reta Gauhe
Choreographer, Dancer, Producer, Researcher
Deborah and Greta
Artistic Duo
About:
Deborah and Greta form an artistic duo, collaborating across disciplines in dance and visual arts since 2023. Together, they have embarked on numerous projects, spanning from community dance initiatives in Germany, collaborating with students at the FH Kiel, to online audio-recorded performances tailored for individuals living with chronic pain, as well as live outdoor performances. Their collective aim is to craft environmentally conscious works that delve into the intricate relationships between humanity and nature through themes of intimacy, touch, autobiographical memory, and collective reclamation.
Their approach involves active engagement with the public, inviting them to participate in the creation process, thereby granting agency to the participants. Their performances are characterised by their participatory nature, encouraging individuals to become co-creators and shape the unfolding narrative. Central to their methodology are movement inquiries, somatic practices, and object creation, through which they deconstruct conventional boundaries, challenge societal norms, and explore the intersectionality of personal and collective experiences. Exploring their differences in generation, they aim to bridge gaps, foster understanding, and harness the unique perspectives each generation brings, ultimately creating richer, more inclusive artistic expressions that resonate across diverse audiences and cultures.
Projects:
Movement Snacks for Chronic Pain
Community Dance Project
Until we Meet
Be(in)g Touch
Greta Gauhe is a german, multifaceted artist, working as a freelance choreographer, dancer and researcher in London. Her creative endeavors span across diverse mediums, with a particular focus on addressing political, social, and ecological issues through her performative works. Greta's artistic practice centers on the medium of dance as a means of fostering connections, empathy, and touch among individuals. Her performances aim to challenge traditional notions of spectatorship by creating temporary micro-communities and non-bodily connections among audience members, transcending the formal separation between spectators and performers.
Having earned a Master of Arts in Performance from the London Contemporary Dance School, Greta pursued further studies in choreography, obtaining a Master of Fine Arts from Trinity Laban. She continues her artistic journey as a researcher, currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the Centre for Dance Research, Coventry University. Her doctoral research explores innovative methods for recreating touch-like sensations online or over distance.
As the artistic director of the Follow Through Collective, Greta has curated and managed numerous stage productions across various venues, including theaters, museums, and outdoor spaces. Her works have been showcased at prominent festivals and institutions throughout the UK and Europe, including the Place Theatre (London), the Resolution Festival and the NordArt Exhibition (Germany), among others.
In addition to her artistic pursuits, Greta is actively engaged in community dance projects, working with individuals of all ages. She also shares her expertise through teaching creative dance classes and workshops for both professional and non-professional dancers. Greta's contributions to the arts have been recognized through prestigious scholarships, including the Leverhulme Arts Scholarship and the M4Cities scholarship, as well as numerous Arts Council England grants.
.jpeg)
Deborah Di Meglio received her Bachelor of Science in Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of Rhode Island in 1979 and a Master of Fine Arts at Hunter College in New City City in 1985. In the early eighties she was actively involved in working in urban disadvantaged communities with underprivileged young people and with disadvantaged women with different community and political activitist artist groups such as The Gurrilla Girls, Faith Ringgold. She also work many years with the writer and feminist Kate Millett to develope and build a Women’s Artist Coloney in Upstate New York. In 1992 she moved to Germany putting herself in another cultural environment to further her artistic pursuits. She also became Culturally Politically active serving on many Trustee Boards in Schleswig-Holstein. Her work to further the use of Arts for Social Change won her the Verdienstordens (Order of Merit) from Schleswig-Holstein in 2010.
Deborah Di Meglio has been working as a visual artist for 40 years and has had numerous exhibitions in the USA and Europe. In the last 30 years she has been developing “Art Projects for Social Change” successfully and with multiple grants and awards.
Her artistic objective has always been to anchor her artistic message more deeply and broadly in local communities. Creating real change through inter-active visual and performative art, she wants to bring art practices to the lives of people in a real way to promote cultural change and sustainability.
In her diverse multi media projects spanning over a thirty year period in Germany, she often combines visual, medial and performative art practices,seeking active, lively, common dialogues using art based research about relative issues in the everyday lives of people.
Her work always includes bringing together a wide range of diverse social groups and ages from elementary school students and teenagers to senior citizens, educators, therapists or refugees always seeking to recognize their commonness through a common creative experience.
.jpeg)