Chris Leuenberger works as a choreographer, performer, coach and mentor in the cultural sector.
He lives between Bern, Hamburg and Valle Cannobina, Piedmont. His projects are often developed in collective structures and co-authored with other dance and theatre makers.
Since 2008, Leuenberger has maintained a close working relationship with the Hamburg choreographer Jenny Beyer, whose Open Studio format allows audience members to participate in the creation process of choreographies.
Together with Basel-based director Marcel Schwald, he has created a series of documentary dance performances in which people from specific cultural contexts embody autobiographical material:
In KREUTZBERG (2015), an older generation of artists conveys the dance legacy of the German expressionist dancer Harald Kreutzberg, who was idolized by his students for his dance technique while at the same time criticised for his performances in Germany during the Second World War.
In EF_FEMININITY (2018), Schwald/Leuenberger juxtapose their childish flirtation with the feminine – as children they both wanted to be girls – with the experiences and expertise of three Indian activists who are all fighting for the recognition of their femininities in their own way. Finally, TOUCH ISOLATION (2021) is about the fear of touch among Western-socialized men and the devastating social consequences that this phenomenon entails.
While KREUTZBERG was awarded the Swiss cultural prize Tanzerbe Schweiz, EF_FEMININITY was invited to the theatre festival Impulse in Düsseldorf and to the Sélection Suisse in Avignon, and TOUCH ISOLATION was selected by the programmers fund of Reso / Swiss Dance Network.
Leuenberger is co-founder of the artist collectives White Horse and Sweet & Tender Collaborations. Under the guidance of Alito Alessi, he completed a Danceability Teacher Training in Montevideo, which enables him to teach dance to people with and without disabilities. He has been a certified yoga teacher in the Ashtanga Vinyasa tradition since 2012. Through practicing yoga and pranayama, he developed a growing interest in the choreographic potential of breath, a fascination made visible in many of his artistic works: for example in SOPLO DE VIDA (2012), DAS RITUAL (2017), ATEM PORTRAITS (2018) and in BREATHING VOLUMES (2023).
He is currently training to become a Breathwork Facilitator with the Spirit of Breath Collective.
He also works as a coach and mentor for international residency artists supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, and is a member of the Dance and Theater Commission of the Canton of Bern.
In Valle Cannobina, Italy, he is developing a residency for artistic and somatic research in nature.
CHRIS LEUENBERGER PRODUCTIONS 