Meet the Springback 2025 class

Under Oonagh Duckworth’s direction, our new writers will be mentored by our lead critics including Emily May (Springback Academy graduate, currently contributor to the Financial Times), Sanjoy Roy (The Guardian, editor of Springback Magazine), Kelly Apter (The Scotsman) and Laura Cappelle (New York Times).

Springback Academy, celebrating its tenth Anniversary in 2025, will take place during Aerowaves’ Spring Forward festival 22–26 April 2025 (inclusive) Gorizia and Nova Gorica (IT/SI).

Dmitrijus Andrušanecas (LT) is currently studying for a Master’s degree at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, focusing his artistic research on diverse bodies, ages and abilities on stage. He has experience in different fields of culture mostly between the publishing industry and dance theatre. Dmitrijus worked over a decade in the publishing industry taking various positions from management, communication to translation and reviews. He also has a background of professional ballroom dancing – today he participates in contemporary dance projects. During the past year he started to explore his interest in dance criticism by attending various seminars and lectures organized by the Lithuanian Dance Information Centre. His texts have been published in the culture columns of major national websites. Today Dmitrijus continues to improve his skills in dance criticism.

Greta Bourke (IE) has a degree in English Literature and History of Art from Trinity College Dublin. After graduating, she worked for several years in the art world and in publishing in London and then went to live in Santiago, Chile, where she worked as a journalist, editor and consultant. She returned to Dublin in 2016 to work with John Scott as Company Manager of Irish Modern Dance Theatre. In 2022 Greta joined Tipperary Dance as Creative Producer where she produces multiple events and works, including Tipperary Dance Festival. Greta is based in Dublin, Ireland.

Marta Buggio (BG/IT) has been practising classical and contemporary dance since her childhood. She holds a master degree in Italian Philology from the University of Bologna, where she deepened her interest in dance with courses and a laboratory of dance and theatre journalism at the Faculty of Performing Arts. She worked as an organization assistant at international dance festivals Danza Urbana in Bologna and Antistatic Festival in Sofia. She currently works as a project manager in the educational field in Sofia and writes reviews of contemporary dance performances for Bulgarian magazines New Dramaturgies and Spisanie za tanz (“Dance Magazine”).

Laura Jasmane (LV) started her dance journey in ballet. In 2012 she graduated from the Riga Ballet School and joined Latvian National Ballet. Immersed in dance since childhood, she wanted to distance herself from the field and received a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Latvia. Since leaving dancing professionally she teaches ballet, works in a Latvian folk dance ensemble, and is an editor and author for the Dance.lv Journal. Currently, she is also a student at the Latvian Centre for Performance Art and dreams of visiting penguins in Antarctica.

Zala Julija Kavčič (SI) is a steadily emerging critical writer, lover of sitting in theatre seats, and a big fan of the thesaurus. She holds a BA in English and Italian Language and Literature and is currently pursuing an MA in cultural studies at the University of Ljubljana. Her critical journey began in dramatic theatre and later branched into street and improvisational theatre, devised performance and contemporary dance, where she keeps running into new challenges that fuel the joy of writing. She is a devotee of Slovenia’s performance scene and its many international festivals. Her writing has found a home on platforms like Koridor and Aplavz, Outsider magazine and local newspapers. Currently, she most enjoys writing for Radio Študent. Appreciating the subjective nature of criticism, she seeks expressivity and poetics in writing, aiming not only to evaluate, but to step into conversation with each piece.

Kärt Koppel (ET) is a geek of performance art, who investigates the intersection of pop and high culture through text, social media and performance. She writes a monthly column, About Dance Without Dance, for Tantsu Kuukiri, and is ⅓ of the non-musical girl group Unholy Trinity. Her recent projects include a Dance Criticism research residency (2022-2023), her dance debut So You Think You Can Dance (director-performer with Unholy Trinity 2023), work-in-progress performative installation Stalker Dance (2023), and a hyper-pop performance Rat’s Rumba (2024), both created in collaboration with Liisbeth Horn and Anumai Raska. Kärt’s ideas, concepts and forms are stewed in office aesthetics.

Maria Chiara de Nobili (DE/IT) was born in Naples, earned her BA in Contemporary Dance from Dancehaus Milano and MA in Choreography from Palucca University of Dance Dresden, where she also completed the Artistic Master Class Programme (2021–2023). In 2018, she joined La Biennale di Venezia’s College Choreographers program and returned in 2019 as a guest choreographer with Wrap. In 2020, she co-founded Miller de Nobili with Alexander Miller, debuting Momento, winner of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam’s Production Prize. Their works – including PACK, Don’t you dare!, Labyrinth, and There was still time – have toured extensively across Europe, supported by institutions such as La Biennale di Venezia, Teatros del Canal, HELLERAU, HAU (Tanzplattform Deutschland 2022), Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Residenzzentrum tanz+, Agora of Montpellier Danse, and Tanzlabor Ulm, among others.

Amit Noy (FR/US/NZ) was raised in Hawai’i and Aotearoa New Zealand, and currently lives and works in Marseille, France. He writes about dances and the artists that make them for publications including Artforum, BOMB Magazine, Gagosian Quarterly, and the Brooklyn Rail. As a choreographer, his work – often involving multiple generations of his own family – has been presented by Théâtre de la Ville, Paris, Ballet National de Marseille, and Montpellier Danse (forthcoming). As a dancer, he has collaborated with Michael Keegan-Dolan since 2019, performing in MÁM and NOBODADDY. “Amit” means colleague, or simply good friend.

Nicola Mitropoulou (CY), born on the shores of the Mediterranean, is an artist and curator based in Cyprus whose practice exists in a perpetual state of flux. Her work considers the dialectics of fluidity, intertwining elements of performativity and collective praxis to negotiate current spatiotemporal peripheries. Her projects unfold in the form of collaborative research, exhibitions, writing and performance.

Sidney Yeo (ES/NL) is an emerging dance artist and dramaturg working between The Netherlands and Spain. She graduated from the University of Utrecht with a Masters in Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy and a combined Bachelor in interdisciplinary research and Gender and Postcolonial studies. Her MA thesis explored the exploitation and vulnerability of dance artists in the capitalist industry, focusing on the demand for constant reinvention of identity and its impact. As a freelance dramaturg, her work centres on challenging societal norms by questioning the world as it is and exploring different perspectives as potential gateways to a new reality. Sidney strives to create environments where vulnerability and solidarity become the catalyst for transformation and strength.