Nicole Friedman and Marioenrico D'Angelo

Photo: Nicole Friedman

Born in Zug, the former teacher Nicole Friedman trained as a stage dancer in Switzerland, Madrid and New York. After engagements in the USA and Europe, she left the stage in 2002 and trained in cultural management. This was followed by the founding of her own agency "tanztotal" for production management and company management in the independent dance scene as well as tour planning at home and abroad. Nicole Friedman initiated dance platforms for newcomers, was coordinator of the national "Tanzfest" in Central Switzerland and taught at the ZHAW. She worked as a project collaborator for the Swiss Dance Network reso and as an expert jury for work grants. Since 2006, she has been responsible for the educational program for children and young people at the Migros Culture Percentage Dance Festival Steps. In 2020, she took over the co-direction of the YOUNG DANCE dance festival. After managing the MAFALDA company for many years, it received the Swiss Dance Award in 2019.

Photo: Andrey Alves

Marioenrico D'Angelo, born in 1991 in the Italian region of Abruzzo, is a freelance choreographer and performer based in Bern. Over the years, he has created choreographies for several companies and theatres, including the Bern Ballet, the Daegu City Dance Company in South Korea, the MiR Dance Company, the Saarland State Ballet, Frontier Danceland in Singapore, the Theater für Niedersachsen, V-create, the Equilibrio Dinamico Dance Company and Think Big from the Hanover State Opera Ballet as well as TANZtheater International. He has choreographed for the educational programs Dance Arts Faculty in Rome and CoLab by The Link in Bern. In 2023, his work Prelude won 2nd prize at the choreography competition in Hanover. During his career as a dancer, Marioenrico has performed with the Bern Ballet, the Lucerne Theatre, the Joshua Monten Dance Company, the Saarland State Ballet and Spellbound Contemporary Ballet, among others.