Interview with Ilona Pászthy

Ilona Pászthy, lecturer in bodywork and movement technique at Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences, in an interview.

In a brief introductory series, we would like to present our lecturers in the field of acting, who are now also teaching in the new degree programs perfomART and Business & Acting. Applications for these degree programs, unique throughout Germany, are possible at any time. Secure your place at university now!

Interview with our artistic staff member Ilona Pászthy:

What has your artistic career path been like so far, leading up to Alanus University? 

Ilona Pászthy: I studied painting/illustration in Münster, classical dance in Hanover, and contemporary dance at the Dansacademie Rotterdam (NL). Afterwards, I worked as a dancer with choreographers such as Irina Pauls (Tanztheater Leipzig), Nancy Seitz – McIntire (Kammerspiele Mainz), Hans Kresnik, Koni Hanf(Maya Lex), and Christine Sommerlade (mind the gap).

In 2000, I founded the label IPtanz. In collaboration with the visual artist miegL (scenography), staging concepts have since emerged that reflect the spirit of the times through social critique. My dance productions have been nominated and awarded several times, including the choreography scholarship from the Kunststiftung NRW.

As a founding and board member of the choreographers’ network BARNES CROSSING Cologne, I have been part of the artistic management team of the international dance festival SoloDuo nrw + friends since the festival was founded in 2009.

As a lecturer in bodywork and contemporary dance techniques, I work with universities and companies in training contexts and professional training tools.

Since when have you been teaching at Alanus University, and what do you teach?

Since 2010, I have been teaching bodywork and movement techniques for acting students, shaped by different dance styles, Body-Mind Centering^® (BMC), and choreographic techniques. As a choreographer, I have helped shape numerous productions and staged movement performances. I will continue and further develop this work in the new degree programs performART and Business & Acting. In 2021, I will also be taking on teaching assignments in performance techniques in the Department of Fine Arts for the first time.

What has been your favorite project so far that you have been involved in, and why?

Every production has its own language and its own spirit, and discovering and developing that has always interested me the most. That is why I cannot say that it is the projects themselves that particularly fascinate me, but rather the work with the people who are involved in and contribute to them, the search for the distinctive body language of each production. 

Photo: ip-tanz