Who we are
Upside Down Orchestra or short UDO is a collective of people who combine different arts in one company. When the collective was founded it in the year 2021, we first came together for an international cultural event called MišMaš, which was organized by the city and our hometown Regensburg (Germany).
During the creation process, we realized that we loved working together so much that we decided to give this company a shot.
And here we are!!!
Nino studied percussion and electro-acoustic composition at the Conservatorio Antonio Scontrino in Trapani (Italy). While completing his studies in February 2010, he already started studying at the Liszt School of Music Weimar as an Erasmus scholarship holder. In the winter of 2010/11 he began his postgraduate course in concert exams in the percussion classes, which he completed with distinction in November 2013, supported by the New Liszt Foundation Weimar. In March 2013 he won a scholarship from the YAMAHA Music Foundation of Europe.
Nino is a very versatile and diverse sound artist who collaborated with several orchestras, performed at music festivals in Germany and Italy and feels at home in many different genres.
Carmen's artistic career began in 2011 with partner acrobatics. After a few years she discovered her passion for Cyr Wheel while looking for a solo discipline. She is a self-taught athlete and can proudly claim to be world champion in Cyr Wheel as she won the gold (artistic program) and silver (all around) medal at the World Championship 2018 in Magglingen, Switzerland.
However, what makes her happy is not competing but performing on stage: There she can express herself and feel free.
Jonas Dürrbeck
Jonas´ passion and love for art began as a child. Wether music or movement, he experimented a lot in both fields, which shaped him into a very versatile artist. This versatility and his strong commitment not only opened up the world´s stages to him, but also the opportunity to take part in very different projects and ensembles. One example would be the scholarship-like funding from Dachverband Tanz for a research project investigating the interface between dance and acrobatics in 2023.
Lukas Kastl
Lukas is still new to the world of performance as he is the youngest member of UDO. Truly talented and motivated, he started learning breakdance and floor acro at the age of 12 and that´s what laid the foundation of his further development in the arts of movement. Being already exceptionally strong in power moves and tricking, he is a promising dancer and partner acrobat - we are all curious how he is going to discover and conquer the artistic world!
Melanie Old
Melanie, a Canadian-born dance artist, refined her craft at Toronto Metropolitan University under Vicki St. Denys and furthered her training with the Joffrey Ballet and Vim Vigor Dance Theatre. Her career was jump-started by her thesis project Sleep Happens to You, which gained recognition upon its presentation at Dance Ontario's Dance Weekend Festival. She has since performed works by Hans Henning Paar, Simone Elliot and Robert Glumbeck, with her own choreographic pieces showcased at Tanztage Ingolstadt and Tanzzentrale Nürnberg. Now based in Regensburg, Melanie collaborates with Theater Regensburg and Elliot Dance Collective, serves as the lead choreographer for the musical Spamalot, and is excited to join Upside Orchestra on their next production!