About

EKATERINA KALIUZHNAIA

A dance artist and a certificated somatic practitioner based in Germany. In her works she aims to reconnect with bodily memory, nature and traditional culture to comprehend and to process the worldwide ecosocial crisis. She explores somatic approach in choreography, relation between dance, voice and kinesthetic perception, creating interdisciplinary projects.

Back in Moscow she wrote a bachelor diploma on the audience's perception, co-created various performances as Ohne Zucker project participant in 2015-2021, and curated Performance atelier in Kaskad project for teenagers in 2021-2024. In her final dance piece for Somatic body training she brought the embodiment principle to the interaction with the audience.

In 2024 she entered the Master program Choreography and Performance in JLU, Giessen. She performed in Berlin (Doc11, no fear gallery), Frankfurt LAB, Paris (Albatraus art space), Geneve (Antigel festival), Netherlands (Kaapstadt festival) and in various venues in Russia.

art pieces

Performer in the dance installation Red Square from Ohne Zucker’s project, Moscow, 2016

A socio-kinetic experiment on power and freedom.
FORMA Festival, 2018
New Space of the Theatre of Nations, 2017
Khitrovka Cultural Center, 2016–2017

An improvisation recorded on video and later translated into a set of instructions. We reflected on dramaturgy, the gradual build-up of complexity, pauses, as well as objects and symbols. A voice from above dictates the instructions, and we carry them out.

Performer and co-choreographer in the project
Cloud of Me, Moscow-Schloss Bröellin, 2017

A dance performance by Ohne Zucker exploring the identity of the contemporary individual, Meyerhold Center, 2017–2018.
The work began with the theme and image of a blurred identity. We conducted and recorded interviews with people during a residency in Germany, including migrants, and analyzed their narratives. The metaphor of ambiguity and the complexity of choice shaped the spatial organization for the audience.
A “fair of identities,” a collage structure, fragments of solos, and diverse actions created an experience of wandering and drifting for the viewer. Sound played a crucial role, influencing our movement throughout the piece.
The work was interactive and based on social choreography, incorporating instructions and signs for the audience. Through participation, the viewer becomes an active agent and gains a direct embodied experience.

Performer and Co-Choreographer in the dance performance Basically, Everything is Fine,
Moscow, 2018

A work by Ohne Zucker on the everyday life of the contemporary individual.
Presented within the exhibition Here and Now at Manege Central Exhibition Hall,
at the Meyerhold Center, and at the Boyarsky Chambers of the Union of Theatre Workers of the Russian Federation, 2018.

The work explored the notion of everyday life and routine actions, transforming them into choreography. We worked with temporality and boredom, creating performative sculptures. Actions included ironing an endless piece of fabric and preparing food as a way to construct situations of encounter for the audience.
“Garbage talk” was used as a method: spontaneous speech structured by specific rules, incorporating clichés from radio, sales, and advertising, combined with political context, bodily metaphors, and improvised movement.

Dancer in the dance piece Breathe, 2021

9 dancers. 50 minutes. 3,600 inhales. 3,600 exhales. 7,200 acts of freedom.
Choreography by Anna Garafeeva and Dina Hussein.

The work was nominated for the Golden Mask Award, presented at the Diaghilev Festival in Perm, later banned from being shown in Moscow, and subsequently presented in the Russian Showcase at the Antigel Festival in Geneva.
The project also included research on breath through the copying of poses and movements from the Belarusian protests, analyzing how breathing functions within these positions and movements, and exploring breath across different physical and situational states.

Performer and Co-Choreographer in the project
Vibrant Matter, St. Petersburg, 2021

A somatic performance exploring radical (im)permeability, Sdvig Studio of Performing Arts, Saint Petersburg.
The work moved from anatomy into movement, using anatomical principles to explore different modes of interaction between performers.

Dancer in Garden of Stones, Moscow, 2022

A space in which the audience is immersed in a state of contemplation, concentration, and reflection. The performers do not “dance” but act as mediators between different states of consciousness. Choreography by Anna Garafeeva.
The work involved deconstructing song, working with voice and movement, and searching through improvisation, reflection, and layers of embodied memory, including patriotism. It engaged with ritual through deconstruction.
Characterized by stillness, with transitions emerging through work with fascia and sustained physical states.

Dancer in RING, Berlin, 2023

Reenactment of the performance by Felix Ruckert in Berlin. It was shown at Alexanderplatz, Berlin Kultur Sommerfestival, at the Eden festival in summer 2023, as well as at the Staadt festival in Tilburg (NL) in 2025.

Traditional patterns

Деконструкция песни, работа с голосом и движением, поиск через импровизацию, отражения и состояния патриотизма и других слоев телесной памяти - деконструкция и работа с ритуалом.

Creator, singer, Voice of the River, audio-poem, Helsinki, 2019

A collective of artists, performers, and musicians came together around the theme of the river, forming a “Water Laboratory.” We experimented with the sounds of water in their full diversity. We created three-part audio poem broadcasted in Helsinki.

Curator, guest artist, Yasenevo. Landscapes, Moscow, 2020-2021

A participatory project developed with residents of the Yasenevo district in Moscow, culminating in an exhibition in the forest.
In my performance, I worked with landscape and weight—how my body weight shifts across the terrain, and how sounds and smells influence movement. The work was based on structured improvisation, with the audience following me through the environment.

Ekaterina Kaliuzhnaia

Berlin
E-mail: whiteblueelephant700@gmail.com