Artists

Gorka Gurrutxaga Arruti is a dancer who has worked with different choreographers and visual artists, such as Daniel Linehan, Vera Tussing, Claire Croizé, Etienne Guilloteau, Igor Calonge, Benjamin Vandewalle and Lore Stessel. In collaboration with Nerea Gurrutxaga Arruti he created the dance performance Bisonte bat bihotz eriarentzat.
He made his debut with Hiatus in 2018 with Third Space and introduced the Forest Walks in the Sonian Forest during the pandemic. The Wonder Of It All marks his fifth collaboration with Hiatus and Daniel Linehan. He regularly leads dance workshops of the Open Monday sessions.
He graduated from P.A.R.T.S. training cycle and holds a Bachelor Degree in Philosophy from EHU-University of the Basque Country.
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Michael Helland works at the crossroads of theatrical presentation, exhibition-based contexts, and public art modalities. He makes creative interventions aimed to foster social connectivity and help communities face the dark uncertainty of the future. Since completing the Yoga Conscious Living & Spiritual Activism program and receiving his certificate in Ayurvedic Yoga Massage, he offers intuitive bodywork rituals and public classes on a regular basis. Helland holds degrees in Dance and in Community, Environment, and Planning from the University of Washington in Seattle, where he was an Integrated Graduate Education Research Training Fellow in Urban Ecology.

Together with Daniel Linehan, he created the Vita Activa and Land Connection Practices workshops. Michael regularly leads an Open Monday dance session.

Anneleen Keppens is part of the core group of dancers at Hiatus and first collaborated in 2012 on Gaze is a Gap is a Ghost. Since then, she has danced in several creations, including the recent Kiss The One We Are. She enjoys sharing from her dance practice during Open Monday and contributed to the development of the Vita Activa workshop and the documentary.

In 2016, she began her choreographic research Transparency in Abstract Dance, which led to her first creation The moon is the moon is the moon. Her latest performance, Blue Moon Spring, premiered in 2023.

Anneleen Keppens graduated from the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp in 2005 and from P.A.R.T.S./Brussels in 2010. She is a movement pedagogue and teaches improvisation and composition at institutions such as P.A.R.T.S., Charleroi Danse, La Cambre, and INSAS.

Daniel Linehan founded Hiatus in 2015 and created dance performances, including the recent The Wonder Of It All and his solo Body Of Work. His solo Not About Everything, which premiered in New York in 2007, is still touring and has been performed in more than 75 theaters. Together with Michael Helland, he developed Vita Activa, in which a group of people collaborates for a week around the themes of time and work. They also co-created Land Connection Practices, a workshop that connects people with nature in an urban environment.

Daniel Linehan studied dance in Seattle and moved to New York in 2004. In 2008, he settled in Brussels, where he completed the Research Cycle at P.A.R.T.S. and later founded Hiatus. He has created over twenty dance performances and has been an artist-in-residence at the Opera de Lille and DE SINGEL in Antwerp.

Anne Pajunen (FI/BE) is a dance artist and actor based in Brussels. Her work moves between dance and theatre exploring the relationship between movement and language. She first collaborated with Daniel Linehan in 2010 on Being Together Without Any Voice and has since joined the creations The Karaoke Dialogues and Third Space as well as the most recent The Wonder Of It All.
Alongside her artistic practice, she is a frequent guest lecturer in movement and has taught at institutions such as Luca School of Arts – Drama, Uniarts Helsinki/Theatre Academy, PSPBB/ESAD, P.A.R.T.S. Summer School and La Cambre. She regularly shares her favorite practices at Open Monday.
She holds an MA in Acting from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), London (2016), an MA in Dance from the Theatre Academy of Finland (2011) and a Research Cycle Diploma from P.A.RT.S. (2010).

Souleymane was born in 1988 in Somadougou, a small village in Mali. His life took a transformative turn in 2003 when he discovered contemporary dance through choreographer Kettly Noël.

“This means of expression allowed me to emancipate myself and discover the world through my creations,” he reflects.

In 2013, he moved to Brussels to complete his dance training at P.A.R.T.S., which he finished three years later. Since then, he has performed in numerous dance productions and toured internationally. The Wonder Of It All marks his first collaboration with Daniel Linehan and Hiatus.

Louise was born in Indonesia and raised in London. She studied for both her undergraduate and Masters certificates at Laban, specialising her studies in choreology and Labanotation and was a member of Transitions 2007.

Since graduating Louise has worked both in the UK and across Europe, basing herself in Brussels. Her performance credits within the UK include;  Charlotte Spencer Projects, Gecko, Requardt & Rosenberg, Tilted Productions, Punchdrunk and Lost Dog. Within Europe she has performed for Eszter Salamon, Daniel Linehan, Kabinet K, Thierry de Mey, Damien Jalet, Ugo Dehaes, Iris Bouche, T.R.A.S.H (Netherlands) and was a member of Fabulous Beast/Teac Damsa (Ireland).

Her debut with Hiatus was in 2018 with Third Space, and she has performed in all of Daniel Linehan’s group creations since then.

Elisa Demarré obtained a master’s degree in Theatre Studies from the University of Ghent and a Master’s in Cultural Management from the University of Antwerp. She discovered at a young age the power of imagination in movement. “To jointly surrender to an imaginative exercise that tells you something about being human.” At the Hiros office, she supported the development of artistic trajectories for many artists as a producer. Since 2017, she has been working as a dramaturge and is also a herbalist and poet. The Wonder Of It All is her first collaboration as a dramaturge at Hiatus.

Frederick Denis is a costume designer for contemporary dance, theatre, and film, and has been collaborating with Daniel Linehan for many years. He studied Fashion Design in London and, after a brief period in the fashion industry, chose to focus on theatre and film. He has designed costumes for numerous dance productions by companies such as Ultima Vez, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and Hiatus. The Wonder Of It All is the eleventh dance production by Hiatus for which he is designing the costumes.

Brussels-based artist Ofer Smilansky creates immersive audiovisual installations and striking light systems for stage. Fascinated by synaesthesia, he weaves light, sound, and movement into emotionally charged compositions where music, visuals, bodies, and space collide in powerful, often unsettling ways. With a deep-rooted love for computers and a background in electronic music, he brings a versatile, experimental approach to digital creation.

His work transforms the coolness of technology into raw, dramatic experiences, connecting deeply with both general audiences and digital art enthusiasts. A passionate collaborator, he works closely with choreographers, musicians, and fellow artists. The light installation for The Wonder Of It All is his first colleboration woth Hiatus.

Ugo Woatzi (he/they) is a visual artist exploring the intersections of queer narratives and utopian imaginaries. Their work combines diverse mediums and elements to create dreamlike environments. Drawing on memories and fiction, Woatzi’s practice offers poetic reflections and imagines new possibilities for belonging and transformation—both for our bodies and the worlds we inhabit.

Woatzi is currently an artist-in-residence at WIELS, center for contemporary art in Brussels. In 2019 he graduated from the MA Visual Arts Photography at the LUCA School of Arts in Brussels. For The Wonder Of It All, Ugo Woatzi created the scenography in collaboration with the dancers.

Rutger Zuydervelt combines elements of ambient, noise, minimalism, drone, field recordings, and electroacoustic experiments. His compositions can be seen as the creation of a sound environment in which the listener can wander. He started recording under the name Machinefabriek in 2004 and has since collaborated with dozens of musicians and performed worldwide. He has worked with visual artists, choreographers, and filmmakers. The Wonder Of It All, for which he created the music, is his first collaboration with Daniel Linehan.