Veronika Riz. An eclectic artist

Veronika Riz is a choreographer and a dancer from South Tyrol. Blessed with a volcanic passion for all artistic expressions especially dance, her work has continually pushed the boundaries of the medium. Veronika Riz has always considered dance as the highest form of corporal expression, considering it both a language and a way of exploring herself and the world she lives in. “It helps me find my balance and serenity and gives me the possibility to get to know more profoundly my inner self”.

Having specialized in the Classics during her education, she obtained diplomas at the London Central School of Speech and Drama and the Faculty of Theatrical Sciences and History of Art in Vienna, before completing further specialist courses in London, Berlin, Paris, New York, Vienna. Her studies, the impulses and the synergies with international artists allowed Veronika to create a style which she defines as “pure, straight, athletic and energetic”, always subtly balanced between dance, performance and theatre-dance. She considers Belgium, Germany and France as the homelands of contemporary dance.

Veronika has founded the atelier of contemporary dance Dansart and the Veronika Riz Company in Bolzano. She works with artists and dancers of international fame and with her productions she has taken part in numerous festivals in Italy and abroad.

Her work tackles issues linked to everyday life and the area she lives in; they speak of taboos, good manners, integration, ideas of homeland, traditions, contemporary myths and the dialogue between different cultures. The productions depict our society in a clear and concrete way, yet there is always both irony and a sense of humour, qualities which characterize the artist.

Veronika Riz is inspired by simple everyday actions like reading a book, listening to music, going to an exhibition or watching a movie. Above all actions however stands meeting new people, which most stimulates her creativity. Many of her projects, in fact, start by placing announcements in the newspapers where she asks people to give their opinions on whatever issue she wishes to investigate. The dancers themselves, of various nationalities, are asked to participate directly in this research carrying out the different “tasks” Veronika gives them, thus creating a modus operandi based on experimentation which leaves the dancers space to improvise and use their own self expression and imagination.