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, joined... (read more)

In August 2014 I travelled to Bornholm, Denmark to take part in an artistic residency. The residency was a collaboration with Nordic Butoh and the Art Culture Centre, which is part of a European network offering residencies for investigation and collaboration relating art and nature. The footage we have captured in Bornholm will soon be edited by Lizzie J Klotz and a trailer will follow in the new year. I went to Bornholm to create an artistic dance film and to gain an insight into the art form of Butoh. I also came to work with artists who have trained differently, who work differently and who have a different outlook and perspective to my own. I came to explore why humans seek nature as a pacifier or relaxant and what happens to city people when they come to the countryside. I came to learn something new and unknown. Like that I began living and working on a farm, in a large and inspiring studio space and in the midst of mesmerising nature – with just two other people around. Unsurprisingly it turned out that this was challenging for me. I am used to going from place to place and to... (read more)

"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

I was invited to screen "Living with Sin" at CrisisArt Festival for political arts and activism in Italy and to teach a workshop around the film's theme. At the festival each performance and screening was followed by feedback. The response to "Living with Sin" was overwhelming for me. The viewers related intensively to what they saw and the ideas I had wanted to communicate.

We started the workshop with a gathering of our knowledge about the concept of Original Sin and discussed how it might have affected women's history.

We collected our ideas on a poster and then the participants let this knowledge start a physical improvisation exploring physically what we had just talked about.

When the improvisation finished all participants were lead into a meditation. After that they noted any thoughts, ideas and feelings in a writing exercise. I encouraged them to let their writing flow freely without censorship. Last we sat down together again and discussed the workshop experience.

My dissertation entitled "How can theatre dance be harnessed for the engagement with human rights issues? An exploration of philosophic, cultural and scientific evidence." builds part of the foundation of my work with Lucidez Dance.

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.