Editta Braun is a choreographer with an expressive theatrical style. She is a pioneer of contemporary dance in Austria, and lately, has also been working as a producer and theater director.

She was born in Austria in 1958 (Salzkammergut), was trained in classical ballet. After completing her studies in German literature and science of sports in Salzburg (she graduated with honours), she spent time in New York and Paris where she completed her training as a dancer and actor.

She then founded first the Performance Collective "Vorgänge" with Beda Percht in 1982, which was followed by the editta braun company in 1989, located in Salzburg.

Her company has been presenting productions on a yearly basis. She has been touring the world since and was invited to well-known festivals in Europe, Africa and Asia, she has produced joint works with Jean Babilée and Jean-Yves Ginoux in Paris and Mahmoud Abodama in Alexandria. Since 1996 she has been working closely with the musician Thierry Zaboitzeff, whose compositions have become the basis of her works.

Editta has also been teaching at Linz and Salzburg universities, during the International Dance Weeks in Vienna, she worked as a Festival Curator (e.g. at the St. Pölten in Austria at their Festival Hall, at the KosmosTheatre in Vienna and at the tanzhouse Festival in Salzburg.  She was awarded the International Price for Art and Culture by the City of Salzburg in 2014.

Two creative ideas have fueled Editta's works - and humour and seriousness are closely linked here - as a choreographer.  On the one hand there is the imaginative exploration of the naked human body as a moving entity, in which ways it is an image and an icon, in which ways it can be an abstraction of itself (Luvos-Series, Plays with Body Illusion). On the other hand she equally immerses herself in the possibility of exposing the failings of politics and society at large, and enters into a vital artistic discourse. She is not afraid of pathos to express deep feelings and humanity (for instance, in her work 'schluss mit kunst'...the end of art).  A global perception is a long term project and a long-suffering one, focussing on the situation of women and ways of multicultural communication

Her style can be described as theatrical, her works are full of contrasting  tensions and a conscious play with association and meaning. Her style is achieved through producing strong visual, emotional images, it is a dialogue between movement and music which has been composed for her dance performances alone. This makes the musical compositions an equal partner and counterpart of her works.

In line with her temperament and Peter Brook's conviction that nothing is deadlier for the theatre than to bore the audience, Editta Braun often creates dense, even colourful scenes full of energy expressed through impulsive movement. And yet, to balance this energy, she also allows for stillness and a sense of emptiness.  

" She is the Grande Dame of contemporary dance theatre 'Made in Salzburg'. For the past ten years we have been awed and touched by the stunning work of forty-two year old dancer and choreographer Editta Braun. Her curiously peeking behind the façades, her ability to luring the audience into a poetical parallel universe, with a boisterous and effervescent fantasy plus a wry and witty shot of social criticism here and there..." 
(Heidrun Hofstetter in tanz affiche)

ABOUT EDITTA BRAUN

ARTISTIC

dance studies in New York, Paris and Austria.

Important teachers: Cristina Caprioli, Sônia Mota, Peter Goss, Elio Pomare; acting: Walter Lott (method acting)

ACADEMIC

Mag. phil.

studied German language and literature and science of sports at Salzburg University.

AWARDS

2023 Cairo Breaking Walls Festival, Special Jury Award Music

2023 FlorenceDanceOnScreen, 3rd place of Best Overall Dance Film Winners

2023 Best Visual Language Award at the Moving Body Festival in Varna / Bulgaria

2017 Great Prize for Performing Arts by the Region of Salzburg

2014 International Prize for Arts and Culture by the City of Salzburg

2014+2015 Heidelberger Theaterpreis

1995 bronce medal at the New York Film Festival for „Collision“, directed by Othmar Schmiderer

2001 prize for the best director at the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre for “Nebensonnen”.

