TO BE AN ARTIST S2 EPS1 GWENDOLYN KASSENAAR VISUAL ARTIST - PERFORMER To be an Artist

Hi everyone,  Welcome to season two of TO BE AN ARTIST which is off to a strong start with no-one else but one of my consistent collaborations and inspirations Gwendolyn Kassenaar.   If you would like to donate and support this Project, Please do so at:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ToBeAnArtist Gwendolyn Kassenaar is a Dutch visual & performance artist based in London. A graduate from Chelsea College of Art, she paints live in performances collaborating with musicians and dancers. She improvises in the moment to express the ephemeral in her quest to fuse visual art, sound, rhythm, colour and movement.   Recent performances include a large live-painted mural in Shoreditch together with a dancer, a multi-disciplinary performance at the Hundred Years Gallery and a duet with Beibei Wang at SOAS. During the London Jazz Festival 2021 her work was shown at the Vortex and Toulouse Lautrec Jazz Clubs.   http://www.gwendolynkassenaar.com https://www.instagram.com/gwendolynkassenaar/ “Petra Haller is unique as an improvising tap dancer – a worthy successor to Will Gaines. ” — oliver weindling, vortex jazz club, babel label    PETRA IS AN INDEPENDENT DANCE ARTIST AND TAP DANCER BASED IN LONDON.   SHE STARTED HER CAREER AS A FREELANCE DANCER WORKING ON BBC1, THE ONE SHOW: SKY1, LUIE SPENCE’S SHOW BUSINESS; ELLEN KENT PRODUCTION, AIDA AS WELL AS VARIOUS MUSIC VIDEOS AND LIVE EVENTS.   AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF SOLELY WORKING FOR OTHER PEOPLE SHE STARTED  CREATING , PRODUCING AND PERFORMING HER OWN WORK AS WELL.   HER FIRST OUTINGS AS A CREATOR, DANCER, PRODUCER INCLUDE: “CHARLIE: MY MESSAGE TO HUMANITY“, LAKE STUDIOS BERLIN AND THE SOLO THEATRE SHOWCASE “SOLO ROULETTE” AT THE BLUE ELEPHANT THEATRE IN NOVEMBER 2018 PERFORMING “DELIVER ME” A THEATRE AND DANCE PIECE WHICH COMBINES SPOKEN WORD AND CONTEMPORARY DANCE.   SHE IS CURRENTLY THE RESIDENT DANCER AT RÉSONANCES PERFORMANCES, AN INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION OF IMPROVISED MUSIC, POETRY, DIGITAL ART AND LIVE PAINTING LED BY AURELIE FREOUA AND SUPPORTED BY THE VORTEX JAZZ CLUB.   PETRA HAS BEEN THE FIRST TAP DANCER NAMED IN JAZZWISE MAGAZINE’S: RISING JAZZ ARTISTS SECTION IN: WHO TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2020. SHE HAS MAINLY STUDIED TAP UNDER JASON SAMUELS SMITH AND DERICK GRANT WHO NOT ONLY TAUGHT HER THE DANCE STYLE BUT ALSO INSPIRED HER TO STUDY THE ROOTS OF THIS AFRICAN-AMERICAN ART FORM IN JAZZ MUSIC AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY.    SHE WAS INTRODUCED TO FREE IMPROVISATION BY CLEVELAND WATKISS AT THE FREEDOM OF ART LOFT JAM AND IMMEDIATELY FOUND HERSELF AT HOME.  PETRA IS COMMITTED TO HONOR THE LINEAGE AND HISTORY OF TAP DANCE WHILE FINDING HER PLACE IN IMPROVISED MUSIC AND JAZZ, CONSTANTLY HUNGRY TO LEARN AND COLLABORATE WITH OTHER ART FORMS AND INSTRUMENTALISTS.    RECENT PERFORMANCES INCLUDE:    CONGREGATE ONLINE; CLEVELAND WATKISS, SOUL CITY ARTS 2020   RÉSONANCES ONLINE; ONLINE 1/ RESILIENCE/ MEMORIES; VORTEX JAZZ CLUB 2020   JAZZ CONNECTIVE; VORTEX JAZZ CLUB 2020   TAP DANCE AND PIANO DUO WITH RICHARD ADAM LEWIS; VORTEX JAZZ CLUB 2020   RESONANCES 3: RÊVES; VORTEX JAZZ CLUB, LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL 2019   ECSTASIES; ARTWALK WAKEFIELD 2019  https://www.petrahaller.net/home https://www.instagram.com/petrahallerdancer/  Music: Music by Citrus Avenue - Orange Roughy - https://thmatc.co/?l=106E324D