menu ↑

menu ↑

about

menu ↑

Elena Morena Weber was born in Zurich and grew up in a Swiss village near the Italian border. Since her studies at Iwanson School for Contemporary Dance in Munich/DE, she is internationally active in performing arts.

As an artist, she embodies multiple roles: dancer, choreographer, director, writer, filmmaker as well as costume and set designer. This polyphony of artistic voices is constantly nurtured by interdisciplinary practices and exchanges.

Her work has been awarded with a fellowship at Akademie Schloss Solitude in 2018 a.o. 2020/21 she pursued a creative dialogue with dance dramaturge Guy Cools within the Double mentoring programme of Migros Cultural Percentage. Currently, she develops the trilogy Poems From Inner Space with collective PR·SMA, hosted at Kurtheater Baden between 2022 and 2024.

Elena lives between Zurich and Stuttgart.

➜ vimeo channel

menu ↑

PR·SMA's artistic language is characterised by the interaction of dance, sound and visual languages. The collective develops scenic formats as experiences that rethink and challenge the concept of stage.

PR·SMA was selected for the grant programme Szenotop of the Aargauer Kuratorium to develop and present the trilogy Poems From Inner Space at Kurtheater Baden between 2022 and 2024.

➜ prismakollektiv.ch

Since 2018, TRIO has intertwined individual explorations in the fields of music, dance and photography into collective creations. Instrumental sounds, photography and the moving body meet the unlimited possibilities of electronic sound processing and experimental image reproduction. TRIO is formed by Elena Morena Weber, Matthias Tschopp and Jürg Zimmermann.

➜ Matthias Tschopp

➜ Jürg Zimmermann

PORTFOLIO

menu ↑

QUEST

Poems from inner space – Episode 2

70'

Kurtheater Baden

PR·SMA, 2022

13.12.2023
20.00 – Première

14.12.2023
19.00 & 21.00

15.12.2023
19.00 & 21.00

➜ tickets

We challenge it, bend to it, try to trick it, resist it and think we can control it.But fate, however, is waving at us and inevitably sends us along the paths we have been destined to follow.Does it hold us in its grip or do we take it into our own hands?
The dance performance QUEST invites on a hero’s journey through the Wunderkammern of the Kurtheater Baden. It leads into the viscera of the building, to the hidden places where, far from the familiar, the senses are exposed to unexpected seductions. Here, life is reflected in play. Its drive becomes a metaphor for existence, and the negotiation of its rules a speculation about the future.

The dance performance is the second part of the trilogy Poems From Inner Space, selected for the grant programme Szenotop by Aargauer Kuratorium.

with: Alex Ferro, Chiara Martina Halter, Abraham Iglesias Rodriguez, Nina Maria Richard, Clara Tullii Oriana Glory Zeoli // concept: Kollektiv PR·SMA //
choreography: Elena Morena Weber // composition: Luca Magni //
co-conception / scenography / photography / visual communication: Demian Bern // choreographic assistant: Nina Maria Richard // kinetic sculptures: Kestutis ,Kestas‘ Svirnelis, Helmut Dietz // costumes: Valeria Ballek, Demian Bern, Elena Morena Weber // in cooperation with EXP.edition // coproduction: Kurtheater Baden  // support: Aargauer Kuratorium, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Kulturstiftung der Credit Suisse Aargau,Lebensraum Aargau, Gemeinde Wettingen, Produktionszentrum Tanz + Performance Stuttgart 

Poems from inner space – Episode 1

70'

Kurtheater Baden

PR·SMA, 2022 

➜ trailer

Polymorphic beings dance across meadows and asphalt. Both flora and fauna, atom and energy, physical and spiritual matter, they move by their own laws of time and space. Equipped with headphones, the audience experiences the dance-staged quarter around the ther- mal baths on different routes up to the Sachs Pavilion of the Kurtheater, which transforms into an open-air stage. The performance takes us into the spaces of resonance between humans and the world, playing on variations of our anthropocentric view.

