RHYTHM AND DANCE IN CRETE
Enter the world of Greek dances
About Us
Dates 2024
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Workshop Weeks
13/05 - 17/05 16/09 - 20 /09
20/05 - 24/05 30/09 - 04/10
03/06 - 07/06 07/10 - 11/10
17/06 - 21/06 14/10 - 18/10
Individual or group classes on demand:
18/05 - 28/06
10/09 - 25/10
Isabella Muellenbach. Dance teacher, physiotherapist.​
Born in Switzerland, living in Zurich and southern Crete, Isabella fell in love with Greece as a child, in 1966, after a visit to Kalymnos island.
After an early education in rhythmic movements, gymnastics, ballet, she graduated in physical therapy in Zurich USZ, in 1976, where she started working with psychiatric patients as movement therapist.
In 1979 she made various studies in New York, US, in dance therapy, psychodrama, Laban Institute for Movement Studies, modern dance, and she worked as a volunteer in dance therapy in the psychiatric unit of Roosevelt Hospital.
In 1980 she started her own studio for physical and dance therapy in Zurich, specialized for patients with eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia) and victims of sexual abuse, and she gave for 15 years weekly lessons in dance therapy at the psychotherapy unit of University Hospital Zurich USZ.
After a two years training and the graduation as dance teacher for circle dances, since 1996 her main focus is on Greek traditional dances from all over Greece, and she has gone through intensive training and studies with various Greek dance teachers in Switzerland and Greece.
As a Greek traditional dances' teacher, she has been holding weekly classes (on going courses) in Switzerland, since 1996, various weekend seminars in Switzerland, Germany and France, and workshops in cooperation with Ursula Kastanias (Ikaria island, Greece) and Simone Mongelli (Athens).
Since 2002 she has been organizing and leading 10-days dance seminars in Greece (Karpathos, Epirus, Aetoloakarnania, Crete), and since 2012 only in her house "To Kavouri", southern Crete, every spring, summer and autumn. She is lately actually living there 4 – 5 months a year.
Simone Mongelli. Percussionist, body percussionist, performer.
Born in Italy, where he graduated with honours in Ethnomusicology, after a music trip in Greece in 1999 he fell in love with Greek music and tradition, and moved in 2005 to Athens, where he graduated with honours in traditional percussion instruments from the F. Nakas Conservatory.
In Italy he had been studying classical percussions, jazz drums, and self-taught Italian and Mediterranean traditional percussions, attending various masterclasses and seminars.
He was founder, composer and arranger of many bands in Italy, from rock to “ethno-jazz-rock” to folk music, and he won the first prize in the Italian National Jazz Contest “Fiesole Jazz”, with Stefano Bollani in the Jury, in 1999. As a musician, he has performed in concerts and festivals in Italy, Bosnia, France, Palestine, Greece, Malta, Spain, Albania, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, USA, Turkey...
In Greece he has been member of various percussion ensembles, and has performed with several bands, playing rock, reggae, traditional and modern Greek music, world, Italian traditional music... He collaborated with institutions like the “Lykio Ellinidon” and played with lots of renowned composers, musicians and singers of the rock, jazz, modern and folk scene.
He runs a free improvisation project with Nikos Touliatos, and in 2010 their first recording was voted by an important music magazine as 2nd best Greek jazz album of the year.
He has played in musicals and theatre plays, and he personally wrote and directed three theatre performances, with musicians, dancers, actors and street artists, which were presented in Italy and abroad.
In his own musical projects he has been researching and working on many different kinds of music: jazz, rock, early music, European folk, Italian tradition, Greek tradition, world, fusion...
He started dealing with body music in 2008, and attended classes with Max Pollak, Thanos Daskalopoulos, Keith Terry, Jep Melendez, the “Stomp” members Leela Petronio and Simone Clarke, and others. He founded the project "Bodyterranean", a Body Music show based on traditional Greek and Italian music, first presented at the "International Body Music Festival", directed by Keith Terry.
As a teacher and trainer, he has been active since 1998 in private lessons, Music Schools, Primary and Secondary schools, University, he has collaborated in many traditional dance workshops, and he gives seminars, classes and team building workshops in percussions and body music all over the world.