Dancer, Choreographer
Elisabeth Schilling is a dancer and choreographer. In close collaboration with an international team and across various collaborations, she develops transdisciplinary projects between movement, design, the visual arts, and music, making the disciplines dance among themselves and with each other. To extend this process, she has, moreover, tasked herself with making contemporary dance take place in established dance spaces as well as more unusual places, and her productions regularly travel to Europe’s capitals as well as to its most rural areas. Elisabeth’s work spans from scores for urban space to more traditional main-stage pieces for black box theatres and experimental works for visual arts spaces. Finally, with her passion for touring, moving through diverse scenes, cultures, expectations and places, Elisabeth is always curious about audience interaction and enjoys developing individually tailored communication and outreach strategies for each of her projects under the title Mat Iech.
Elisabeth Schilling’s transdisciplinary dance projects are characterised by a complex movement language developed through her long-term research into textures and sounds. With a specific interest in contemporary music, they are often created in close connection to or inspired by a musical score and a particular design idea. Moreover, Elisabeth’s work is marked by a fundamental recognition of intricate interconnectivity, of relations of causes and consequences, and of the responsibilities implicit in the shaping of these relations. She thus engages, starting from the minutest of movements, a choreographic enquiry into broader societal questions and phenomena.
Her practice involves interdisciplinary ideas for the public space that let people ‘stumble over the art’. These projects are often very inclusive and accessible for dance artists and audiences alike and aim to broaden access to art, consciousness of the art form of dance, inspire joy and share the passion for movement.
In 2016, Elisabeth Schilling founded her company in Luxembourg, and ever since, her work has been touring, with almost 230 performances in 19 countries to date. Since 2020, the company is being supported by the Ministry for Culture Luxembourg. From 2021 – 23 Elisabeth is Artist in Residence at TRIFOLION Echternach, for which she created a specifically designed program titled ‘Dancing The City‘. Since May 2022, Elisabeth is ‘Associate Artist’ at Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg. Furthermore, Elisabeth collaborates regularly with Philharmonie Luxembourg on community projects or creations for young audiences.
Elisabeth regularly dances in international productions across Europe, for example in the UK, Finland, Norway, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. She has worked for companies such as Scottish Dance Theatre, Sasha Waltz (Repertoire), Trisha Brown (Repertoire), Koen Augustijn (Les Ballet C de la B), Clod Ensemble, Rosemary Butcher, Theo Clinkard, Fleur Darkin, Reinhild Hoffmann, Joe Moran, Mamia Company, Anu Sistonen, Rachel Lopez de la Nieta and Dog Kennel Hill Project, Matthias Sperling, Candoco Company, Anne Simon, Pablo Bronstein, Phil Niblock, Roberto Castello, Anna Parkina, Victor Fung Dance, Quang Kien Van, Bernard Baumgarten many other art institutions like Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Southbank Centre, Sadlers Wells, Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg, The Lowry Manchester, Wales Millenium Centre.
Her work has been shown in institutions such as Saatchi Gallery, London, Whitechapel Gallery, London, MUDAM, Luxembourg, Kunstfest Weimar, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Dag van de Dans, Brussels and The Place, London, The Byre Theatre, St. Andrews, Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow, Dovecot, Edinburgh, National Maritime Museum, London, Danshallerne, Copenhagen (DACI) amongst others.
Elisabeth’s work HEAR EYES MOVE. Dances with Ligeti, co-produced by Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg, Kunstfest Weimar and Moselmusikfestival and furthermore supported by Philharmonie Luxembourg and TROIS C-L Luxembourg choreographically interprets the 18 Etudes pour Piano by György Ligeti. Currently touring with over 20 performances in 6 countries Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Osterfestival Tirol, Festival d’avignon OFF / Les Hivernales, Echter’Classic Festival Luxembourg, The Byre Theatre & Dance Live Aberdeen amongst others.
Elisabeth has collaborated with the following artists from the fields of music, visual arts, design, dance and theatre: Anna Meredith, Phil Niblock, Anna Parkina, Cathy Krier, Andreas Papapetrou, Simone Mousset, Nina Kupczyk, Anne Simon, Pascal Schumacher.
Elisabeth was awarded the public prize at Bolzano Danza’s annual competition 2007 for her own choreography and performance and at 2011’s Dance Umbrella Festival London, she was named ‘Young Spark’. She also received a sponsorship award at AWL Mainz 2013. Elisabeth was also nominated for a Fellowship at The Centre for Ballet and the Arts / New York University and was awarded the Luxembourgish Dance Award 2021. Her work ‘HEAR EYES MOVE. Dances with Ligeti’ is nominated for an OPUS Klassik 2022.
Elisabeth currently has lecturing projects at Mdw Vienna, InDance International Barcelona and ZHdk Zürich. She is equally a mentor at the EU funded and European wide project Future Laboratory spearheaded by Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg.
Elisabeth Schilling has taught numerous classes and workshops in contemporary dance, ballet, improvisation and choreography for dance enthusiasts of all kinds and ages, students and professional dancers for institutions such as TROIS-CL, Luxembourg, DOCK 11, Berlin, Clod Ensemble, London, ProDance, Leeds, Anu Sistonen Dance Company, Sweetshop Revolution, London, Scottish Dance Theatre Creative Learning, Scottish Dance Theatre Young Creatives, Skolen for Moderne Dans, Copenhagen, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Sasha Waltz & Guests Children’s Dance Company, PERA University, Cyprus, Scottish School of Contemporary Dance, London Contemporary Dance School’s Youth Company SHIFT, SEAD Salzburg, University of Plymouth, Youth Dance Birr, Ireland, Weymoth College and Shetland Arts, amongst others.
A particular focus of her pedagogical work is the integration of refugees through dance.