Vera Tussing
Choreographer in Residence

Vera Tussing’s (b.1982, Germany, lives and works in Brussels) creative processes, performances and installations are driven by her interests in perception, the senses, embodied experience and multisensory spectatorship. Her most recent series of works, ‘The Tactile Cycle’, consists of stage works, sculptures, and sound and movement installations that focus on tactility, collectivity and consent. A central theme of her work is the way in which the various senses combine to structure our perception, and create direct interpersonal encounters between audience and artist.

In Spoleto she will develop her current research ‘Anatomy of Performance: Extensions’. Tussing writes: “Our bodies are not just our bodies. In every moment, in every motion, our bodies are set in interaction and communication with outside objects and technologies. These “mediating forces” serve to “extend” our physical presence, connecting and dividing us in specific, culturally coded ways. How does this work? What does this mean for choreography? What does it mean for us as we communicate with others and navigate society? My new research phase will explore choreographic ideas of physical and cultural mediation. How do the external objects we use and interact with shape our bodies, movement, perception and communication? These can be physical objects such as clothes, crutches, prosthesis, musical instruments or mobile phones – or culturally coded technologies such as artificial intelligence, or perhaps even language itself. This research phase will entail studio-based work with dancers, as well as exchanges from broader artistic and research fields, such as architecture and visual/sound art.”

Vera Tussing graduated from London Contemporary Dance School,  and has worked as a dancer, director and maker in the UK, Belgium, Canada and across Europe. In 2011 she premiered Trilogy with Albert Quesada, based on a commission from ROH2 at the Royal Opera House. This was followed by the stage pieces You Ain’t Heard Nothing Yet (2012) and T-Dance (2014), as well as the movement-sound installation Sound Bed. Although she occasionally performs in works by other makers, she primarily focuses on the creation and touring of her own work, which is summarized under the title ‘Tactile Cycle’ (2011-2023). The performance The Palm of Your Hand premiered in 2015, followed by Mazing (2016). In 2017, The Palm of Your Hand was recreated and made accessible to blind and partially sighted audiences as The Humane Body Project in collaboration with ImPulsTanz (Vienna), Kaaitheater (Brussels) and The Place (London). This recreation premiered at CND, Paris. Both, Two, a duet in collaboration with Esse Vanderbruggen premiered at Kaaistudio’s (Brussels) in 2018. The cycle of duets began with Both, Two, but is further explored in the online digital project @duetthecity, in collaboration with photographer Stine Sampers, and in an emerging sculptural practice, presented as part of Performatik 19 (Brussels). In October 2019, Tactile Quartet(s), a performance that extends her research into tactility into the musical discipline, premiered at Kaaitheater, Brussels. She participated in Felix Rothenhäusler’s creation, Verafall. Ein Picknick im Grünen at Stadttheater Bremen in 2022 as a performer and movement coach. Vera created her latest work Un-Staging Tactility in late 2023 and toured with it alongside other creations such as The Palm of Your Hand 2 and Tactile Quartet(s). She has also started a new research project with the company Tanz Mainz im 2024. With long-time collaborator Michael Picknett and Emanuele Costantini, she took over the sound installation ‘Sound Bed’ at Timeout ev. Freiburg, Germany in the fall of 2024. In early 2025, she received a research grant from the Flemish government and will develop new ideas while in residence at 104 in Paris and Mahler & LeWitt Studios in Spoleto. Vera regularly advises, coaches, dramaturges and directs artists from all backgrounds. Vera has volunteered for voices of dance – a Belgian initiative that stands up for the rights of dancers/performers. She also supports ENGAGEMENT, an artist-led movement that tackles sexual harassment, sexism and abuse of power in the Belgian arts field.