Mammu Rankanen graduaded as a Master of Dance from Theatre Academy Helsinki in 1994 (studies 1988–92). After graduation she’s been working as a free lance dancer ( several works of Kirsi Monni and Tommi Kitti Company since 2001–2010 etc), choreographer and teacher. She has got two half year, two one year and one three year working grants from Finnish Arts Council and Suomen Kulttuurirahasto. She has studied shiatsu and ashtanga yoga. Rankanen has worked as a lecturer in Contemporary dance in the Theatre Academy Helsinki since 2009.

Malcolm became interested in movement out of necessity as a result of physical problems as a young child. He has been working consciously with movement now for over 20 years and these days is most focused on somatic research and teaching.

Besides holding this 60% lectureship at TEAK, he has been involved in developing the Dance And Somatics one-year course at ISLO in Joensuu, Finland, and spends the rest of his time touring around Europe teaching, for example at dance centres such as TanzQuartier Wien and Independent Dance, London. He also teaches at ImpulsTanz.

He studied mime and physical theatre, then went on to study circus arts and physical theatre at what is now Circomedia (1991–93) and then at the SNDO (School For New Dance Development) in Amsterdam (1993–95). After leaving the SNDO he continued independent studies with teachers such as Simone Forti, Julyen Hamiltion, Steve Paxton, David Zambrano among others. Alongside these studies he was very active as a performer and began to teach in 1996

Parallel to his activites in the dance world, he also studied Body Mind Centering, Movement, Shiatsu and Qi Gong. He is a certified as a Feldenkrais Method practitioner.

Sometime during the many years he had spent learning to move, he realised that he was in fact moving to learn, hence the name of his web site www.movetolearn.com where you can find out more about him and his activities.

Lecturer

Sanna Myllylahti is an independent dancer and choreographer. Born in Finland 1972, she studied at Danshögskolan in Stockholm and at the Theaterschool in Amsterdam. She graduated in 1996 with Bachelor of Fine Arts.

She has been creating her own work since 1994. Her latest work CLOSER TO HEAVEN was premiered in October 2010 in Zodiak Centre for New Dance in Helsinki and it was received with great enthousiasm. Her work has been touring in Holland, Germany, Sweden, Russia and Finland. She has been engaged as a guest choreographer in companies such as Ballet Vorpommern (1998) and Folkwang tanzstudio (2002).

As a performer she has collaborated with (among others) Itzik Galili, Martin Butler, Keren Levi and Peter Greenaway/Saskia Boddeke.

Myllylahti is teaching in professional studios/festivals and in academies around the world: Amsterdam 

 Theaterschool (SNDO+MTD), Helsinki Teatterikorkeakoulu, Danscentrum Stockholm, Open Look Festival St.Petersburg, Noore Tanstsu Festival, SEAD Salzburg, PACT –Zollverein, Düsseldorf Tanzhaus, Folkwang Tanzstudio, HJS Amsterdam, Attakkalari Center for Movement Arts, Bangalore, India.

She teaches contemporary technique, movement research and composition.