Dancer
I dance, therefore I am.
Feel my body, my heartbeat, my limits. Sound things out deep inside. Stretch,lengthen, contort and fall into myself. Ground under my feet. Breathe air. Burn in my heart. Float in the flood of thoughts. A dialogue. Several. Countless dialogues with me, the viewer, the unknown. Playing with expectation, devotion and distance. Permeable. Full of light. Honest.
I dance, therefore I am.
Dates
Career Highlights
LOOPING
contemporary dance company
CH-Zürich | 1995-1999
Founder, director and in-house choreographer
Fun Facts:
13 works (solo group), 11 dancers, 2 guest choreographers, 1 actor, 2 musicians/correpetitor/composer, 9 countries, 97 performances
Works (Jochen Heckmann):
Gentlemansong No. 1-3, Unfolding I-III, In our sleep, Little Fields, Unfolding Skins, Nightprayers (full-length), A break in the glass of sky, 4 Letters 2 Lovers (full-length), Sextet + 1, Every Which Way, Trans-Pass, Beyond Silent Shades, In the corner, not quite middle center
Performances a.o.:
Prague State Opera (CZE), Laterna Magica/Prague (CZE), Bolshoi Theatre Moscow (RUS), Nagoya Grand Theatre (JAP), Bern City Theatre (CH) - Swiss Dance Gala, Laban, Centre London (GB)
BALLETT-THEATER AUGSBURG
Staatstheater Augsburg | 1999-2007
Ballet director & chief choreographer
Fun Facts:
35 productions, 9 musicals, operas and operettas, 24 dancers, 6 guest dancers, 4 elevens, 1 dramaturge, 7 set designers, 5 costume designers, 9 guest choreographers, 17 guest trainers, 2 répétiteurs, 1 musician/correpetitor/composer
Works (selection, Jochens favourites):
Silent Games, Bed & Breakfast, Cinderella,
Happy and Station, La Pasión, Le Coeur Battant, Giselle, Cumulus, Swing Alive
THEATER IN KEMPTEN
2007-2011 & 2015
Artist in Residence / in-house choreographer / set and custome design
Fun Facts:
28 dancers, 5 set designers, 4 costume designers, 1 orchestra, 1 percussion trio, 2 lighting designers
Works:
Cumulus Currendus, Empfänger verzogen,
Die Wohnsinnigen, Match Point, TWO's a couple,
THREE's a crowd, Better Fail(l)ing
COLLEGE FOR CONTEMPORARY AND URBAN STAGE DANCE (HF ZUB)
& BA Urban and Contemporary Dance
CH-Zürich | 2012-2024
Artistic director, main lecturer
The foundation and development of the Higher School for Contemporary and Urban Stage Dance began intensively in 2012. As the first vocational training and study programme in the field of professional dance to be recognized throughout Switzerland by the federal government and state bodies, it quickly set standards and broke with much that was traditional and routine.
After more than ten years of constant and continuous challenges to fuel the dance market with fresh and new faces, bodies and perspectives, as well as the greatest possible openness, diversity and creativity, we have definitely succeeded in setting new standards.
The aspiring professional dancers are all on the road with a huge backpack of experience, craft and motivation. The majority of graduates are now visible on the Swiss dance scene and internationally and are in the process of creating new impulses, inspiring choreographers and inspiring audiences.
Thanks to all the teachers, choreographers and guests as well as the team at Tanzwerk101 in Zurich who have contributed to this success and sustainability.
GUEST ENSEMBLES / THEATER / PRODUCTIONS
1994 -2015
Choreographer / partly stage, costumes, light
Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern(D),Companhia Danca, Contemporanea CeDeCe/Setubal(P), TELOS/Stuttgart(D), Königlich Dänisches Ballett/Kopenhagen(DK), Prager Kammerballett(CZE), Transitions/London (GB), Staatstheater Saarbrücken(D), Nationaltheater Lodz(PL), Staatstheater/Braunschweig(D), Glyndebourne Opernfestival(GB), Salzburger Festspiele(A), ballettkiel*(D), Tiroler Landestheater/Innsbruck(A), SMDP-Project/München(D), TanzLuzernerTheater(CH), Theater Nordhausen(D), Theater Rudolstadt(D), The Space Inbetween/Zürich(CH), Theater Vorpommern/Greifswald(D) & Stettin(PL), Cathy Sharp Dance Ensemble/Basel(CH)
