Laura Saumweber
Dancer, Dance facilitator, Choreographer
Born in Munich, Laura is a freelance dancer, dance facilitator and choreographer with a work focus in Bavaria. She is fascinated by the phenomenon of moving bodies connected in an endless search for new possibilities and forms of expression. In April 2022, her first full-length dance theater production "Ode to Things" premiered at HochX Munich in collaboration with Paula Niehoff & Martha Kröger.
Laura's focus and means of expression is the body as a medium, repository of memories and experiences, and space of non-verbal exchange. The motivation to connect people through dance led to the co-founding of the contweedancecollective in 2017 and is the central starting point of her artistic and educational work. Laura's work oscillates between her own productions in the field of dance theater, the development of socio-cultural projects (such as Our Heritage), as well as temporary engagements as a dancer at Villa Stuck, Haus der Kunst or for freelance choreographers.
As a choreographer she presented various short pieces for platforms such as International Choreography Festival Hong Kong (2017), Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival Cyprus (2018), Hier=Jetzt Festival Munich (2019), RaÃces Barcelona (2019), Kontaktfestival Bamberg (2018, 2019, 2022) or Art Release Amsterdam (2016).
Since the season 2020/21 Laura is engaged as a freelance choreographer of the TanzLAB of Schauburg Munich - Theater for Young Audiences and in this context also leads international co-creations with young people in Kenya & India. The interaction of social commitment and artistic work form the core of her work. Since 2020, she has therefore increasingly created plays for young, old and intergenerational audiences (Ãœber die Dinge, Umgedreht, Puntos Juntos).
Education:
In 2014 she completed a professional training as a stage dancer in Barcelona. She then continued her studies in the Netherlands at ArtEZ University of Arts, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Dance in Education in 2017. In 2019, her desire for a long-term sustainable approach to projects and structures of the independent scene led to the start of her distance learning studies "Arts and Culture Management" (MA) at the Professional School of Leuphana University Lüneburg.
Productions (selection)
ODE AN DIE DINGE (with Paula Niehoff & Martha Kröger) | Premiere 29.04.2022 at Hoch X Theater & Live Art Munich, 20.05.2022 Kontaktfestival Bamberg, 12/13.06.2022 Roxy | Tanzlabor Ulm, 3/4.10.2022 KUFA Kulturfabrik Bamberg, 8.10.2022 Mikrotheater Studio11 Cologne (funded by #takeheart - Wiederaufnahmeförderung, Kulturreferat der Landeshauptstadt München, Sparkassenstiftung Bamberg).
OUR HERITAGE (with Johanna Knefelkamp) | Premiere short film 18.09.2021 Akoesticum Ede-Wageningen (NL), further public events: 12.06.2021 Unesco World Culture Day Bamberg, 3./4.07.2021 KUFA Kulturfabrik Bamberg, 29.01.2022 Bamberg Short Film Festival, 9.12.2022 NS Documentation Center Munich. Link: https://www.contweedancecollective.com/our-heritage
ÜBER DIE DINGE (with Paula Niehoff) | Premiere 23.06.2021 AWO Penzberg Tour 2021: 25x in retirement homes & festivals in Munich, Cologne, Essen, Potsdam (sponsored by NPN-Stepping Out, Kulturreferat der Landeshauptstadt München, Sparkassenstiftung Bamberg, Joseph und Luise Kraft Stiftung, Bürgerstiftung Fürstenfeldbruck) Link: https://www.contweedancecollective.com/ber-die-dinge
SILHOUETTES (with Stephan Goldbach) | Premiere 21.07.2021 CON.NECT Festival Bamberg (supported by Distanzen & Musikfonds)
CONCHANCES EU+ Research Project | 2019-2022 in collaboration with Fokus Tanz Munich, Curious Seed Edinburgh, Les Schinis Bordeaux, De Dansers Utrecht, Appart & Artman Budapest & contweedancecollective (co-funded by Erasmus+ program of the European Union) Link: https://www.fokustanz.de/conchances
