Since my first solo work "Arauco" I have often wondered how our history affects ourselves and our current actions and choices. As artists we constantly face decisions about where to take our lives and careers. Over the summer I began reflecting my own choices intensively and I wanted to get together with dancers and explore our ancestry and how it may affect us together. We started the rehearsal process with tasks exploring our histories. The relationships between our past, present and future became clearer to us and we began to physically explore their connections. Jean-Paul Sartre said, “Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you.” I find this an intriguing quote and it led me to call this work "Can you be free?" What does it mean to free ourselves from what's been done to us, from our past? We have expectations and hopes for our futures and we carry with us experiences and memories. "Can you be free?" explores how our present-day choices can let the unchangeable facts of our past influence our future in different ways. It’s an invitation to ponder on the relationship between our past, present and future. James King, our musician...

"Living with Sin" was the first project of Lucidez Dance. Lizzie J Klotz, Jonna Tideman and I met in Berlin in November 2013 to shoot on location. Berlin provided us with architecture and a hostile cold that proved invaluable to set the scene for our work. Throughout the creation process we worked closely with our composer Nancy Roberts engaging in exchange that inspired every next step. From these ideas Nancy eventually created an original composition for the film. The film asks how the Christian doctrine of ancestral sin affects female identity. Strong colours, a cold, stark environment, expressive, simple choreography and a score of mbira cycles and drumming give the audience space to understand everything the woman wants to tell them and to develop a reaction to what is being seen. One woman embodies womanhood throughout the ages. In her, all experiences are united. Artistic director and choreographer: Lucia Schweigert Director of photography and editor: Lizzie J Klotz Composer: Nancy May Roberts Performer: Jonna Tideman For more information please see: lucidezdance.com lizziejklotz.co.uk

This is a short solo I choreographed and performed during my second year at college. It is inspired by Violeta Parra's song 'Arauco Tiene Una Pena' about the struggle of the indigenous people of South America against injustices committed against them. I regard it as the starting point of my choreographic explorations. I do not own the rights to the music and no copyright infringement is intended.