Jayne Batzofin graduated from school in 2002. From 2003-2006, she completed her BA programme in the dramatic arts at WITS University in South Africa before studying at "L'école International de theâtre Jaques Lecoq" in Paris. She now works in directing, stage and costume design and clownery. Since 2012, she has been associated with the group "Clowns without Borders South Africa". Prior to that, she worked for FROM THE HIP: HULUMAKHLE from 2011-2012, a young independent theatre group in South Africa. In addition, she realises theatre projects of her own, which she presents on national and international tours.
Laura Case has worked as a cultural manager for theatres, concert halls, museums, festivals and various communities throughout her career. She now serves as chief executive of Theatre Hullabaloo in Darlington, England, which develops, tours and promotes productions for young audiences in addition to hosting the festival TakeOff. The organisation is currently involved in planning and development for its new venue, which is set to open in early 2017.
Dina El Deeb is a cultural manager who works for various projects and organizations in Egypt. She serves as programme director of "Medrar for Contemporary Art", an artist-run cooperative for visual art in Cairo. In cooperation with local and regional organisations, she has organised the "Cairo Video Festival 7 for Video Art and Experimental Films" as well as three editions of the "Spring Festival", an international multidisciplinary festival that takes place in Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia every other year. In 2013/14, she worked for "Afca for Arts and Culture", an independent organisation aimed at promoting arts and culture for children, for which she organised cooperative projects in addition to the Cairo-based "Hakawy International Festival for Children 2014".
Natascha Grasser has worked as a theatre educator and director at various theatres in Austria, such as the Mezzanin Theater and Theater am Ortweinplatz, both located in Graz, where she has headed the "Theaterwerkstätten" ("Theatre Workshops") for children and teens since 2014. Both theatres are dedicated to presenting quality works of
children ´s and youth theatre as well as the promotion of young art in the form of in-house productions and theatre festivals (e.g. "spleen*graz") and pride themselves on cooperative work and exchange with like-minded groups abroad. The productions that Natascha Grasser stages have repeatedly been nominated for theatre awards. At the 2016 edition of the festival "spleen*graz", she collaborated on projects such as "8 Fenster" ("8 Windows"). She is additionally a member of the European Off Network of Independent
Barbara Malecka is an author, theatrologist and producer of artistic events. She graduated from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań with a degree in theatre studies. She co-founded the Art Fraction Foundation and is a member of its board of directors. Since 2009, she has collaborated with the Children ´s Art Centre in Poznań (Centrum Sztuki Dziecka w Poznaniu) where she curates the International Festival of the Arts for Early Years "Art Seeks the Toddler" (Międzynarodowy Festiwal Sztuki dla Najnajmłodszych 'Sztuka Szuka Malucha'), coordinates (as a representative of a Polish partner) the international project "Small Size, Performing Arts for Early Years" and co-coordinates the programme of the "Biennial of Arts for Children". From 2013-2015, she worked as an impresario and education consultant at Miniatura City Theatre. She also leads creative workshops for children.
Clarissa Franco Malheiros has more than 35 years of experience as an actress, director and author. In addition to working in theatre, she has also been active in opera and film. Since 2010, she has headed LaMaquina de Teatro in Mexico City with a focus on theatre for young audiences.
Niclas Malmcrona studied philosophy, culture and social sciences in Gothenburg and has worked for various theatres throughout Sweden. In 2005, he co-founded the children ´s and youth festival "Bibu.se instrumental - the Swedish National Performing Arts Biennale", where he also served as a jury member between 2006 and 2012. From 1999 to 2008, he was the executive officer of ASSITEJ International. During that time, he organised numerous cooperation projects in Africa, the Baltic countries, Russia and the Middle East. He has been an honorary member of ASSITEJ International since 2008. He currently serves as the director of ASSITEJ Sweden and is involved in the project "Shadowland", which uses theatre for young audiences to address the topics of racism and exclusion on a European level.
In the past 15 years, Tale Naess has developed numerous plays as a dramaturge and author - many for Hålogaland Theater, a state-run theatre in Tromsø, and others for the artist network Propellen Teater. Furthermore, she develops her own works with her company NOOR produksjoner. Her projects are typically multidisciplinary works of dance theatre. At the Oslo Academy of the Arts she is involved in a research programme dedicated to writing for children ´s and youth theatre. Additionally, she participates in the European authors project Theatercafé (www.theatercafe.eu), which focuses on the development of new European plays for and on young people.
After earning her bachelor ´s degree in economics, Didacienne Nibagwire studied various theatre techniques and styles as well as creative writing at Ishyo Arts Centre Kigali and California Institute of the Arts, among others. Since 2010, she has worked at Ishyo Arts Centre Kigali, where she started out as a performer and member of the organisational team before becoming a project manager and festival producer. There, she has helped realise intercultural projects and cultural education programmes. Much of her work focuses on maintaining a dialogue on the role of art in remembering the genocide in Rwanda and ensuring that those events are passed on to future generations. She organised youth dialogues throughout Rwanda for the initiative "Arts for Peace" and, since 2014, has served as a consultant to the initiative "Girl Hub Rwanda", which is specifically aimed at supporting girls between 10 and 19 years of age.
After training to be an actress, Daniela von Vorst studied theatre education at the Academy of Music and Theatre in Prague, graduating in 2012. In 2002, she founded the theatre company "OLDstars e.V." in Prague, where she served as artistic director until 2011. From 2012 to 2014, she served as assistant to the management team of TUSCH in Hamburg, where she evaluated partnerships between schools and theatres. After realising several exchange and cooperation projects between Germany and the Czech Republic, she has worked as a theatre educator at the National Theatre in Prague since the 2014/15 season.
