkin.
She is a member of Collective Endeavours, which focuses on music and dance improvisations, one of her main interests. She has worked for the company Curious Seed, choreographer Christine Devaney in creations called Teenage Trilogy and MamaBabaMe, this last one being a collaboration between Starcatchers and Curious Seed. She has being studying the methods of flying low and passing through with David Zambrano.
Aya Kobayashi
Born in Japan, Aya is an independent dance artist based in the UK, recently moved to Glasgow. She trained at Rambert School then completed her MA in University of Chichester. She has performed for companies/independent choreographers such as Flexer & Sandiland, Rosemary Lee, Charlie Morrissey, Kerry Nicholls, Gecko Theatre, Lila Dance and Saffy Setohy. Aya has presented her work in the UK and abroad at locations including The Place, Royal Festival Hall, QEH, Birmingham Hippodrome, The Lowry, Northern Ballet, Stoke Mandeville Stadium (2012 Paralympic Torch relay ceremony), Tokyo, Madrid, Cairo and Queretaro in Mexico.
Aya has been an associate artist for Anjali Dance Company for the last 9 years where she gained range of teaching experiences and developed choreographic work with people with disabilities. She enjoys working with inclusive and intergenerational groups and dedicates to develop the artistry within communities. In 2015-16 she directed site specific community dance in Ofunato, one of the tsunami disaster areas of North East Japan as part of Sanriku International Arts Festival. She works with Early Years and Family of Tate and presents audience participation performances and leads education programs.
Aya teaches technique and improvisation and works as a rehearsal director. Teaching credits include Independent Dance, Greenwich Dance, Brighton Dance Network, Stopgap Dance Company, Gary Clarke, Proda Norway, Rambert School and various universities/colleges in the UK and abroad.
Jer Reid
Jer started playing music in dawson who recorded sessions for John Peel on Radio 1, put out 3 LPs and toured around 20 countries including Iceland and USA. He currently plays in bands sumshapes and Painted X-Ray.
With dance he has worked in a variety of roles/ ways. Being sound designer, musician, composer, co-creator, improviser, physical performer, workshop facilitator and dramaturg with choreographers who include Rosalind Masson, Curious Seed, Annie Pui Ling Lok, Ultimate Dancer and Paul Michael Henry. As well as with Solène Weinachter/ Collective Endeavours, of course. He improvises in different configurations including to film, spoken word, with the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, in Drawn to Water (with Stu brown, Raymond MacDonald and Una MacGlone) and with musicians like Andy Moor, Caroline Kraabel, Catriona McKay and Fritz Welch.
Molly Danter
From the Isle of Skye, Scotland, Molly is a freelance dancer, improviser and maker based in Scotland. Molly has a passion for creating environments through performance and research lab/workshops where awareness is directed towards our-selves and others, moving through and past binaries and opening somatic pathways to engage with the world.
Graduating from London Contemporary Dance School in 2018, Molly was an apprentice and then guest dancer with Scottish Dance Theatre, touring work by various choreographers including: Anton Lachky, Emmanuel Gat and Fleur Darkin. Since then, Molly has danced with various companies including: Scottish Opera, Barrowland Ballet and Curious Seed.
As a maker Molly often collaborates with artists across disciplines such as with artist Caroline Dear, Musician and filmmaker Iain Copeland and artist and academic, Rosa Van Hensbergen. Improvisation is a strong element in Molly’s practice, finding interest in the requirement improvisation brings to be generous to self and others, trusting in what we arrive with. Molly has been practicing and performing with Collective Endeavours since 2019.
Elena Inei
Elena is a violinist and improviser based in Glasgow. She graduated in violin performance at the Conservatorio F. Morlacchi di Perugia (Italy), and obtained a BA in Music Education in the same institution.
Elena plays with the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, is a member of Collective Endeavours, collaborates with Barrowland Ballet and plays in various other improvising configurations.
Photos by Brian Hartley / Still Motion except Solène Weinachter by Alexander Storey Gordon