Liz Erber creates original, body-based dance and theater works for stage, film and site-specific locations. One of her main interests is to build networks and unexpected connections between people, themes, places and genres. Many of her works are multi-disciplinary. Since 2015, environmental and nature themes have been a central focus in her work, The ReWilding Projekt (Berlin, English Theater Berlin, 2016) und Global Water Dances-Oderberg (Oderberg, Binnenschifffahrt-Museum, 2019).
Originally from the USA, Liz has been working in the field of performance for over two decades and as a choreographer since 2003. She has been living/working in Berlin since 2008 and since 2018, calls Oderberg, Brandenburg her home, where she is directing a variety of dance and ecological projects, has founded the dance company Tanztheater Land Brandenburg and together with her partner, founded KuNaKu: Haus für Kunst, Natur und Kultur, gGmbH.
Her pieces have appeared at numerous site-specific locations in Brandenburg, and on numerous Berlin stages, including: English Theater Berlin (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016. 2017), Uferstudios (2018), Sophiensäle (2014), ada Studio (2010, 2011, 2013), Tanzfabrik (2010,2013) K77 (2009, 2011-17), ua.
Liz gives regular classes and workshops in contact improvisation, Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis, Moving and Writing, contemporary dance, and more.
2020 KuNaKu Wohnzimmertanz #4: Ocean Tribe
December 2020
KuNaKu: Haus für Kunst, Natur und Kultur, Oderberg, Germany
Choreography: Liz Erber, together with Heike Roche and Beata Kana
Sound/Music: Michael Metzler
In this piece we echo the flow and strength of the ocean, as well as the flow and strength of women throughout history. Percussionist, Michael Metzler, plays the handdrum which was for thousands of years primarily a female istrument before the time the Christian church took control in Rome.
This piece was created with the financial support of Barnim County, Brandenburg (Lankreis Barnim) in Germany. KuNaKu: Haus für Kunst, Natur und Kultur, supported us with a rehearsal and performance space from October-December 2020.
2020 KuNaKu Wohnzimmertanz #1: The Three Sisters (in Lockdown)
December 2020
KuNaKu: Haus für Kunst, Natur und Kultur, Oderberg, Germany
Choreography: Liz Erber, together with Heike Roche and Beata Kana
Sound/Music: Michael Metzler
This was the first in a series of "Living Room Dances", or "Wohnzimmer Tänze". This dance features Liz Erber, Beata Kana and Heike Roche, all performers living in Oderberg, Barnim, Brandenburg. The music is performed live by Michael Metzler, from Brodowin, Barnim. Created with financial support from "Landkreis Barnim".
2019 Compassion & RepenTanz
17. November, 2019
Eschloraque, Berlin
Dancers and choreographers, Liz Erber and Andrew Wass explore the theme of compassion in our daily lives. Subtopics that arise are: repentance, vulnerability, honesty and empathy. The masks in use have been generously lent to us from Scharniertheater Hannover.
2019 Dances on the Oder - Part 2/ Tänze an der Oder – Teil 2
7. September, 2020
Offene Höfe Oderberg—Opening Ceremony/ die Eröffnung
Park des Binnenschifffahrts-Museum Oderberg
Choreogaphy/ Dance: Liz Erber & Beata Kana with the children from "der Hort am Albrechtsberg"" Oderberg.
Made possible through a commission/invitation from Offen Höfe Oderberg (KulturLINIEN e.V.) and an on-going grant from TanzMachtStark! (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) in collaboration with Perspektive Oderberg e.V.
2019 Global Water Dances – Oderberg 2019 – Tänze an der Oder
Premiere 15. Juni im Park des Binnenschifffahrt-museums Oderberg
Global Water Dances - Oderberg 2019 - Tänze an der Oder from Dan Farberoff on Vimeo.
Choreography/ Direction
Liz Erber with support from Heike Fröhlich, Beata Kana, Manuel Hülsmann
Dance from and with: Gevher N. Agbektas, Liz Erber, Heike Fröhlich, Manuel Hülsmann, Denis Engel, Roberta, Beata Kana, Birgit Knausenberger, Uta Kühn, Hanka Russell, Peter Skead, Patricia von Miserony, Perspektive Oderberg (Mar- gret Effenberer, Heike Fröhlich, Angelika Gauert, Gabi Schilke), Kinder vom Hort der Schule Oderberg (Anna Hering, Judith von Recklinghausen, Flora von Recklinghausen, Alina Wendt), Lucia Friedrich, Mina Friedrich, u.a. Gäste.
Music
Heike Zillmann und Manuela Zühr (Live)
Nicolás Soto Urrea - Composer, recorded music from the global section (www.nicolassoto.com)
Film
Dan Farberoff
In cooperation with Johanna Martin and KulturLINIEN e.V., Perspektive Oderberg e.V., Binnenschifffahrts-Museum Oderberg, e.V., Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Oderberg-Altglietzen e.V. (for rehearsal space), Kinderhort am Albrechtsberg. Made possible through funding from Eurolab e.V. and Tanz Macht Star (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung).
