The Magical Other – Milena Ugren Koulas
Cyprus
The Magical Other is a little choreographic work that belongs to my ongoing bigger research about how trauma affects people and how traumatic experiences shape the way we think, move, communicate, and relate to others. In this piece together with dancers, we explored how unhealed trauma creates magnetic, destructive, and awkward communication between people. “The Magical Other” is about the desperate search for each other to mend the trauma.
Credits:
Choreographer: Milena Ugren Koulas, in collaboration with dancers
Dancers: Elena Gavriel, Katerina Tylliridou
Music: Dafni Koulas
The Magical Other premiered at the Cyprus Choreography Platform in Limassol, in November 2022
Duration: 15 min.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/804666185/3a035e888a
Milena Ugren Koulas
Milena Ugren Koulas was born in 1979 in the former Yugoslavia. She graduated from Codarts University of Arts in Rotterdam in 2003 and in 2019 from COMMA Master Choreography in the Netherlands. For the last 18 years she has been living and working as a professional dancer and choreographer in Cyprus. In collaboration with her husband, drummer, Giorgos Koulas, Milena performed her work in Cyprus and abroad in Serbia, Greece, Sweden, Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia and Turkey. Milena was one of the selected artists of Aerowaves in 2015. In 2019/2020 she was a guest choreographer at Codarts University and in 2020 she was a guest lecturer at COMMA Master Choreography.
Katerina Tylliridou
Katerina Tylliridou was born in 1994 in Limassol. She graduated from Ralllou Manou school in Athens in 2016. Since then, she has been working as a professional dancer in Cyprus and has collaborated with choreographers: Fotis Nicolaou, Chloe Melidou, Roula Kleovoulou, Evie Panagiotou, Lambros Lambrou, Artetanza dance company, Allan Falieri, Milena Ugren Koulas. In 2019-2020 she took part in the Jasmin Vardimon 2 program in England.
Elena Gavriel
Elena Gavriel is a dance artist and performer currently based in Cyprus. After her graduation in performing arts and professional dance in 2014, Elena worked for the contemporary dance company Chrysalis London which gave her the opportunity to perform in several theatres in the UK. She was also featured in the movie ‘Patient Zero’ which was released in August 2018. She has been living in Cyprus since 2019 and has collaborated with choreographers: Lambros Lambrou, Elena Antoniou, Evi Panagiotou, Suzana Phialas, Alexis Vasiliou and Milena Ugren Koulas.