The dance performance is the first part of the trilogy Poems From Inner Space, selected for the grant programme Szenotop by Aargauer Kuratorium.

with: Alex Ferro, Chiara Martina Halter, Abraham Iglesias Rodriguez, Nina Maria Richard, Oriana Glory Zeoli // choreography: Elena Morena Weber & Lucas del Rio Estévez in collaboration with the dance ensemble // composition: Luca Magni // visual communication & scenography: Demian Bern // costumes: Ljuba Avvakumova // coproduction: Kurtheater Baden // support: Aargauer Kuratorium, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Kulturstiftung der Credit Suisse Aargau, Lebensraum Aargau

24 stunden

70'

KUNSTRAum Walcheturm, Zürich

TRIO, 2022 

➜ trailer

TRIO plays with the controllers of time and space. The motif of the city unfolds through the interplay of music, dance and photography. 24 HOURS creates a (sur)real world that makes the retina vibrate and the eardrums sparkle.

In an immersive setting, s a daily cycle on the time scale of a concert portrays the relationship of the homo sapiens creature to its urban habitat, in the field of tension between everyday functionality and primordial human vitality.
The organic and synthetic elements of the world we know are reflected in a 360° stage setting: connected by a complex modular system, wind instruments interact with the dancing body and projected images. Motion sensors, tape machines, random generators, modular synthesizers and video manipulations are brought into action. The interplay of human intuition and sophisticated technology turns the temporary world of 24 STUNDEN into a living organism.

choreography & dance: Elena Morena Weber // sound design, wind instruments & modular processing: Matthias Tschopp, Jürg Zimmermann //  photography & video: Jürg Zimmermann // costume: Ljuba Avvakumova // technical support, sound & light: Willy Strehler, Khalid Aljmor, Patrick Huber // support: Migros-Kulturprozent, Landis & Gyr Stiftung

SOUNDWALKING

60'

moods zürich/CH

tRIO, 2021

➜ Teaser

Rattling sounds, electro-blown beats and sense- peppering voices take the explorative flâneur into the in-between worlds of Zurich's industrial district. Moved by music, narration and photography, he becomes the soloist of an urban orchestration. The choreography is devoted to the unfolding of poetic perspectives and invites to actively explore the apparently mundane.

A walk-in composition by TRIO.

Composition, Sound Design: Matthias Tschopp // Staging, dramaturgy, text arrangement: Elena Morena Weber // Photography: Jürg Zimmermann // Music: Matthias Tschopp, Jürg Zimmermann // Voices: Jim & Elio Gisler, Barbara Stoll // Graphic design: Demian Bern // Support: Migros-Kulturprozent and Landis & Gyr Stiftung in the frame of the project BESTIARIUM as well as Jazz Club Moods in the frame of the grant Carte Blanche.

Warmest thanks to the soundwalkers Alexandra, Andreas, Claudia and Petra for walking with us; to Studio Listen!, Alexander Faehndrich and Alex Huber for the accurate work with sound and to Demian Bern for the common creation of the verses.

FIELD COMPOSITION

A CHOREOGRAPHIC METHOD
FOR PUBLIC SPACES

➜ VIDEO DOCUMENTATION

Emerging from choreographic research in urban and natural landscapes, the method developed by Elena Morena Weber explores movement in relation to public spaces. Choreographic instructions reach the dancers through headphones. The connection via radio transmitter creates a safe space that allows both focus and spatial autonomy. The environment models improvisation scores: textures, temperature, light, shapes or architectures act as impulses for movement patterns in solo or group constellations. Parameters such as phrasing and interaction dynamics refine the choreographic structures, while the selective input of sound enhances immersive experiences. Movement language and spatiality intertwine, the public territory becomes both laboratory and stage.

FIELD COMPOSITION is proposed as a choreographic intervention as well as in a workshop format for professional and non- professional dancers both with and without disabilities.

WELL, COME HOME!

120'

Fescoggia/Ti

2019

➜ trailer

A spectacle staged in the remote area of Malcantone, a particular region in the South of Switzerland, involving a professional cast as well as amateurs between 8 and 76 years old.

