ARTIST STATEMENT
I am less interested in what a dance or choreography is about than in where the experience of it might take me. As a choreographer, I am interested in choreography not as a means of explaining the world, but as a way of entering it differently. Making room for what is not yet understood, for connections not yet recognised, for worlds that might otherwise remain invisible.
My practice explores how different movement cultures, dance techniques, stylistic influences and choreographic methods are transmitted, translated, interpreted and hybridised across time.
At the heart of my practice lies an ongoing inquiry into what makes dance and choreography meaningful as an art form, and how meaning changes depending on the sociocultural context. Through dance and choreography I learn about who we were, who we are and who we wish to be as humans.
Ultimately, I choreograph because I love the possibilities, the knowledge and mystery dance and dancing as an art-form contains. I wish to bring spectators closer to dance. Not by explaining it to them, but by inviting them into its worlds, its complexities and its pleasures.
A dance is never just a dance.
ABOUT
Liza Penkova is a Swedish freelance dancer/choreographer based in Gothenburg. She studied dance at The Royal Swedish Ballet school and P.A.R.T.S, and holds a Ma- degree in choreography with focus on dance diacritics from Stockholm University of the Arts.
The foundations of her work are deeply rooted in her experience as a dancer in Brussels, where she spent several years performing with the world-renowned choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Rosas. During this time, she developed an appreciation for choreographic counterpoint and structure, nurtured through a close and respectful relationship with music.
A meaningful encounter followed with celebrated choreographer Michèle Noiret, whose work in dance-cinéma opened up a world of rich imagery and cross-disciplinary sensibility.
She has also participated in several productions by acclaimed Swedish choreographer Helena Franzén who’s insisting dedication to carving ones movement language showed her the capacity of movement to evoke emotion through abstraction.
Shorter collaborations with freelance choreographers and artists across Europe, including Aloun Marchal, Meri Pajunpää, Lisa Larsdotter Peterson, Georgia Vardarou, Veli Lehtovaara, Pauline Fonsny, Dejana Sekulić have further inspired her to develop her own artistic projects.
n early experience working as a dancer with the Gothenburg Opera Ballet gave her an understanding of how changes in scale affect the creation and reception of an artists work
Liza is also one of the initiators behind PhD in One Night, a collective project centered around the poetics of French philosopher Jacques Rancière. This work eventually sparked her interest in research related to dance education, culminating in a MA-thesis on dance literacy.
Liza remains deeply engaged in the cultural scene in Sweden, on regional, national and international levels as the chair of the board at Konstkollektivet, member of Danscentrum Väst and as artistic director of Dans i Process Festival.
Liza has been receiving support from various institutions throughout her career, including the Gothenburg City Culture Committee, Västra Götaland Region, the Swedish Arts Grants Committee, the Swedish Arts Council, Danscentrum, Carina Ari minnesfond and other organizations.
