INTELLIGENT MOVEMENT
Kristina De Ventus
Kristina De Ventus is a four-time national and world dance champion. As a dancer and soloist, she participated in the Slovenian Dance Project, led by her and French choreographer Fred Lasserre. She served as the president of the Society of Modern Arts and co-founded the Dance Center Ljubljana. For young talented dancers, she established the Slovenian Dance Project II.
She was also a member of the globally renowned New York ensemble, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She danced at Broadway Dance Center and New York Ballet Conservatory of Dance. In New York, she studied under Russian ballet master Ilja Gaft, who imparted the whirling technique method to her. As a choreographer and dance educator, she taught both domestically and internationally, including at the well-known Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance in London.
Based on ten years of intensive research into ancient methods and practices worldwide, she developed the Ishmech dance movement method. She is also a teacher of one of the best methods ever created for the harmonious development of modern humans – the original dances according to Gurdjieff’s method. As a movement therapist, she responsibly imparts this demanding knowledge in its original form, enabling people to develop their abilities both locally and globally.
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She began dancing ballet at the age of seven, and in her early teens, she devoted herself seriously to contemporary dance and rhythmic studies. For several years, her dance teacher and choreographer Mimi Marčac played a significant role in her training. Under Marčac’s guidance, she became a four-time national champion with her dance partner Bukinc, and in 1992, she earned the title of world dance champion in show dances in Bremen. She continued her education at the Ballet School in Ljubljana under ballet teachers Franci Ambrožič, Darja Sebastijan, Maruša Vidmar, Mateja Selan, Lana Stranič, and Tanja Pezdir.
She learned the Cunningham dance technique from Damas, a dancer of the famous Maurice Béjart dance group. In addition, she trained in classical ballet at the Ljubljana Ballet School and further honed her skills with the Chilean prima ballerina and pedagogue Maritza Galaz. Galaz consistently supported her and, with her unique teaching style, conveyed the essence of classical ballet, as danced by Ana Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, and Natalia Makarova, including the subtle nuances of feminine movement.
Subsequently, Kristina De Ventus danced for nearly ten years in the Slovenian Dance Project under the leadership of French choreographer Fred Lasser. As a soloist, she performed in all of Lasser’s choreographies and participated in numerous competitions in contemporary and modern dance, both nationally and internationally.
Collaborating with various renowned Slovenian choreographers, dance educators, and artistic directors, she contributed to the creation of gala evenings featuring new ballet choreographies organized by the Society of Ballet Artists of Slovenia, under the guidance of esteemed ballet dancer Vojko Vidmar.
Kristina served as the president of the Society of Modern Arts and was a co-founder of the Dance Center Ljubljana. Together with Fred Lasser, she led the Slovenian Dance Project. She established the Slovenian Dance Project II for young talented dancers. Collaborating with the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre, she created the “Moje sanje” (My Dreams) project. She also worked with Cankarjev dom and the Protocol of the Republic of Slovenia and served as an interregional selector for the Public Fund of the Republic of Slovenia for Cultural Activities.
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In Slovenia, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia granted her the status of an independent artist in the field of culture, as a dancer, choreographer, and dance pedagogue.
She taught at various dance schools and centers, both nationally and internationally, including the Ljubljana Ballet School, Dance Center Ljubljana, Dance Center Terpsihora Šempeter, Dance School Urška Ljubljana, Theatre Koper, Dance Society Elite Koper, Dance School Miki, Dance City, and international summer dance schools in Izola, Koper, Maribor, Piran, and Nova Gorica. As a guest dance pedagogue, she taught in Italy and at the globally renowned Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance in London, named after Rudolf Laban, a pioneer of modern dance, somatics, and Labanotation.
She furthered her education in the United States, where she was selected as one of over a hundred dancers for the globally renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) in New York. At the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (AAADC), she was instructed by various distinguished dance pedagogues in Horton technique, classical ballet, pointe work, jazz ballet, and Graham technique. She was recognized as a talented and diligent dancer and was awarded a scholarship by AAADC. In New York, she also danced at the Broadway Dance Center and the New York Ballet Conservatory of Dance, refining her ballet skills at the New York Ballet Institute.
There, she had the honor of being a student of Russian ballet master Ilja Gaft, who demanded that his students, as a condition for his teaching, could execute 32 uninterrupted fouetté turns. At the age of 65, he effortlessly and gracefully performed 11 pirouettes. From Gaft, she learned and mastered the technique of turning.
After dedicating 30 years to dance, driven by a desire to understand the internal and external workings of human beings and their spiritual essence, Kristina embarked on a decade-long, no less intense journey exploring ancient movement methods and practices. Among her accomplishments, she embraced various meditations for opening energy centers and reacquainted herself with the turning technique she had artistically mastered in New York under Ilja Gaft. Through daily training, she achieved internal stability and an understanding of the fundamental integral vibration, referenced in both ancient texts and modern science. Based on this knowledge and her myriad experiences, she developed the Ishmech dance movement method.
In her exploration of ancient methods and practices, she also encountered Amiyo Devienne and Chetana Greenberg, becoming their close disciple and eventually herself a teacher of one of the best methods ever created for the harmonious development of modern individuals – the original dances according to Gurdjieff’s method.
Additionally, she had the honor of befriending Alain Kremski in Paris, the pianist of Madame de Salzman, a personal student of G. I. Gurdjieff. At the personal invitation of Alain Kremski, she performed several solo appearances in France to his sensitive, pure piano playing. At Amiyo Devienne’s invitation, she also participated in presenting Gurdjieff’s original dances to a broader audience in Germany and France, accompanied by live music performed by Alain Kremski.
Today, as a movement therapist, she responsibly imparts this challenging knowledge in its original form at home and worldwide, enabling people to develop their abilities.