1986 second prize and prize for the most inventif work at the International Choreography Contest of Bagnolet (for «Lufus» of the collektif Vorgänge)

FESTIVALS

Israel Festival 2007

Suzanne Dellal Contest / Tel Aviv

World Performing Arts Festival Lahore/Pakistan 2007, 2008

Amman International Theater Festival/Jordanien

Cairo International Festival For Experimental Theatre, 91, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2008

Creative Forum Alexandria / Egypt 04, 05, 07

24 heures spéctales non stop El Kef/Tunesien

International Choreography Contest Tokyo

Festival Kaay Feec Dakar / Senegal

Alliance Française Bangalore / India

HumoFestival Tashekent / Uzbekistan

5. Sib-Altera Festival Novosibirsk/Russia

MomenTTum Dance Festival Portoroz/Slowenia

Aquariius Era Festival Bourgas/Bulgaria

European Dance Festival Cyprus (Nicosia, Limassol)

Pushkintheater Moskau – Inter. Contemporary Dance Festival / Russia

Bagnolet ‘86 (Vorgänge)

New York Filmfestival ‘94

Eurodansefestival Mulhouse

Biennale Val de Marne / Paris

Théâtre du Gymnase / Paris

Théâtres des Amandiers / Paris

Théâtre Toursky / Marseille

Théâtre 140  / Bruxelles

Festival des Capucins / Luxemburg

International Dance Festival Thessaloniki/Greece

Klub Zak Gdansk / Poland

Altera Pars Theatre Athens

Tanzfestival Bielefeld

Mousonturm Frankfurt

Werkstatt Düsseldorf

Brotfabrik Bonn

Depottheater Dortmund

TanzRäumeFestival Hagen

Impulstanz / Wien

Impulsfestival / Bregenz

SZENEfestival Salzburg 1982-2001

tanz_house festival Salzburg 1992-2010

Fest zur Eröffnung der Salzburger Festspiele ‘99

Festspielhaus St. Pölten - Festival Österreich Tanzt

Tiroler Landestheater

Posthof Linz

Brucknerfest 2004 2007, and others

FULL EVENING PIECES

Die Jagd (1989)

Materialien für Tanz & Musik (1990)

Collision (1991), duo with Jean-Yves Ginoux

Bonjour Adieu (1991), commissioned work for Luxemburg Dance Company

But kind old sun will know ... (1992)

La vie, c’est contagieux (1993) with Jean Babilée

Voyage à Napoli (1994), Rock’n Roll & Dance

Titania (1995), duo with Céline Guillaume about Sisi

Im Dschungel des Pianisten (1996)

Heartbeat - Concerto for Dance & Music (1997), duo with the musician/composer Thierry Zaboitzeff

India (1998), created in Southindia

Miniaturen (1999), commissioned work

Nebensonnen (2000), Quartett

Luvos, vol. 2 (2001), Quintett

manifest (2002), created in Senegal, acting, dance, martial arts

Tajine (2003), improvisation project for live music and dance

Eurydike (2004), Brucknerfest Linz, cooperation with schauspielhaus salzburg, Junge Philharmonie Salzburg/Elisabeth Fuchs and the writer Barbara Neuwirth

oXalis (2005), created in Greece and Austria

Eurydike revisited (2006), commissioned work for Welttheaterfestival Carnuntum

Matches of Time (2006)

Coppercity 1001 (2007), created in Egypt and Austria

Wenn ich einmal tot bin, komme ich ins Paradies (2008), dance and live-music

Abseits (2009), created in Portugal and Austria

King Arthur (2010), acting and dance

schluss mit kunst (2011), dance and acting

planet LUVOS (2012), Quintett, co-production with Brucknerhaus Linz

derzeit wohnhaft in (2013), solo by Dante Murillo about migration

4plus1 (2014), improvisation project, direction David Zambrano

instant (2014), mprovisation project, direction Editta Braun

Paula (2014), solo by Iris Heitzinger

CLOSE UP (2015), with AyseDeniz (piano, composition) and 5 dancer

LoSt (2016), duo with Iris Heitzinger & Dante Murillo

Close Up 2.0 (2017), with Cécile Thévenot (piano, composition) and 5 dancer

trails (2018), dance & film

Fanghoumé (2019), trio

Layaz (2019), duo

Hydraos (2020), trio

long life (2021), duo

ALLES ANDERS (2023), sextett

Hydráos occidental (2024), trio

TEACHING

Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Anton Bruckner Private University Linz, Impulstanz Vienna, ballet school of Vienna State Opera

