Laura Manz

Dancer, Performer, Dance Mediator

Laura works as a freelance dancer/performer and dance facilitator in her hometown Munich.

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

While studying civil engineering, she was encouraged to pursue her passion for dance and decided to study contemporary dance at Iwanson International.

After graduation she danced in productions at the Kammerspiele, the Staatsoper, the Gasteig and the Philharmonie in Munich as well as at the Staatstheater 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 can be seen in video productions.

Laura has started to design and realize her first own creations - for the platform Hier=Jetzt she created the piece "noice" as well as choreographically supported Joao Santiago in his solo work T(raum)a.

In her own work approaches, she deals with themes that question the interaction between humans and nature, as well as foregrounding sensory perceptions and environmental influences on the human body.

Laura is also the artistic director for the initiative TanzQuelle and the project OASIS. She is committed to exchange and networking in the independent scene and is passionate about teaching contemporary dance and improvisation.

In her classes she emphasizes exploring one's own body and its infinite movement possibilities, challenging but also respecting it. She also focuses on the processing of information through our various sensory channels and explores their influence on our movement repertoire. The understanding of spatial perception of the moving body as well as the awareness of the dancers within a group are sensitized as well as the understanding of intuitive spontaneous (inter-)acting.