Lora Juodkaitė --- rising star in the contemporary dance scene. She took a fancy to dance at just six years, and keeps on perfecting her skills ever since. In 2001 she graduated from Vilnius Academy of Arts and set off to Austria, where she passed into Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance.

While her studies in Salzburg, Lora started participating in international dance projects: "Fuzzy Time" by Rebecca Murgi (Superuovo, Milano, 2004), "Paprika Made Me Blind, Garlic Made Me Evil" by Vita Osojnik (Sommerszene, Salzburg, 2005), etc., made her way into movie ("Anna Netrebko: The Woman, the Voice" by V. Paterson (2003)), and even acted a Worm part in the grotesque piece by M. Šlakeski (staged by Christa Hassfurther in "bodi end sole" theater, Salzburg, 2005).

In 2005 Lora -- now the graduate from SEAD -- came back to Vilnius. She joined the dance company of V. Jankauskas and participated in the project "Footprints".

Endowed with the distinct pedagogical talent, Lora teaches dancing techniques at Vilnius Academy of Arts and directs the local academic dance theater.

Markedly modern performing style of Lora instantly mesmerizes with its forcefulness, fantasy of improvisation, and power of expression.

Lora and Andrė met at Fall 2005 in the Art-Jam project directed by Vladimir Chekasin. This meeting has got to become a starting point of very interesting and fruitful collaboration between two artists. While "Art-Jam" has been directed mainly by V. Chekasin, the project Puzzle Music for the festival "Vilnius City Jazz --- 2005" has been orchestrated by Andrė (music) and Lora (choreography). The synergy between the two has been perfected further during the concerts in Birštonas and Moscow (January --- February 2006).

The creative cooperation goes on. Until now, several more fine project have been produced: "Here and Now..." for the festival "New Baltic Dance '06", project "Riba" with students of Lora dance classes, etc.

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Three premières out of seven performances...

The most brilliant and the most surprising of them was for me the improvisatory project "Here and now..." by L. Juodkaitė < ... >. Besides the choreographer and dancer herself, in this project took their parts young and talented singer, pianist and composer Andrė Pabarčiūtė, jazz bassist Vytis Nivinskas, and drummer Marijus Aleksa. The hardy four unleashed the raging avalanche of music and dance between the stark bare walls of "Menų spaustuvė". Incredibly pliant and flexible dancer now resembled a moulting snake, and then --- a skipping wildcat or raging sea,--- so mighty has been her elemental power. She become the part of music itself, and it seemed as if the musicians are playing with her tractile body --- or she is dragging them forward just behind herself. < ... > "Here and now...", although not the final play of the festival, has become the pinnacle of the entire event.