Lukas Malkowski

Where gesture becomes music and listening becomes physical— Microphone Controller reimagines the rock concert for Deaf and hearing audiences through choreography, embodiment and language. In this 55 minute work, voice is displaced from sound and thrown into the body.

Rooted in CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) identity, the work draws on cultural immersion, responsibility, and translation between worlds. Refracted through the mythology of fame—this work asks what the power of voice costs, and who pays the price. As spectacle fractures into intimacy, Microphone Controller reveals a performer navigating pressure, expectation, and the unstable terrain between communication and expression—

“—a multilayered experiment that subverts stereotypes around Deafness, voice and pop culture. The piece treats participation as a sensory event and challenges the audience to question their own hearing.” Jette Büchsenschütz, Berlin

Performance, Choreography & Writing: Lukas Malkowski

Lukas Malkowski (he/they) is a CODA (Child of Deaf Adult) artist, performance maker and Aquarius working in Canada and Europe. Rooted in CODA perspective, his work draws from his Deaf cultural heritage, and challenges hearing perceptions of voice and music. Embodying physics, voice, and Sign, he has choreographed full-length dance works, ambient sets, music videos, and films for Sam Slater/Joker film, LBT, and DJ Luke Slater, at CTM Festival (Berlin), FestivalTransAmérique (Montreal), and the Schrittmacher Festival (The Netherlands), John Wick 4, Babylon Berlin, Jessie Murph’s SEX HYSTERIA THE END, and independent films with Jasmine Ellis Dance Projects and Jacob Jonas The Company.

Lukas has received a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance (2024), the dance: made in Canada Audience Choice Award (2023), Recherchestipendium Darstellende Kunst (2022), Tanzpraxis Emerging Artist scholarship (2022/23), and the Hnatyshyn Developing Artist Grant (2015). He obtained his BFA in Dance Performance from Toronto Metropolitan University(2016).

Lukas’ choreography has been supported and presented by Dance Ontario, dance: made in Canada, SummerWorks, and The Citadel: Ross Centre for Dance in Toronto, as well as by b12 festival and ada Studio’s “neworks” series in Berlin. A sought-after dance educator, his teaching practice, Flomentum, is driven by visual, tactile embodiments of flight momentum. Lukas has taught and choreographed for TMU, DAI, Rosedale Heights School of the Arts(where he began dancing), Staatsteater Kassel, Staatsballett Berlin, Marameo, Dock 11, Tanecno Festival, and Tanzfabrik. Currently, Lukas is performing in touring productions by and with Guillaume Côté, Robert Lepage, and Jefta van Dinther, in addition to his own choreographies.

Throughout his career, Lukas has danced works by and with choreographers such as James Kudelka, Kate Hilliard, Heidi Strauss, Naishi Wang, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Maxine Doyle. He has performed in theatres, arts centres and festivals across the globe including Théatre Maisonneuve (Danse Danse Montréal), La Chappelle, and Usine C in Montreal; Meridian Hall, The Art Gallery of Ontario (Fall for Dance North Festival) and The Elgin Theatre in Toronto; HAU2, Komische Oper, and dock 11 in Berlin; Marin Scorescu National Theatre (International Shakespeare Festival), in Craiova, Romania, Maison Arts Créteil, and Théatre Sénart in Paris.

Composers: 

Stephen Joffe is a performer and creator based in Toronto, as well as a graduate of TheNational Theatre School of Canada. He has been published as a playwright, songwriterand poet. As an actor he has appeared in such series as Fargo, Slasher, and Alias Grace.He also the lead singer of acclaimed touring band Birds of Bellwoods, and has composedmusic for productions with companies including TMU, Vazari Arts, Citadel & Co, and more,as well as film productions including The Anniversary and White Night. He was nominatedfor two Dora Awards for Outstanding Original Sound Composition (Dance) in 2025 for his works everything i wanted to tell you and NGOMA (don’t worry about it).

Roland Meyer de Voltaire(he/him) had a short hype at the beginning of his career with his indie band Voltaire, established himself after its end as a film music composer, and moved to Berlin to realise his idea of pop music with his project SCHWARZ. Whether with just guitar or with electronic rhythms, his voice is always at the centre, sometimes as gentle as a feather, sometimes as cutting as a blade. The documentary series "Wie ein Fremder"about him, which appeared on Netflix and 3sat, brought SCHWARZ's music to a wider audience in recent years. He is also a film music composer and music producer and experienced in the field of vocal coaching.

ASL Lyrics:

Dawn Jani Birley, recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal (2025) for her pioneering Deaf-led work with 1s1 Theatre, is an award-winning actor, movement artist, and translator. Her acting versatility has earned her international acclaim. Fluent in five sign languages and with an uncanny ability for languages and storytelling, she founded 1s1 Theatre in Toronto to advance Deaf-led narratives and create new theatrical languages at the intersection of Deaf and hearing worlds. Born in Saskatchewan to a third-generation Deaf family, she proudly identifies as culturally and linguistically Deaf.

Gaitrie Persaud-Killings (she/her) is a Queer Tkaronto-Indo Caribbean raised, Gaitrie isa theatre maker who develops performances using an eclectic mix of visual and physicaltheatre styles. Acting is her passion that she lives for. She had been involved in a big play“The Two Natashas: Our life in Guyana” with her co-actor and collaborator NatashaBacchus. She is also an ASL Music performer, ASL coach and Deaf interpreter of theatre.She is the founder and Artistic Director of Phoenix The Fire which is a theatre communityhub for IBPOC Deaf artists.

Lighting Designer: Chris Malkowski

Chris Malkowski is a professional lighting designer based in Toronto, Canada and has designed lights for over 100 productions in dance, drama, opera, musical theatre, art installations and live events. His work has been staged at many theatres in Canada including the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Vancouver Opera, Soulpepper Theatre, and Canadian Stage. His work has also taken him globally gracing international festival stages in Europe (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland) and North Africa (Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco).