
Corporality // space // dynamic
‘the art lies in uniting its elements’
hello, I’m Laura Schönlau (*1994) dancer and choreographer based in Cologne, Germany. I graduated in 2020 from the Fontys school of Fine and Performing Arts in Tilburg, NL with a b.a. in dance and choreography. since 2021 I am working as a freelance artist in various artistic projects and dance productions in nrw, Germany and beyond. Most recently I worked in the Contemporary dance field with Laura Hicks, .Dencuentro, Tacho Tinta and Thomas Lehmen. I have been working in a collective with photographer Annika Schönfeldt since 2021, and the video work UMGELENKT has been part of various exhibitions and festivals. Currently I undertake the dance coordination at the Tanz-Arbeit, as part of the socio-cultural space Kunsthaus Mitte in Oberhausen.
My work and my goals as a performer are based on the thematic and physical examination with corporeality, (questioning) femininity, and spatial concepts. Therefore, I’m looking for physical urgencies and confrontations that are linked to social and cultural discourses in a wider context that lead to a physical interdisciplinary artwork. Important elements in my physical practice are the use of power-release, body isolations, floor work and acrobatic fundamentals, which then develop into a movement language that is characterised by rhythm and dynamics, rawness and in search of connection. It plays with the physical capabilities and the physical and mental presence of the performative in the now. A field of tension arises between tangible form, somatic research, and perceptive level.
Adding to this I’m studying Art History and Cultural Media studies at the university of cologne.
artistic education:
2016-2020
b.a. dance-choreography, fontys hogeschool voor de kunsten, tilburg, nl
2000-2013
musical education: fipple flute & alto saxophone,
musikschule bad oeynhausen, d
education:
2020-until now
b.a. art history – media cultural studies, universität zu köln, d
grants:
2022
Stipendium des Ministeriums für Kultur und Wissenschaft des Landes Nordrhein- Westfalen
2021/22
Stipendienprogramm der GVL-Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten, NEUSTART KULTUR und durch die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien
shows&exhibitions:
2023
in:between realms
SIMULTANHALLE- symposium zum 40.jubiläum, cologne
2023
site specific solo work
at artbay, ausstellungsraum lindenthal, cologne
2022
UMGELENKT
at KFK(kurzfilmklub) “In Bewegung”, screenshowing – q&a, iJula raum, cologne
2022
DEDICATED TO BIAS 2.0
at La Corrupta Festival 2022 /09.07.2022/ cologne
2022
UMGELENKT
videoinstallation in collabo with annika schönfeldt,
“The city is clearly visible from here” – KOP.12, essen
2022
UMGELENKT
videoinstallation in collabo with annika schönfeldt, STROMA, cologne
2022
DEDICATED TO BIAS
at MAKE ART NOT WAR /06.03.2022/ TanzFaktur, cologne
2021
UMGELENKT
Auftakt Festival für szenische Texte 2021, alte feuerwache, cologne
residencies:
2022
tanzresidenz quatier am hafen, cologne
2020
circus dance festival – herbstresidenz with maria madeira, cologne