by Lee Brummer
Conflicted/Uncomfortable Conversations
Naomi Kats
Dancer, creator, producer and dance teacher.
Graduated from the High School of the Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem and the 'Maslool' in Tel Aviv Jaffa under the artistic direction of Naomi Perlov and Ofir Dagan.
Since 2019, Naomi has danced and collaborated with several companies and independent choreographers in Israel and around the world, including Lotem Regev, Rachel Erdus, Jenna Jalonen (Finland), Emeshe Nagy (Hungary), Ido Gidron, ilDance (Sweden), Sub.lab.pro (Hungary).
As a creator, Naomi created several works such as 'Don't run with scissors' which premiered at the festival 'THE BUNCH' (Italy) in 2023, and in 2024 she created the solo 'Miss Takes' and the duet 'M I U' as part of the third edition of the 1|2|3 program- A stage for new creators of the Suzan Dellal Center.
Lee Brummer is an independent choreographer, movement director, and international guest teacher based in Sweden. She completed her BA and teaching degree at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance in 2007.
Lee is the Associate Director and Co-founder of ilDance, an independent and international contemporary dance body and organisation working out of Gothenburg, Sweden. Additionally, since 2016, she has been managing and directing GAGA SWEDEN within ilDance. As a performer, Lee has danced with the Bat Dor Dance Company and The Emanuel Gat Dance Company, as well as with various independent choreographers throughout Europe. She has worked as a choreographer’s assistant for numerous dance productions and musicals, including “Guys & Dolls” (2009) and “Wicked” (2022) at the Gothenburg Opera, and “CATS” (2009) at Cirkus in Stockholm. Throughout her career, Lee has taught and collaborated with companies such as DV8, Australian Dance Theatre, Sydney Dance Company, National Dance Company Wales, GoteborgsOperan’s Danskompani and The Royal Dramatic Theater in Sweden among others. She has guest-taught at professional classes, schools, and universities globally and has been creating her own choreographic work within various international frameworks since 2010
Jennifer Wallén (she/her)
Jennifer was born in Germany but grew up in Sweden. She graduated from The Royal Swedish Ballet School's contemporary vocational education in 2020.
During her education, she performed in pieces by teachers and guest choreographers. As a part of her final year in school, she was an apprentice with Göteborgsoperans Danskompani during the setting of 'Naharin’s Virus' by Ohad Naharin and later on with Ballet Preljocaj Junior. Before beginning her professional dance training, Jennifer was a competitive dancer competing both nationally and internationally for the Swedish national team.
Since 2021, Jennifer has been working as a freelance dancer and performer across Sweden and has worked with ilDance and ilYoung under the artistic direction of Lee Brummer and Israel Aloni as well as with Mari Carrasco, Helena Franzén, Joseph Sturdy and Art Of Spectra/Peter Svenzon.
Being a former dancer with ilDance and ilYoung, Jennifer has had the pleasure of continuing the collaboration with the company, the most recent time being in residency with Lee Brummer for a research and development together with Naomi Katz and Rut Rosner. When working with ilDance she feels the encouragement of incorporating the dancing body into the ongoing surroundings and value the insights and challenges that come with it. Working with and about people comes with a certain respect and recognition as well as a deeper purpose of action and interaction.
Rut Rosner
Apprentice, second year student at NEFCD.
Project Description - Residency:
Between 23rd-30th September 2023 Lee Brummer was in residency at Härnosands Folkhögskola with performers Naomi Kats and Jennifer Wallén who have both worked with Lee prior and performed in her previous work “Something to do, Someone to love, Something to look forward to” in 2022. The group was joined by apprentice Rut Rosner who is currently studying at Härnosands Folkhögskola.
The four spent the week in the early stages of research and development for a new piece ‘Conflicted/Uncomfortable conversations’ (working titles) and had a studio sharing in Härnösand on the 29th of September.
“It’s been an insightful, challenging and thought provoking week beginning to climb the mountain of Conflicted/ Uncomfortable conversations. The research is around a new work that grapples with aspects of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the uncomfortable conversations around it.
We are only at the very beginning of this long path and I myself am understanding how to work with something which is so big, so current and at the same time so personal. I am so thankful to Naomi, Jennifer and Rut for their openness, trust and vulnerability, and to Danielle Dietz for hosting us so incredibly and offering a comfortable space in which we could allow ourselves to be in theuncomfortable.”
— Lee Brummer
The residency is supported by Asylum Arts at the neighbourhood, The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, NEFCD and Härnösand Folkhögskola.
Work in progress
