Huggy Bears Artists 2025

François-Eloi Lavignac (he/him) is a French choreographer and performer, born in Limoges and raised in Brive-la-Gaillarde. At the age of 15, François moved to Paris to train at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Danse de Paris and later completed his studies at the English National Ballet School in London. His professional ballet career began with The Australian Ballet in 2013, where he rose to the rank of Coryphée before joining the Wiener Staatsballett as a demi-soloist in 2020. François’ current season with the Wiener Staatsballett marks a pivotal moment as he transitions into a new era of his artistic journey. As a choreographer and maker, François has created works for choreographic platforms within both The Australian Ballet and Wiener Staatsballett, showcasing his ability to blend classical ballet foundations with contemporary storytelling. François’ work often explores themes of identity, intimacy, and transformation, blending deeply personal narratives with bold theatricality

As part of the Huggy Bears Program 2025, François-Eloi Lavignac will develop Fifth Position, a solo performance that delves into the intersections of classical ballet, institutional power, and the dynamics of sexuality. Structured in chapters, the piece juxtaposes the discipline and rigor of the ballet world with themes of control, desire, and vulnerability. Through movement, text, and personal narrative, François examines the parallels between the structures of the ballet industry and the societal pressures surrounding identity and the body. Fifth Position invites audiences into an intimate and layered exploration of these themes, using sound, lighting, and costume design to create a deeply evocative and reflective experience.

For the first time Flora Renhardt and Maria Melotti decided to collaborate with each other. Two years ago, when each of them was investigating in their individual projects in Greece, they got interest in each others work. Skating, dancing, balancing, jumping, exploring and challenging the reality is part of their research. Now they use the change through the Huggy Bears Program to dive into new spheres. Maria finished her studies in Transmediale Kunst at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and has been working internationally as a comic artist and performer. Flora has studied dance at MUK University in Vienna and Copenhagen. Additionally Flora holds a degree in Art History.

In the course of the Huggy Bears Supporting Program 2025 Maria and Flora would like to realize sk8er grrrl. The performative project between Flora and Maria is going to be a tribute to the Flinta people in the skate world; breaking the cliché and exploring skate movements. The stage will be turned into a playful surreal Skatepark, using DIY methods and punk spirit. The two performer will become two heroines, conquering and failing the impossible. Combining dance with skate movements, the artists integrate two realities into each other.

Laureen Olivia Drexler is a contemporary dancer, choreographer and creative director, based in Vienna. Creating works across many mediums, Laureen is constantly exploring different disciplines and loves to express dance through performing and visual arts. She was born in 1997 and completed her Bachelor of Arts studies in Contemporary and Classical Stage Dance at the Music and Arts University of Vienna. Laureen has already performed in choreographies by Liz King, Georg Reischl, Luca Signoretti, Iratxe Ansa & Igor Bacovich, Esther Balfe, Saju Hari and Mani Obeya. From 2019 to 2022 Laureen was engaged as a solo dancer at Theater Regensburg under the artistic direction of Georg Reischl. In addition to professional engagements, Laureen continuously develops and hosts her own projects / performances. Since 2023 Laureen works as a freelance artist and founded LOD COLLECTIVE.

Giorgia Scisciola is a freelance contemporary dancer and teacher based in Vienna but actively working across Europe. Born in 1996, she trained at the Dance Arts Faculty in Rome and Nuova Officina della Danza in Turin. She began her career in 2018, working for companies and choreographers like Spellbound Contemporary Ballet, Norrdans and Ella Rothschild. From 2019 to 2023 she had the chance to perform pieces by acclaimed international choreographers, working for National Theaters in Germany such as Theater Regensburg and Theater Münster. Since returning to freelance work in late 2023, Giorgia has collaborated with artists across Europe and lately performed in the touring production "The Last Dance" in Germany. She recently started to work as a teacher assistant and as a choreographer, using her distinctive language and personality.

As part of the Huggy Bears Supporting Program they will develope "PIERRE" (French for stone). The work explores the balance between structure and freedom, delving into the complex dynamics of oppression and self-liberation. Using the metaphor of marble—a white and very resistant stone that can be transformed under pressure—the performance navigates the journey towards inner harmony and self-acceptance. In a world that imposes rigid societal expectations, we often forget how to live in harmony with our inner voice. PIERRE is about relearning life and reconnecting with intuition and emotion. By listening to oneself, a transformation occurs. This act of self-listening becomes the key to breaking free, where fragility is not a weakness but a profound source of strength.

Miriam Budzáková (b. 1997, Slovakia) is a dance and performance artist, currently based in Vienna, working across Austria, Slovakia, Czechia and Italy. She is a graduate of SEAD (Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, Austria), and holds a B.A. in Dance Theatre and Performance from the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Slovakia. Miriam’s creative work oscillates between seriousness, humor, and sentimentality. She explores the experience of the body in uncomfortable, intimate, social and public contexts, through which she creates performative situations as a collective spectatorial experience. She explores the dynamics of audience engagement, challenging traditional roles and capacities of spectators in various performance contexts.

Simone Lorenzo Benini (1992) is a dance artist currently working in between Vienna, Helsinki and Italy. In his artistic exploration he searches for a body and an expressive language where ecstasy, vulnerability, despair, libido, fantasies, emotions, memories and the rest that lies beneath the surface, can emerge. Simone uses dance as a tool to explore and interpret the kaleidoscopic and contradictory essence of the subconscious, allowing the multitude of the alter egos that reside within, to emerge. Somatic, theatrical, improvisational tools, together with comedy, farce, and the grotesque belong to his tools of expression.

In course of the Huggy Bears Supporting Program 2025 Miriam and Simone will realize The Sandpit (working title). The sand is a material with the potential to create multiple forms and, at the same time, erase them. Through manipulation, it becomes a substance through which infinite narratives and images can emerge. In a way, sand preserves memories. It hides and reveals, leaving only partial details visible, inviting us to imagine what lies beneath. The sandpit becomes a metaphor for the body, a container of infinite possibilities to explore the ambiguity of our memories, which are often unclear and blend with imagination, fears, desires and other forces. The body becomes the medium through which memories come to life. They don’t just resurface; they transform, allowing desires alter egos and parts of us that rarely find expression, to emerge. Sand, in this sense, becomes a symbolic tool for this transformation. Memories transform into new possibilities for being, merging the past with the present, taking on ambiguous and plural forms.Two bodies on stage take a ride through a corporeal expressive dance, rich in performative states, where the body is charged with fantasies, memories, libido, associations, and feelings, expressing through a transgressive corporeality. They try to co-exist in multiple realities, sometimes together sometimes alone.