Laura Manz

Laura works as a freelance dancer, performer, and dance educator in her hometown of Munich.

She currently dances in pieces by Ceren Oran (& moving borders), performs for the Think Big Festival and at Haus der Kunst, and is working with dancer and choreographer Jin Lee on a joint project.

While studying civil engineering, she was encouraged to follow her passion for dance and decided to study contemporary dance at Iwanson International alongside her degree. After graduating, she performed in productions at the Kammerspiele, the State Opera, the Gasteig and the Philharmonie in Munich, as well as at the State Theatre in Darmstadt and the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden. She has worked with various choreographers such as Angelika Meindl, Peter Mika, Matteo Carvone, and Caroline Finn, and has also appeared in video productions. Laura has begun developing and realizing her own creations: for the platform Hier=Jetzt, she created the piece noice and also choreographically supported Joao Santiago in his solo work T(raum)a.

In her own artistic practice, she explores themes that question the relationship between humans and nature, while also foregrounding sensory perception and environmental influences on the human body. In addition, Laura takes on artistic project management for the initiative TanzQuelle and the OASIS project, advocates for exchange and networking in the independent scene, and teaches contemporary dance and improvisation with passion.

In her classes, she places great importance on exploring, challenging, but also respecting one’s own body and its endless possibilities of movement. She also focuses on how information is processed through our various sensory channels and examines their influence on our movement repertoire. Awareness of the spatial perception of the moving body, as well as of dancers within a group, is encouraged alongside an understanding of intuitive, spontaneous (inter)action.