Urban Essentials | Symposium 2024

About the Participants

Symposium Moderator:

Andrius Katinas – a dance artist based in Finland who creates performances and choreography. Andrius Katinas studied theater arts at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater and dance at the Finnish Theater Academy. He is currently the head of the Dance Department at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater. Since 1999, as a performer, choreographer, and collaborator, he has created more than 40 works. His artistic practice focuses on the poetics of communication in dance, constantly seeking new choreographic methods and ways of collaboration. His work reflects a sensitivity to personal life changes and the “quiet” rhetoric of the artist’s role in society.

Speakers:

Friederike “Bgirl Frost” Frost is a researcher in the fields of dance, sports, and hip-hop. She is a research assistant at the Cologne Hip-Hop Institute at the University of Cologne and is writing her doctoral dissertation on breakdancing at the Institute for Dance and Movement Culture at the German Sport University. As a breakdancer herself, she researches the transnational flows and cultural influences of breakdance movements and has published book chapters and articles on gender negotiations, the sense of belonging, and the “call and response” principle in breakdancing.

Friederike Frost lives between Germany and Morocco and works as a freelance dancer, choreographer, and cultural manager. She teaches breakdancing in schools and universities, participates in social and gender equality projects, and in 2020 won the Digital Teaching Award from the German Sport University Cologne. She creates dance theater performances with her dance company “Cie Chara,” implements art and dance projects in collaboration with, for example, the Goethe-Institut in Morocco, and judges breakdancing competitions such as the “Breaking for Gold” qualifiers and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Friederike Frost is the founder of the European Hip-Hop Studies Network and created “@hiphopstudysunday,” which provides dancers, students, and scholars with access to hip-hop studies and literature. She is the 2019 German B-Girl runner-up and a member of the advisory board for “Neue Künste Ruhr”—a funding program for urban and digital arts run by the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Airida Gudaitė is a dancer, choreographer, educator, and doctoral student in the arts at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. In her professional work, she explores Western culture and social dance, focusing on their movement structures, which are always open to transformation and improvisation. In her dance practice, she develops movement by combining hip-hop and contemporary dance forms, supported by her personal research. She collaborates with choreographers living in Europe and beyond, and organizes educational workshops and events. Since 2012, together with her creative partner Laurynas Žakevičius, Airida Gudaitė has established the first independent arts organization in Lithuania based on street dance, “Low Air” Dance Theater and School, which fosters creative dance processes, mentors young dancers, and cultivates a young audience. In 2017, “Low Air” was granted the status of a Vilnius City Dance Theater and School.

Together with Low Air co-founder Laurynas Žakevičius, Airida was awarded the “Young Creator Award” by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania in 2017. That same year, she received the “Boris Dauguvietis Earring” award for her successful exploration of new forms of stage expression by combining street dance and theater in her performances, as well as for her pedagogical work that is transforming the face of contemporary dance in Lithuania. She was honored with an award established by the Contemporary Dance Association for her most memorable creative work.

Recipient of three Golden Crosses of the Stage in 2014, 2017, and 2022 for the productions *Home Trip*, *Game Over*, and *Me Two/We, the Cligue*, as well as numerous awards for her creative achievements. Having performed in and created over 15 productions, Airida Gudaitė travels with her dance works from Greenland to South Korea, from the U.S. across all of Europe, accumulating knowledge and experience in dance while sharing it and putting Lithuania on the global map.

Guests of the discussion session:

Dr. Jekaterina Lavrinec – an urban researcher, curator of community initiatives, and practitioner of public space revitalization, who employs participatory art forms as a method for analyzing and developing urban spaces. Together with like-minded individuals, she founded the urban games and research laboratory “Laimikis.lt,” which has been carrying out initiatives in non-formal education and the revitalization of neighborhoods and public spaces since 2007. As an associate professor at Vilnius TECH and a visiting lecturer at other universities, she has been teaching urban studies courses since 2007 and curates the annual “priARTink!” week of public space studies and interventions, during which students explore and revitalize forgotten urban spaces. In 2020, together with cultural organizations and institutions operating in the Baltic Sea region, she founded an international network dedicated to cultural urban planning. Her research and creative projects focus on the experiences of urban space users and their physical and emotional connection to the urban environment.

Active dancers in the Lithuanian hip-hop community:

Monika “Kozo” Čibiraitė – a professional street dancer and teacher. Monika holds a bachelor’s degree in contemporary dance from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, as well as a minor in education. She began her dance career in 2012 and continues to represent the popping dance style. Monika Kozo has performed at major street dance events around the world, where she has been recognized by the international popping community, and has also won prestigious street dance competitions.

She currently works in Sweden at Åsa Folkhogskola, where she teaches popping and curates street dance classes. She also co-founded the street dance school “Underground” in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 2023.

Gabija Čepelytė is a professional dancer specializing in hip-hop, house, and popping. Her diverse practice includes dance classes, performances, event organization, and dance theater production. In 2019, Gabija graduated with first-class honors from the University of Surrey in England, where she studied classical and contemporary techniques, Bharatanatyam, and contemporary African dance. Since completing her studies, she has trained and worked internationally, spending most of her time in London, where she became a student of the first generation of the “Indahouse UK” collective and collaborated in various ways with renowned street dance theater companies such as “Boy Blue” and “Far From The Norm.” Gabija has also participated in numerous international street dance battles and competitions, gaining valuable insights from respected mentors in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Rokas Šaltenis, better known on the Lithuanian and international breakdancing scene as “Rukus,” began dancing in 2000. Since then, Rokas has participated in numerous local and top-tier global breakdancing events—from dance battles to stage dance-theater performances; he has continuously sought knowledge from legends of street dance culture and today’s talents; and sharing his accumulated experience by leading workshops and regular classes for dancers of all ages and skill levels. After returning to Lithuania following a long hiatus, Rokas has spent the last few years engaged in educational activities and is returning to dance theater with the Low Air dance performance “Vienudu.”

Marius Eidrigevičius “Arni” is a dancer, choreographer, educator, and active advocate for street dance. Throughout his career as a dancer and teacher, Marius has contributed to the growth and flourishing of street dance culture, inspiring a new generation of dancers and encouraging some of them to pursue a career as creators. In 2018, he began his journey onto the professional dance theater stage by creating the street dance solo performance “Vyrsmas.” Marius Eidrigevičius has worked on various artistic and social projects and collaborated with various musicians. He currently teaches at Vilnius College, where he instructs future Lithuanian dance educators in street dance and is establishing new international partnerships with universities in Portugal and Latvia.