COLLABORATIONS

choreography, theater directing, composition

Mahmoud Aboudoma, theater director

Peter Angerer, musician

Peter Arp, theater director

Christine Augustin, classical singer

Jean Babilée, Tanzlegende, dancer, choreographer

Shlomo Bitton, choreographer

Laurie Booth, choreographer

Aysedeniz Gökcin, concert pianist

Rudolf Habringer, writer

Toni Kernjak, pianist

Rebecca Murgi, dancer, choreographer

Barbara Neuwirth, writer

Wolfram Paulus, film director

Beda Percht, event director

Teresa Ranieri, choreographer

Gerda Rippel, classical singer

Othmar Schmiderer, film director

Stefan Schubert, musician

Cécile Thévenot, pianist

Fatou Traoré, dancer, choreographer

Peter Valentin, composer

Wim Vandekeybus, choreographer

Arturas Valudskis, theater director

Thierry Zaboitzeff, composer

dance/performance

Zoé Alibert

Katja Bablick

Georg Blaschke

Patricia Böhn

Cornelia Böhnisch

Valentina Bordenave

Sonia Borkowicz

Sonia Browne-Balaz

Magdaléna Čaprdová

Weng Teng Choi-Buttinger

Marcin Denkiewicz

Paula Dominici

Nadine Duda

Christoph Eichinger

Viviana Escalé

Milos Galko

Jean-Yves Ginoux

Céline Guillaume

Ulrike Hager

Eva Hager-Forstenlechner

Andrea Maria Handler

Iris Heitzinger

Lisa Hinterreithner

Sandra Hofstötter

Cat Jimenez

Maria Koliopoulou

Jurai Korec

Sébastien Laurent

Dorota Lecka

Hubert Lepka

Anna Lis

Marcella Mancini

Nikola Majtanova

Leon Marič

Barbara Motschiunik-Adametz

Anna Maria Müller

Dante Murillo

Kamil Mrosowski

Barbara Mülleder

Andrea Nagl

Sabrina Oukkal

Andrej Petrovic

Jianan Qu

Nirina Rajohanesa

Sabile Rasiti

Rosana Ribeiro

Jerca Rožnik Novak

Erich Rudolf

Michaela Schweighofer

Ibrahima Sene

Tomaž Simatović

Vadislav Soltys

Andrea Sonnberger

Max Steiner

Pascal Thièbe

Robert Tirpak

Ornilia Ubisse

Špela Vodeb

Stella Zannou

SHORT PIECES

Gitter (1986), solo

Passion für für Zwei (1986), duo

Lego (1987), quartet

Diva (1987), duo

Felis (1988), trio

Steinhof (1988), solo

listen to the moment (1991), commissioned work for Luxemburg Dance Company

Welcome to Salzburg (1994), commissioned work for the ballet school of the Vienna State Opera

Grey Blue Sky (1995), commissioned work for the ballet school of the Vienna State Opera, 15 min.

Tutu. Ça va? (1996). rock-ballet , 10 min.

Fahrradwerkstatt (1997), commissioned work for the ballet school of the Vienna State Opera, 9  min.

Fish (1998), for 12 young dancers, 15 min.

Fragile (1998), for 23 young dancers, 20 min.

Dornröschen schläft (1999), commissioned work for the ballet school of the Vienna State Opera, 8 min.

Prêt-à-Porter (2000), for 9 young dancers, 20 min.

Mozart ! (2001), quartet, 13 min.

Zwei Sonnen (2002), duo, 30 min., commissioned work for the HumoFestival Tashkent/Usbekistan

La Boîte (2003), live music & dance, 25 min.

kalt (2000), commissioned work for Bruckneruni Linz, 20 min.