2018 Feeling Feeling
Premiere 10. February, 2018
Uferstudios, Berlin
Feeling Feeling is a dance-music-poetry performance collaboration between the world-renowned poets, Eugue Ostashevsky and Donna Stonecipher, the composer, Wojtek Blecharz, and the choreographers/dancers, Liz Erber and Sven Seeger. In addition, Blecharz, works together with three musicians from Berlin’s KNM Ensemble to create his composition: Theo Nabicht (bass clarinet), Alexandre Babel (percussion) and Theodor Findell (violin). Everyone with the exception of Blecharz is present on stage.
In Feeling Feeling we feel and we feel what it is too feel. We feel about and we wonder how we feel about it. When we are feeling for feeling, are we still feeling? Or maybe we are not feeling at all – maybe we are simply thinking about feeling – or flailing or falling or failing or felling.
Regardless, we are playing with words and meaning, and we are dancing. Yes, we are dancing -experiencing the feeling of flow and falling and flailing, as we create a moving landscape which interweaves with words, meaning and feelings, as well as Blecharz’s poignant soundscape.
With the stage lined on all sides with a total of nine gongs, we feel a vibrational landscape traveling through the space and meeting our bodies in a tangible experince of touch. Musicians travel through the space to further enchnace the experience of feeing sound.
Feeling Feeling invites the audience to feel the performance – the sound, the music, the movement – and the gestalt of these three artistic forms interacting and melding together into one.
This work was funded by the Berliner City Tax funds and was created as part of the performance series 3D Poesie, a collaboration between the Haus der Poesie, the Ensemble KNM Berlin, Ensemble Kombol, and dance-arts-cie. Feeling Feeling premiered on February 11, 2018 at Uferstudios in Berlin.
2017 A Dinner of Shadows
Premiere 4. April
English Theatre Berlin⎢International Performing Arts Center
Part of the expat Expo 2017 | Immigration Invasion Festival
Concept/Choreography: Liz Erber und Sven Seeger, produced by English Theater Berlin| International Performing Arts Center, as part of the Expat Expo | Immigration Invasion Festival
In A Dinner of Shadows, two performers, Sven Seeger (Germany) and Liz Erber (USA), reveal suppressed aspects of both the individual and collective shadows. By deconstructing the physical and mental attitudes alive within their own bodies and within the predominate cultures of Germany and the Western World, they create a piece that is both highly physical (body/movement-based) as well as politically and culturally relevant (containing text with elements of story and character).
The two performers then set out to tackle aspects of the collective shadow. What attitudes and expressions are allowed or not allowed within our culture? On whom do we project our fears and aggressions? The two performers also explore aspects of currently popular archetypes: the terrorist, the victim, the religiously fanatical, the freedom fighter, the dictator, the liberal, the conservative, etc.
Once the performers have collected their shadows, they engage in a ritual of eating them, and also invite the audience to join in on the feast.
According to poet Robert Bly, the process of “eating our shadow” is an essential part of the artist’s work and process. He even goes so far as to claim that these artistic acts are essential in counteracting the brazen acts of individuals and governments (such as Donald Trump and his government), whose actions and popularity feed on divisiveness and the projection of the culture’s suppressed sides.
2016 K77 Factory
16. June, 17:00-18:00Kastanienallee 77, 10435 Berlin
The K77 Factory is a site-specific performance involving dozens of short performance pieces/ sketches from various international artists living in Berlin. It will take place on and around the K77 grounds. This includes three courtyards and various indoor and outdoor spaces, and multiple levels.
The K77 land and property is an artwork in an of itself, and is rich with character and history (it is by the way, the oldest house in Prenzlauer Berg!). Because we live in a big city with constant activity, noise and input, we often fail to notice the details around us. K77 is rich with detail which can be hard to notice in our day-to-day urban mindset. Our site-specific performance, K77 Factory, is much more than just a collection of performances - it is a way to highlight and bring attention to the artwork and structures that are already around us, and to have the opportunity to see and experience them in a new way and with more detail. The performances therefore bring life to the world around us, aiding us in seeing the world in a more artistic way.
2016 The ReWilding Project
Premiere: 30. Mai, 2016
English Theatre Berlin ⎢International Performing Arts CenterExpat Expo 2016 | Immigration Invasion Festival
Previews: K77 Studio, Performing Arts Festival Berlin, May 27th & 28th
The ReWilding Project is an interdisciplinary solo performance featuring text, dance, live music, interactive technology, and unique methods of audience engagement. Through humor, I consider how the worldwide devastation of our natural environment and our post-industrial urban lifestyles, are affecting the individual human body. I delve into our modern neurosis, sense of loss, and search for hope.
