Elles Grzybek - concept/choreography and dance

Elles Grzybek started learning classical dance at the age of 17 only and two years later she was admitted to the professional ballet academy “Institut für Bühnentanz” in Cologne/Germany for a professional education.
Her path led to Belgium where she danced both classical and neoclassical repertoire and later evolved to dance theatre.

In 2011 she made her debut as a choreographer with her first solo choreographie PI = 3,1415… .
From 2014 on together with Lazic she created successful dance Performances at “Theater aan de Stroom” and they formed a perfect counterpart in their choreographic oeuvre.
Since 2016 she has been following Jinen Butoh dance by master Atsushi Takenouchi in Tuscany, Italy.

Michael Lazic - choreography and dance

At the age of seven, Michael Lazic started with Thai chi and martial arts, then switched to Olympic gymnastics and became an electronics engineer. In private schools he qualified in classical and modern dance. He became a professional dancer in companies in Brussels, Charleroi, Germany and France. His most famous production in our country is undoubtedly ‘A Body in Translation’ (2008), a performance that refers to the Serbian-Croatian civil war for which he collaborated with visual artist Hans Op De Beeck. He previously made various solos and performances. In 2007 he made the dance short film ‘Cocoon’ together with director Jeroen Bogaert. In 2009 Lazic created with his dance company cie M.E.S.S., in collaboration with Hans Op De Beeck the dance and video show ‘Staging Reality’, which was shown at the international dance festival ‘Dance Week Zagreb’.
Between 2013 and 2016, cie M.E.S.S. was the permanent dance company in Theater aan de Stroom. Lazic and co-choreographer Elles Grzybek created successful productions such as: Black Swan, Soletude (in collaboration with Jef Neve), Pi, Bach & Brel and ‘de Stervende Zwaan’. After three years, cie M.E.S.S. managed to build up an own audience.
After the theatre closed in 2016, cie M.E.S.S. co-operate for the first time together with composer / guitarist Peter Verhelst on the performance Hallelujah, which successfully premiered in November 2019 in the Sint-Anna church in Antwerp. The audience remained loyal to them. During 3 days more than 1200 people came to see the show.

Peter Verhelst- composor and guitar/ud/soundscapes

Peter was born in 1976 in Eeklo, a Flemish town in Belgium. At the age of 10 he decided he wanted to become a professional guitar player. When he was 18 he left his hometown to study jazz guitar. He graduated at Jazz Studio in Antwerp, the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp and Lemmens Institute of Louvain.

Although he was schooled as a jazz guitar player, his passion for Arabic, Indian, flamenco and classical music deeply influenced his way of playing and composing. That is why his projects are often classified as 'world music', 'crossover' or 'fusion'.

Peter plays in various bands with different styles. Modern jazz with 'Criterium3' and 'Multitude'; interpretations of classical pieces with 'Bel Ayre' and world music with 'Dame Jeanne', 'Saragon' and 'Indio LOURO'. He also writes for theatre productions as 'Tal en Thee' and 'STAU' and teaches jazz guitar at the Jazzstudio in Antwerp. He plays with musicians that come from different backgrounds and genres: Lieselot de Wilde, Chris Mentens, Herman Pardon, Baba Sissoko, Saulius Petreikis, Dick van der Harst and Chris Dane. Peter is interested in reaching out and play all over the world and setting up international collaborations and partnerships.
www.peter-verhelst.com

Veronique Lievin - dance

I grow up with passion,honesty,motivation,ambition,destined to artistic live ...
sinds there i knew ,i become a ballerina and i 'm still going on.
Following a multicolor road,curious,i quickly start to experiments differents paterns.
My first love dancing,acting ,siging,whriting,play instruments(saxo-piano)martial arts,anatomy,ect...relating to be to be the best honnest artist...
It's part of my everyday live.In september 2018,i create my one compagny DANCECHOCTHEATER,show my first creation "Des Mots et Des Gestes in march 2019 at Espace Lumen In brussels.
Be dancing as professional all around the world sinds 1989.
I'm also a Pilates instructor sinds 2011.Yoga follows sinds 2004..

Vasilis Stefanapoulus - double bass

Vasilis Stefanopoulos (contrabas, basgitaar) werd geboren in Patras (Griekenland). Hij studeerde basgitaar aan het Municipal Conservatorium of Patras bij Andreas Georgiou en klassiek contrabas bij Heracles Soumelides. Hij vervolgde zijn studie aan het Koninklijk Conservatorium in Den Haag waar hij de diploma’s jazz en klassiek contrabas behaalde (Bachelor Jazz Contrabas, Bachelor Contrabas, Master Jazz Contrabas). Hij volgde lessen bij Hein van de Geyn, Frans van der Hoeven, Knut Guettler, Jean-Paul Everts en Quirijn van Regteren Altena.
Hij trad veelvuldig op in jazz clubs en festivals in Nederland, België, Griekenland, Duitsland, Groot-Brittannië, Noorwegen, Spanje, Italië, Cyprus, Mexico, Frankrijk, Argentinië, Rusland, USA, Portugal, Egypte, China, Sao Tome and Principe en speelde met, onder andere, George Benson, Michel Portal, Tore Brunborg. Op dit moment speelt Vasilis Stefanopoulos in verschillende jazz/wereldmuziek groepen en klassieke ensembles.

Laura D’Halleweyn - percussion and vocals

Since her childhood, Laura Katarina D'Halleweyn travelled several times to Arab countries. From those journeys, her love for Arab music and culture arose. She learned to play percussion and sing while playing along with local musicians in Morocco, Algeria and Egypt. In Spain she played with musicians in the streets. Back in Belgium, she started playing as a self-made musician with several bands like Daadouch, Dame Jeanne, Belgomatic and Hellevaart Rus. Laura sings and plays from her heart and passion for music.

Diana Pavlidi - vocals

Diana Pavlidi grew up in a musical family and developed her musical talent from a young age by following piano lessons and
singing in local choirs in Athens, Greece. While studying International Relations and Law, she continued to play the
piano and sing in various pop-soul bands, but her love for singing inspired her to change her professional path and ultimately choose music. Thanks to her first singing teacher Irini Konstantinidi, she became acquainted with jazz. Since then this genre has greatly influenced her musical and vocal development.

Diana is currently finishing her masters in jazz singing at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp and gives singing lessons in various music schools in Belgium. She can be seen in various stages in Greece, Belgium and the Netherlands.