Elke Schroeder is a Canadian/German Helsinki-based dance artist. A performer, teacher and maker, her work takes her to art and movement institutions around the world. A graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre in 2005, her diverse training background includes myriad dance styles, acrobatics, theatre studies, martial arts, athletics, functional movement and yoga. Elke is a long-time student and instructor of the Fighting Monkey practice and is co-creator of Underdog Practice with her partner Mikko Rinnevuori. Elke works as a freelancer and has performed with dance companies such as Raekallio Corp, Susanna Leinonen Company, Blue Ceiling Dance and Kaeja d’Dance, and is currently creating solo work for her own company, One Animal.
Elke is known for her viscerally impactful performances and skills on the floor; she moves like, “an almost literal ball of effervescent energy, like a swiftly tilting planet falling out of orbit” (Mooney on Theatre). As an artist she works with the intersection of topics-on-the-edge and virtuosic dance expression. As a methodology (in creating, performing and teaching) Elke uses a task-based approach. Currently her work investigates the prioritizing of the senses in order to inhabit a deeper state of awareness.
“I am made of dance, performing, training, Fighting Monkey, curiosity, nature, the element of water, summer, dogs, chocolate, coffee, big questions, sensuality, my family, other humans around me and Love.”
Photos above and below by: Tim Bermingham,
Ken Ewens, Suzanne Dhaliwal, self-portraits