Protagonists are a small village and its history of migration. In a site-specific setting, the piece narrates the story of a woman who returns to the place of her childhood, taking the audience onto a surreal journey. Walking through the narrow streets, past and present, dream and reality begin to melt. What follows is a feast dedicated to life and community, where spectators, villagers and Malcantonese emigrants will eventually gather at table to celebrate the joy of being together.

The project’s intergenerational encounters and the implosion of linguistic and cultural boundaries had a strong impact on the surroundings, allowing access to an unfamiliar artform, creating space for exchange and sustainable relationships.

With: Aranda Eder, Elisabetta Rezzonico Boschetti, Barbara Brindicci, Bernadette Suter, Camilla Parini, Charlotte Buechi, Cristina Brindicci, Delia Schneider, Elena Morena Weber, Erica Mercolli, Floriana Grandi, Florindo Boschetti, Ioana Butu, Ivana Dignola, Margrit Brindicci, Margaritha Paganini, Martina Flück, Matteo Oleggini, Maura Rebsamen, Maximilian Friedel, Monica Muraca, Nicolas Guidi, Oliver Kühn, Paola Crivelli, Paola Grandi, Patrizia Beretta, Romina Campana, Sandro Schneebeli, Silvia Tagliati, Simona Guglielmetti, Sirio Elora Reggiani

Artistic direction, staging, choreography: Elena Morena Weber // Dramaturgy, texts, artistic collaboration: Oliver Kühn // Music: Sandro Schneebeli // Costumes & props: Elena Morena Weber with Francesca Ruttilio-Crivelli // Scenography: Demian Bern – EXP.edition // Gastronomy: Lino Gut & team // Video & photo: Demian Bern – EXP.edition, Mario Conforti // Make up: Monika Brandenberg // Project management: Elena Morena Weber // Visual communication: Demian Bern – EXP.edition // Ticketing: Alice Weber // produced by: Associazione Pro Well, come home! // Media partners: La Rivista di Lugano, Il Malcantone Patronage: Lugano Region

Support: Municipalities of Alto Malcantone, Aranno, Bioggio, Caslano, Magliaso, Ponte Tresa, Pura and Vernate; Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Egon-und-Ingrid-Hug-Stiftung, Fondazione Annita Avanzini, Fondazione Malcantone, Gottfried und Ursula Schäppi-Jecklin Stiftung, Hugo Looser-Stiftung, Jürg George Bürki-Stiftung, Maya Behn Eschenburg Stiftung, Migros Percento Culturale Ticino, SIS Schweizerische Interpretenstiftung, Stiftung Winterhalter, Susanne und Martin Knechtli-Kradorfer-Stiftung, Carrozzeria Zoccatelli, Repo SA, Casa Santo Stefano, Centro Magliaso, B&B Vecchia Dogana, Hotel Villa del Sole, Hotel Zurigo Downtown, Cantina
Blass. Ente Regionale per lo Sviluppo del Luganese. Museo del Malcantone

STUDY ON FRAGMENTS

120'

EDINBURGH/uk

2019

➜ travel story

Zooming into an unsupervised domestic environment, a collage of fragments suggests an imaginary biography, suspended between fiction and the real. On the gramophone, a Foxtrot from 1926.

A dive into the discovery of a temporary home in the Scottish capital progresses as a collection and arrangement of fragments. Movement and sound material collide with the living space and possessions of an unknown host. A female creature noses around his private space, while objects and actions are captured in a digital- analogue photographic series. Old and new fragments of movement, sound and photography shape the imaginable portrait of a stranger.

Concept, interpretation: Elena Morena Weber // Soundscapes: Matthias Tschopp, Jürg Zimmermann // Photography: Demian Bern // Support: Dance Base Edinburgh, European Cultural Foundation

GEORGE 2.0

30' loop

Akademie schloss Solitude, stuttgart/DE

2018

➜ Teaser

Revisiting material from the piece GEORGE (2017), new video footage and text layers are developed and arranged in a container able to travel in space and time, packing a dance performance into a box.