Kellerkids (2010), Acommissioned work for Bruckneruni Linz, 20 min.

we are the 99% (2011), commissioned work for Bruckneruni Linz, 20 min.

NaYmA (2022), Solo by Maja Mirek, 33 min.

Proximity (2024), trio, 28 min.

FILMS

Lufus (1986), directing: Kurt Liwehr, ORF-Kunststücke

monaxiá (1987), directing: Rainer Berson, Tanzfiktion

Collision (1993), directing: Othmar Schmiderer, dance fiction

Bronze medal at the New York Film Festival

La Vie, c’est contagieux (1994), directing: Wolfram Paulus; documentary

editta braun company at  Kaay Fecc Festival  in Dakar (2003), directing: Hannes Klein; documentary for the Austrian Television ORF

e.poration (2007), direcitng: Hannes Klein; dance fiction

instant Aphaia (2017), improvisation

instant Kaliska (2018), improvisation, camera: Beda Percht

instant Kaliska (2018), improvisation, camera: Beda Percht

Hydrolakis 1+2+3 (2020)

LUVOS migrations, AT 2022

PUBLICATIONS

about Editta Braun

Kleibel, Caroline: Bühnenfrauen. Lebens-Situationen. Linz, 2001 (Fram)

Amort, Andrea und Wunderer-Gosch, Mimi (Hsg.): Österreich tanzt. Geschichte und Gegenwart. Wien-Köln-Weimar 2001 (Böhlau)

Poschmann-Reichenau: Tanz, Kunst, Leben. 20 Jahre editta braun company. BoD 2009.

By Editta Braun in

Habringer, Rudolf und Mautner, J.P. (Hsg.): Der Kobold der Träume. Spuren des Unbewußten, Wien 2006 (Picus)

Thuswaldner, Anton (Red.): Das Salzburger Jahr 1989. Eine Kulturkronik. Salzburg 1989 (Residenz)

PRESS ABOUT EDITTA BRAUN

"No one has so persistently shaped the dance scene in Salzburg as Editta Braun. Her unbelievable tenacity, coupled with a very personal aesthetic, is only to be found in her. Editta Braun's pieces are always significant in terms of content and on the pulse of the times; she addresses the social abysses as well as the qualities that make us human beings in the first place: Love, fear, jealousy, loneliness, happiness and longing and much more. Beautifully moving bodies in beautiful pictures are not her thing. This has long since ceased to be enough for Editta Braun. She is one who can tell stories with bodies and movements, sometimes she even succeeds with non-movements. A great woman, who was and is formative for the dance scene in Salzburg. A truly great (body) illusionist. (Leo Fellinger in Kunstbox Nachlese, 19. 1.2020)

30 years editta braun company (2019/2020)

"Adaptable and yet true to herself, she set trends long before the rest of the free dance world got on the train. The audience, local, national and international, appreciates this."

(Ditta Rudle in tanzschrift.at, 1.10.2019)

10 years editta braun company

" The Liontamer ...This is one of Braun's strengths, to move on, not to stand still. This has often taken her to her limits..."I'm fascinated by the physical, by power, by the intense live experience, also by beauty. When the interpreter is good, dance can be indescribably magical, an ethereal power, many-sided and manifold. Dance is, in short, a means to reach out to people and touch them." This shows in each of her works like the piece of wisdom given to us by Antoine de Saint-Exup?ry: "One sees only well through the heart." This is the only real truth."

Ilse Retzek in "tanzaffiche", Juni 2000

"She is the grande dame of contemporary dance theater 'made in Salzburg'. Forty-two year old dancer and choreographer Editta Braun has for the past ten years awed and touched us with her work. Curious peeks behind the facades, the ability to lure the audience into a poetic parallel universe, unbounding fantasy and a dash of wry social criticism here and there... Editta Braun is a captivating, mature artistic personality who allows us with great sensitivity glimpses of intimate moments, and who understands how to turn every short scene into a work of art..."

Heidrun Hofstetter in "tanzaffiche", August/September 2000