short bio
i like to say that i am a movement-and-word artist and activist, an educator, and a queer critical thinker who specialises in developing research-oriented performative practices within the expanding fields of dance and choreography. my work-ing is meant to be encouraging of the continual re-form-ing in and of the intersectional and the emergent field of queer critical practice.
i am currently touring in two productions in Sweden and aborad, one made for neurodivergent younglings by dalija aćin thelander, and one discussing the value of laughter (in this economy?!) made by jannine rivel. most notably, i’ve worked with this year’s recipient of the prestigious golden lion, choreographer Cristina Caprioli, for the better part of the last decade on dancing, writing, speaking, choreographing, book-making, video-editing, etc.
the practices i am developing and engaging, i think, are first and foremost embodied practices, which necessarily makes them emergent practices, which necessarily makes them liberatory practices; in as much as working with the body, creating space for the body–or: body–necessitates critical study and the re-thinking of the existing structures that currently create and organise spaces for bodies.
pavleheidler (they/them) (ADHD-autism)
introduction / mission statement
greetings young padawan,
my name is pavleheidler. i go by pavle or pav. i was born in a country that doesn’t exist and currently live a short walk to and from a large body of water. i identify as trans non-binary and neuroqueer, my pronouns are they/them.
i like to say that my job is to make people's dreams come true.
whenever i think or say a version of the aforementioned statement, i am reminded of my training; it's as if something in my body-mind softens and i become conscious of the brilliant, relational sensitivity originating in or from cellular existence and/or consciousness; social components of life recede then, affording bodily materiality to step into the spotlight and so transform or influence the way “i” can relate to others or participate in this world. it is through this process–of saying and remembering what i think my job is–that i keep becoming a dance artist.
i say 'dreams' to capture something of the range of interests and capacities i've encountered working as a dancer in the field. at one end of that range or spectrum i find something like a concern with prestige, at the other the inexplicable urge to love a seemingly random and irrelevant abstraction. a choreographer like Cristina Caprioli, to give an example, has required of me to hold that whole spectrum in my imaginary at 15:49h on a Tuesday afternoon as I moved along the paths determined by her materials, looking for ways to become the one who’s going to show her something that, up until that very moment, she'd only ever seen in herself.
which is where ‘truth’ becomes interesting, doesn’t it? because, of course, when talking about ‘dreams coming true’ we’re talking about something subjective, not objective and definitely not reasonable. artists, traditionally speaking, do not deal in reason. ‘reason’ is not of our lineage and was never meant to be our responsibility; in other words, we’d not have come up with ‘reason’ on our own. what artists do and have been doing, the way i understand it, was evidencing all the different ways bodies in this world are able to perceive and make sense of their environment, their experience, their relationship. artists are like gardeners of alternatives, tenders of options, committed to protecting the complexity in texture and range of what it could mean to be alive.
one of my primary aims right now is to keep moving to support my community and the people i come in contact with in creating the conditions for dreaming, and making dreams come true. all the skills that make it possible for me to do my job stem from my dance training; i approach every role and responsibility as a dancer, as a body-based artist skilled in sensitising the room to body-forms and body-needs. i tend to get too involved in what i’m doing to remember to document any of it, which is why i’m always thinking about ways to show what any of this means, especially to someone who’s not yet experienced any of it themselves and thinks all i’m saying sounds a little too abstract for their liking. which is when a person comes to mind who, after participating in my workshop, said, i had no idea any of this was actually possible. i don’t what they meant by saying that, but i felt their meaning nonetheless and learned something about what my own drive and interest.
i don’t need to know where we’re going, i am here to make sure we packed a compass.
with love and devotion,
pav
2023-
Body-Mind Centering Practitioner
in training with Embody-Move, licence holder for the School of Body-Mind Centering®
UK
2018-2023
Somatic Movement Education
Embody-Move, licence holder for the School of Body-Mind Centering®
UK
2013-2015
MFA New Performative Practices
Stockholm University of the Arts
Stockholm, Sweden
2008-2012
Training and Research Cycle
Performing Arts Research and Training Studios
Bruxelles, Belgium
2006-2008
Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance
Salzburg, Austria
I am a professional member of BMCA (Body-Mind Centering® Association) and a registered Somatic Movement Educator of Body-Mind Centering®.
- Laughter in Process, choreographed by Jannine Rivel;
- Fields of Tender, choreographed by Dalija Aćin Thelander.
BMC® and Body-Mind Centering® are registered service marks of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, used with permission.