To "rewild" is to re-connect to the wild within us, that is, to see ourselves not as separate from nature but as a part of nature. In order to aid the audience in connecting to the wild, I offer embodiment tools so that they might engage in the performance in a full-bodied way; conscious of their perceptive capacities and of their participation in the performance.
Together with collaborator Dan Farberoff, technology- and video- artist, I question the role of technology in our lives. Does the technology that we interact with on a daily basis only serve to disconnect mind and body, or can it also be used as a tool for embodiment? Video and other interactive media are a part of the performance.
2016 Foxes in the Leaves, Solo, Geschichtenerzählende Performance, Meeet & Tell, Berlin, Februar
2015 Solo with Flock #1 & 2 , Lola Rogge Schule, Hamburg, Oktober; Hungry Artists’ Café, K77 Studio, November; Ausschnitte von #2: https://vimeo.com/manage/159066423/general
2014 Every Body
A duet by and with Liz Erber and Andrew Wass
9. June 2014
English Theatre Berlin⎢International Performing Arts Center
Every body from Liz Erber on Vimeo.
Every Body, a dance performance in experiential anatomy: We all possess
a body but for most people it is not so often that one thinks about the
contents, structure, function, or anatomy of this body (not at least, until
something goes wrong or something stops functioning properly...we are not going
to go there.) In this performance we bring attention to the body each of us is
inhabiting, and invite audience members to tune in to the experience of their
body through focus, touch and movement. In this way we bring attention not only
to the outer performance space that we the performers are inhabiting, but the
vast inner space of each and every individual. Every Body is a performance of
anatomy and anatomical function (i.e Breath, circulation, fascia.) It is a
performance of connecting anatomies expressed through dance, sound and words.
Andrew and Liz connect with one another and directly with the audience.
2014 I offer you...
23. April 2014
Social Muscle Club
Sophiensaele, Kantine, Berlin
I Offer You - Social Muscle Club, Berlin from Liz Erber on Vimeo.
2013 Tip of the Iceberg: a history of an American Obsession
English Theater Berlin/ International Performing Arts Center
30. July, 2013
Director/Author: Liz Erber
Performance: Robert Rodgers, Harvey Rabbit, Liz Erber
Tip of the Iceberg: the story of an American obsession - Trailer from Liz Erber on Vimeo.
Tip of the Iceberg is a multi-media play, with an absurdist and darkly humorous look at modern American life. Through text, movement, video and music we glimpse into the lives of three individuals, who are seemingly trapped by their own limited views of the world. One individual, WOMAN, is attempting to dream her way out. Central to our characters' lives is the story of Iceberg lettuce - a story of modern American food (exported to the world), monoculture, marketing, modern economic colonialism, and more. Juxtaposed to this fictional story is the current reality of the actors' lives in Berlin.
Producer/Director/Editor: Liz Erber
I am proud to have been one of three featured artists for the August 2013 Edition of the online film festival Dances Made to Order, and proud to have been sharing the electronic online stage with two accomplished artists: Alfredo Salomón from Mexico and Laura Karlin and Sofia Klass from Invertigo Dance Theatre of Los Angeles. Chapters of Now
Expat Expo/ English Theatre Berlin
27. Feb 2013
Featuring: Andrew Wass, Henrik Kaalund, Liz Erber
CHORO CORPORA
8. November, 2012
No Ballet Competition Finalist
Choreogrpahy: Liz Erber
Sound design: Julia Kny
Performance: Irene Cortina González, Leah Katz, Annekatrin Kiesel, Liz Erber
Costume and Design: Arianna Fantin
CHORO CORPORA has also been performed at K77 Studio and ada Studio. Special thanks to both for their support.
Into the Deep (Selections)
K77 Studio, Berlin
May 21st-22nd, 2011
Choreogrpahy/Music: Liz Erber
Performance: Irene Cortina González, Jessica Kammerer-Georg, Leah Katz, Annekatrin Kiesel
Text & Reading: Mr. Ocean
Lights/Tech: Ansgar Tappert
Into the Deep began as an investigation of spine—our ancient vertebral backbone—
undulation (fluid wave movement), and evolution. By fully exploring the movement
possibilities of the spine, we connect to the physical possibilities passed down to us through a
long line of evolutionary history. It is a tearing away of human culture, to reveal kinetic
meaning and the memory of cell, bone, blood.
From the Deep Blue Sea
10 x 6 Series, ada Studio
Choreography and Music: Liz Erber
Performance: Zinzi Buchannan, Lily Dwyer, Leah Katz
Dates: Nov 20-21, 2010
From the Deep Blue Sea from Liz Erber on Vimeo.
Collective Memory (The Holocaust Project)
Dance for video project
Collective Memory is an investigation into how the history of the Holocaust lives inside of us
today. Jews and non-Jews, Germans and non-Germans were involved in the project.
Messy Times was a commission from Velocity Dance Center for their annual Bridge Project.
Three choreographers are selected and matched with dancers. The choreographers have 13
days of rehearsal during a 3-week period (39 hours total).