The combination of an especially edited video and a transparent pyramid are the source to create the GEORGE 2.0 hologram. The choice to use the ancient Pepper’s Ghost technique in order to resurrect GEORGE, is a reference to the character’s longevity. The magic of the optical illusion is reached through its simplicity.

For the solo exhibition in 2019 in Göteborg, GEORGE 2.0 was readapted for the spaces of Galleri54, merging video, sound and text into in a simultaneous trilogy.

Concept, choreography, interpretation: Elena Morena Weber // Camera: Hagen Betzwieser // Advisors hologram technology: Dina Karadzic, Vedran Gligo // Design: Demian Bern // Support: Akademie Schloss Solitude

MEMORABILIA

30'

Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart/DE

2018

➜ trailer

Dark material morphs through space. A dancing body intertwines with the synthetic creature, while familialr sounds resonate in the intimate space between the headphones.

MEMORABILIA drives the audience across an emotional journey, praising the incompleteness of memory.

Idea, choreography, dance: Elena Morena Weber // Sound editing: Sasha Shlain // Costumes & scenography: Elena Morena Weber // Residency & support: Akademie Schloss Solitude Stuttgart

EPISODE #1

30'

Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart/DE

TRIO, 2018

➜ trailer

Inspired by the form of criminal series, EPISODE #1 is a confrontation with the human ability to arrange fragments into logic orders, investigating the influence of sound on the perception of image.

Site of crime: Schloss Solitude. The area around the rococo castle turns into a temporary lab for music, photography and movement. The conversation between the three artistic languages designs a complex picture of possible relationships, triggering processes of memory and creating a temporal alliance between real space, fiction and memory.

Concept, interpretation: Elena Morena Weber // Soundscapes, baritone saxophone: Matthias Tschopp, Jürg Zimmermann // photography, trumpet: Jürg Zimmermann // Support: Akademie Schloss Solitude Stuttgart

GEORGE

60'

E-WERK FREIBURG I.B./DE

2017

➜ trailer

GEORGE is lonely. Really lonely. For he is the last of his kind. GEORGE lives at his own, surreal pace. A paradox in the time of restless multitasking.

GEORGE longs for the end and thinks of loved ones, achievements and the recipe for roast stuffed with the cutest animals in the world. Melancholia and sadness define his existence, but GEORGE is just fine...

Lonesome George, the last Pinta giant turtle who died in 2012 became a metaphor for a state of loneliness and hopelessness. Using fragments of Bonn Park’s play Traurigkeit und Melancholie, GEORGE is a reflection on loneliness and melancholia as radical states of being.

With: Isabella Bartdorff, Tobias Ergenzinger, Ljuba Avvakumova/Anna Shumaylova //Choreography and interpretation: Elena Morena Weber // Staging and sound editing: Tom Schneider // Stage & costume design: Jens Dreske // Co-production: OFF deluxe // Residency: E-Werk Freiburg i.B/DE, Tanzhaus Zürich/CH, Theaterhaus Gessnerallee Zürich/CH // Support: Stadt Zürich Kultur, Kulturamt Stadt Freiburg, Landesverband Freie Tanz- und Theaterscha!ende Baden- Württemberg, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Stanley Thomas Johnson Stiftung, Sparkasse Freiburg

SPUREN

30'

Kulturmarkt Zürich/CH

2016

➜ trailer

SPUREN, the German term for traces, sets the rough and untamed groove of archaic alpine rituals in contrast to the totally ordered picture of Switzerland. Following the tracks towards our roots, we (re)discover Swiss traditions in an attempt to trigger the wild side of us.

A research about Swiss customs turned into a discovery of archaic traditions that are still alive despite today's modernization. While mobility shortens distances, the distance from our local traditions increases. Though, Alpine rituals make adrenaline flow, the vibration of the sounds evokes an odd sensation of longing. Is it ancestral memory or cultural imprint?
SPUREN reflects the impressions experienced during field trips across Switzerland over two years. Interpersonal dynamics and cultural heritage are explored through the languages of movement, voice and sound.

