David Brandstätter born in Wuppertal Germany, grew up in Frankfurt and studied applied music science in Hamburg. From the age of 15 he worked internationally as a juggler and unicyclist, and became a practitioner of traditional Japanese martial arts. In 2001, he started his studies of choreography in Arnhem at the European Dance Development Centre (now called ArtEZ). During his studies he met Seung Hee Yang and Malgven Gerbes who became his main collaborators at the time. He concentrated his research on the development of contact improvisation towards choreographic structures, and as a tool to bring conceptual thought and movement desires together. He graduated in 2005. Besides the work for s h i f t s and among other smaller works, he has organised different artistic exchange projects for choreography, improvisation and contact improvisation in Berlin, and has taught contact improvisation and choreography at: Tanzfabrik Berlin, Fabrik Potsdam, Ernst Busch Hochschule für Schauspielkunst, Statdtheater Düsseldorf, ArtEZ Arnhem (NL), Korean National University of Arts Seoul, Dartington College of arts (UK), Session House Tokyo, and elsewhere. Since 2010 he is a board member of ZTB Berlin the association for contemporary dance in Berlin.

Malgven Gerbes is born in France. She studied architecture in Paris in the ENSAAMA (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et Métiers d’Arts), and worked two years as architect in Le Bon Marché Paris (Group LVMH). She graduated in choreography in ArtEZ Arnhem (former EDDC) in the Netherlands. Malgven Gerbes choreographed and performed for group collaborative projects in Tanzhaus NRW Düsseldorf, in the Forum Freies Theater in Düsseldorf, for the Miryang Summer Festival in Korea, the Seoul Performing Arts Festival DANCE 2010 Munich, les Hivernales d’Avignon, among others. She was guest professor for one semester in the choreographic department at the Korean National University of the Arts (KNUA)
in autumn 2007, in the choreographic department of ArtEZ Arnhem in spring 2008, in Dartington College
of arts (UK) in 2009. She regularly teaches for professional dancers in places such as Tanzfabrik Berlin, Labor Gras Berlin, Session House Tokyo.