Aesthetic theory of the 20th century; Choreography and performativity in political settings; Corporeality, reconstruction and heritage in performance and contemporary dance

Susanne Foellmer is a dance and theatre scholar. She received her PhD at Freie Universität Berlin, focusing on unfinished corporealities in contemporary dance and performance art. Educated at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies at the Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen (MA degree) her dissertation dealt with dance and drama in the Weimar Era with a special focus on the dancer and actress Valeska Gert, addressing also raspects of inter/mediality.

Her most recent research approaches dance and performance from the perspective of “leftovers”, being examined in her project “On Remnants and Vestiges. Strategies of Remaining in the Performing Arts” (funded by German Research Foundation/DFG).

On an interdisciplinary level in the field of sociology and communication studies, she is furthermore investigating dance in its social environments.

Besides, Susanne has been working as a dramaturge in dance and theatre, with Helena Botto, Dance Company Rubato, Isabelle Schad, and Jeremy Wade, among others. She also has been active as a curator in dance exhibitions and for the Dance Congress 2009 at Kampnagel, Hamburg.

In the broader context of outside academia cultural work she acted as a member of the Jury for Dance and Theatre at the Berlin Senate, Department for Cultural Affairs as well as chair of the umbrella association Contemporary Dance Berlin (ZTB).

Taking dance and choreography as a core of my research, I am largely interested in regarding these as impetus and nexus for a wider perspective on what movement releases and implies in both the narrower field of the performing arts ­– for instance examining the ontological challenges when it comes to archiving and reconstruction – as well as in areas more or less akin to it, involving for instance a perspective on sociability from a dance and choreography point of view.

Bridging those fields, an important focus of mine lies in the understanding of dance theory as a specific practice, as well as reflecting artistic work in interdisciplinary research contexts and the social realm.