With: Jonas Furrer, Johanna Schaub, Mirjam Sutter, Sarah Waelchli, Elena Morena Weber, Jack Widdowson // Idea: Mirjam Sutter // Research, choreography: Elena Morena Weber, Mirjam Sutter //Sound, cello, voice and vocal coach: Johanna Schaub // Residency: Tanzhaus Zürich // Support: Stadt Zürich Kultur, Pro Helvetia, Alfred und Ilse Stammer-Mayer Stiftung, Avina Stiftung, Dr. Adolph Streuli Stiftung, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Migros Genossenschaft Zürich

RÖSTIGRABE

7'

THEATER DER KÜNSTE, Zürich/CH

2015

➜ WATCH

The daily action of peeling potatoes is a pretext to ironically recall the quirky di!erences within Switzerland. The recipe of the Swiss Dish par excellence, the Rösti, is narrated in a multilingual monologue of words and movement.

Röstigrabe is the Swiss German definition to describe the divergences between the German and French part of Switzerland. But the di"erences inside the country go further. The Alps cut o" the southern, Italian part, Ticino, creating a huge cultural gap between North and South. RÖSTIGRABE is the proof that body language is a universal way to cross boundaries.

Winner of the first price at the solo dance contest
of Festival Zeitverschwendung! at E-Werk Freiburg i.B./DE, in 2015.

Choreography and interpretation: Elena Morena Weber // Idea and coaching: Aleksandra Dziurosz and Bartosz Martyna

DARF ICH BITTEN?

60'

sousol luzern/CH

with cie. dysoundbo, 2013

➜ Trailer

➜ Research teaser

May I have the pleasure of the next dance? – with this invitation the piece plays with the negotiation of distances and relationships in the history of ballroom dances. Deconstructing traditional stage settings, the narration presents itself in a new dress for each rendezvous.

This is the story of one who sets out to seek happiness. Of course, there are some obstacles. Dead people from the past confront the fortune seeker with his own fears. Finally, he conciliates with the dead – ending in a festive waltz and opening the dance floor. DARF ICH BITTEN? takes the audience on a musical journey through time - from the swing of the 20s, through rumba, waltz & co. up to the 90s tango, eventually reversing roles between performers and spectators.

With: Thonatiuh Diaz Aguilar, Pamela Monreale, Joshua Monten/Ivan Blagajcevic, Elena Morena Weber // Co-Artisticdirection, research on ballroom dances and costume design: Elena Morena Weber // Artistic direction & choreography: Linda Magnifico | cie. Dysoundbo // Composition, programming, piano & melodica: Sasha Shlain // Saxophones & clarinets: Thomi Geiger // Production: cie. dysoundbo

JUMP!

1'

SHORT MOVIE

2023

A choreographic study on making the impossible possible.

Touring in Switzerland in the frame of Dance on Screen Festival in 2023.

Concept, choreography, editing: Elena Morena Weber // Dance: Selene Martello // Camera: Maud Mascré // Artistic advisor: Noud Heerkens

100

4'

short movie

2023

➜ play

The portrait of a centenarian.
Starring Wolfgang Weber, born 1923

a kinematic photostory by Elena Morena Weber & Céline Müller // produced by F+F Schule für Kunst und Design, Zürich

FASHION REVOLUTION

1'

coMMERCIAL

2022

➜ play

Repair. Reuse. Restyle. The claim of the NGO Fashion Revolution is translated into strong body language. The abstract choreography is a visual statement in which everything literally turns around fashion.

Commissioned by Fashion Revolution Switzerland.

directing, choreography, editing: Elena Morena Weber // dance: Oriana "Glory" Zeoli // music: Luca Magni // camera, light: Kapitolina Leonova // assistant camera, light: Noah Hinder // 

costumes, styling: Meredith Keller, Marino Pranjic, Chen Wild // produced by F+F Schule für Kunst und Design, Zürich