Artistic Leading Ensemble
A!KO 2025
Meet the Artistic Leading Ensemble for the A!KO TANZ FEST 2025: a vibrant collective of exceptional artists hailing from both national and international countries. This year’s ensemble brings together diverse talents and creative voices from across disciplines, each contributing their unique perspective and expertise.
LiLi Jung In Lee (AT/KR)
#ArtisticDirector A!KO Fest, Contemporary Ballet
LiLi Jung In Lee (Lee Jung In CREATION), is a renowned Choreographer rooted in the realms of dance and convergence, actively engaging in creations both in Korea and Europe. Additionally, she is a Ph.D. researcher at the Kunstuniversität Linz.
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Simon Sharkey (GB-SCT)
#Immersive Storytelling, Social Transformation
Simon Sharkey is the director and CEO of The Necessary Space, an international platform for artistic work at the intersection of art, technology, and society. He was one of the founding directors of the National Theatre of Scotland, where he shaped the “Theatre Without Walls” concept for over 15 years. His immersive and interdisciplinary projects have taken place across Brazil, India, Jamaica, Canada, and Scotland, focusing on creative and collective processes for social transformation.
Website: https://www.thenecessaryspace.com/
Valerio Iurato (IT)
#Somatic Choreography, Physical Precision
Valerio Iurato is a dancer and choreographer born in Sicily. He trained in Ballroom, Argentinian Tango, classical, and contemporary dance at I.D.A. in Ravenna and R.C.P.D. in Madrid. He performed as a soloist with Tanz Linz (2015–2021) and was a member of Imperfect Dancers Company. As a freelance choreographer and teacher, he develops his own training method grounded in physical awareness and high-performance research.
Alina Lugovskaya (RU)
#Urban Contemporary Movement, Expressive Presence
Alina Lugovskaya is a freelance dance and performance artist, originally from Ukraine/Russia, currently based in Linz. She holds a BA in Performance and Pedagogy from the Anton Bruckner Private University Linz and is currently pursuing an MA in Movement Research. She tours internationally, including with the Joshua Monten Dance Company, and develops her own artistic projects. She also teaches urban-contemporary dance and movement workshops across Europe.
Doris Roth (DE)
#Science & Performance, Embodied Research
Doris Roth is a scientific researcher and performer with an interdisciplinary background in molecular biosciences and biomedical engineering. She studied in Salzburg, Linz, and Vienna and conducted research at the Helmholtz Center Munich and the Harvard Medical School. She is a PhD candidate at the Technical University of Munich. Her artistic practice combines scientific exploration with performative expression and she is part of the artistic ensemble of Digital Shadows.
Selina Nowak aka Zelina Power
#Courage in Motion, Physical Storytelling
Selina Nowak, known as Zelina Power, is a wrestler, performer, and fight choreographer based in Vienna. She performs in wrestling rings, theatre productions, and films in Europe, the UK, and Mexico. Her artistic practice merges acting, acrobatics, circus, and sport. She develops original characters and movement sets, using wrestling as a form of physical storytelling. In addition to her performance work, she is also active as a stage and costume designer.
Izabela Iza Soldaty (AT)
#Improvisation & Space, Somatic Architecture
Izabela Soldaty is a dancer, dance educator, architect, and urban planner. She holds a BA in Dance and Dance Pedagogy (2016) and a BA in Architecture and Urban Planning (2011). Her practice bridges visual and performance art. She focuses on contemporary dance, improvisation, contact improvisation, and various somatic methods such as Pilates and yoga. Currently, she works as a designer and movement teacher.
Ilona Roth (DE/AT)
#Artistic Direction Digital Shadows, Collaborative Vision
Ilona Roth is a freelance dancer, performance artist, choreographer and teacher in the field of dance and theater. She trained as a musical actress in Augsburg and Munich, received a scholarship at the Harkness Dance School in New York, where she trained with dancers from the New York Dance Companies, and completed her studies in Movement Studies and Performance at the Anton Bruckner- Private university in Linz. She is co-founder and director of the RedSapata cultural initiative and the tanzhafenFESTIVAL. Various artistic and curatorial projects since 2006; Ilona Roth is the winner of the Spoleto OPEN Awards 2012 (Spoleto, Italy).