Ivana Di Salvo
(Basel, Switzerland / Palermo, Italy)
deepened her interest in acting, directing, and the coordination of creative processes through workshops with Danio Manfredini, Arianna Scommegna, and Massimiliano Civica. Influenced by Alessandra De Santis and Attilio Nicoli Cristiani (Teatro delle Moire), she developed a strong interest in performance practices that foster dialogue with local communities and public space. Thanks to Gigi Gherzi and Daria Deflorian, she discovered her passion for writing.
After taking part in Bouchra Ouziguen’s Swiss tour in 2017, she founded the theatre collective and association Astragalo, for which she wrote her first bilingual production, Deriva (2019), followed by Mawazo, co-written and co-directed with Mbene Mwambene (2020–2022). Her writing practice began at Teatro degli Incontri in Milan within a context of collective creation.
She later studied at the Scuola Holden and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Creative Nonfiction, Playwriting, and Screenwriting. Alongside her work for the stage, she has developed a growing interest in narrative prose. She is currently working on the short story project (Hoch)zeit with the support of the Migros Culture Percentage Literature Mentorship program in collaboration with Olimpia De Girolamo till August 2026. She is also part of the PRISMI Dramaturgy project in Ticino, Switzerland.
Aloyce Makonde
(Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)
is a choreographer, dancer, and performer. He graduated in 1997 from the Bagamoyo College of Arts (TZ) with a diploma in Performing Arts and completed a course in Performing Arts at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in England in 2001. After participating in several international projects—including Siluette (1998–2000) in Sweden and collaboration with Yggdrasil Dance Company (2002) in Denmark—he founded Mionzi Dance Theatre in 2000, Tanzania’s first contemporary dance company. From 2007 to 2012, he also initiated and directed the Visa 2 Dance Festival, the country’s first contemporary dance festival. He has been involved in numerous other projects, including collaborations with Theatre Mestola in Finland (2004), Mabwa/Vingar with choreographer C. Ekelöf (2004), TRAFFIC (2005), as well as his own choreographies such as Mtungini (2002), Triangle (2005), The Egg Solo (2007), My White Painting (2009), and Hakuna Makata (2010), a piece involving people with disabilities. In 2012, he worked with UNHCR at Lake Tanganyika and in 2013 with the organization in the Central African Republic. Aloyce is also a certified yoga teacher through the Africa Yoga Project and has served as production manager of the Haba na Haba International Dance Festival as well as at the National Museum and House of Culture in Tanzania. He met Ivana Di Salvo in 2019. He is currently Deputy Secretary General of the Performing Arts Association at the Tanzanian Ministry of Culture.
Tadhi Alawi
(Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)
is a performer and choreographer. He began dancing secretly as a teenager and was later trained by Aloyce Makonde, through whom he became part of Tanzania’s contemporary dance scene. Tadhi is a co-founder of the Nantea Dance Company and completed his training at MUDA Africa in 2016. He also holds a yoga teacher certificate from the Africa Yoga Academy in Nairobi. His work is inspired by nature, community, and African heritage. He met Ivana Di Salvo in 2020 at the Nafasi Art Center in Dar es Salaam and met Cilio Minella in 2024 at the LAB:Xchange Festival in Basel.
Cilio Minella
(1995, Basel, CH / Marseille, FR)
is a Swiss interdisciplinary artist working in visual art, dance, sound, and public space. He studied at FAI-AR – Formation Avancée et Itinérante des Arts de la Rue in Marseille (France) and holds degrees in Design and Cultural Mediation from HyperWerk Basel. He is the artistic director of La Secousse and co-founder of Volume³. His work is rooted in object and movement theater and combines aesthetics with participatory performance. In 2019, he co-initiated Zur Goldenen Rampe, an inclusive space at the WildWuchs Festival, from which the project Museum der Berührungsängste emerged in 2021. He has performed, among others, for Junges Theater Basel, L’ACHOPRO, and with various choreographers across Europe. He also organizes exhibitions and workshops in Biel, Basel, and beyond. In 2024, he participated in LAB:Xchange at Theaterfestival Basel with Le Ressenti du Son, where he met Tadhi Alawi and Ivana Di Salvo, leading to a new artistic collaboration.
Kihako Narisawa
(1984, Japan)
is a Basel-based choreographer and designer whose work bridges Japanese and European cultural influences. She has also been working as a production manager for the past five years. Her practice brings together spatial theory, anthropological concepts, communication, and intersectionality, exploring these themes through movement and design. She has collaborated with artists such as Alessandro Schiattarella, Jeremy Nedd, and Zino Wey, and has performed with companies including Fondazione Nazionale della Danza Aterballetto, Thoss Tanzcompagnie at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, and Ballett Theater Basel. Kihako holds degrees from Codarts (Rotterdam) and the Basel School of Design and Art (HGK FHNW). She studied at the Cannes Rosella Hightower College of Dance, completed her bachelor’s degree at Codarts – Rotterdam University of the Arts, and earned a master’s degree in Experimental Design and Media Cultures at HGK Basel (Masterstudio Design).
Mbene Mbunga Mwambene
Lulu Gaitan Kayage
Nongoma Ndlovu / Mrs Nobody
Tassos Tataroglou
Ursina Natalia Früh
Dominique Lüdi
Barbara Piovella
Lucia Limonta
Production management
Tanja Schimd, Catalina Schriber
Outside eyes
Ntando Cele, Anna Dafne Alessi
Light design and technicians
Tobias Voegelin, Lukas Widmer