“Sunbathing Mole”. Photo by Glasses Beard

Dancer, choreographer and educator Miglė Praniauskaitė (b. 1988) creates choreography and performs not only on the contemporary dance scene but also on the pop music scene. She obtained a Professional Bachelor’s degree in Dance Pedagogy from Vilnius College in 2010. Praniauskaitė continued her studies at the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences (since 2018, Vytautas Magnus University Academy of Education), where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Dance Pedagogy in 2012 and a Master’s degree in 2014.

Since 2010, Praniauskaitė has been working as a dance teacher in various dance studios, colleges and universities. A decade ago, she founded the Fond of Sounds dance house, where she also teaches. She is also a teacher of contemporary dance technique at the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art.

As a performer and choreographer, Praniauskaitė regularly participates in various popular television projects, shows and pop music festivals, as well as creates and performs choreography in music videos by Lithuanian performers.

Praniauskaitė also creates contemporary dance performances and has founded a troupe under her name. She made her debut as a contemporary dance choreographer in 2015 with the performance Reconstruct, created for the young artists programme of the Art Printing House Atvira erdvė (Open Space). The performance was nominated for the highest Lithuanian theatre award, the Golden Cross of the Stage in the debut category, and was presented in Dubai as part of the Alserkal Lates programme. In 2018, Miglė Praniauskaitė’s dance troupe presented her third work, the dance performance Kurmis (Sunbathing Mole).

Sunbathing mole (2018) is a dance piece created for four female performers that examines human choices through the idea of a mole living in the dark but striving towards the light. The relationship between the individual and the crowd, the cost of choosing autonomy and the possible consequences are some of the themes that interest the choreographer. Here synchronised, monotonous movement of the group is opposed to an individual way of being. According to the choreographer, the individual way that exists in everybody’s life offers her an important opportunity to feel and think.

m.praniauskaite@gmail.com

http://www.mpraniauskaite.lt