Olivia Maridjan-Koop

completed her dance studies at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. During her studies, she participated in pieces by choreographers such as Joachim Schlömer, Wanda Golonka, Felix Ruckert, and Claudia Lichtblau. In her final year, she joined the extended ensemble of the Wuppertal Dance Theater and took part in the tour for Pina Bausch's "Sacre du Printemps."

After her studies, she received her first permanent engagement with the Mark Morris Dance Group at the Opéra de la Monnaie in Brussels and later in New York. In Brussels, she had the honor of participating in the production "Wonderland" as Mikhail Baryshnikov's partner. She assisted Mark Morris twice, first at the Opéra de Paris and then with the San Francisco Ballet. After this period, she decided to return to Europe and joined her former classmate Joachim Schlömer, who took over the direction of the dance theater at the National Theater Weimar, before following him to the Theater Basel. In 2000, she moved to Italy and established herself there as a freelance dancer, choreographer, and teacher, working in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. During this time, she also completed her Feldenkrais® training in Basel.

At the end of 2008, she moved to Freiburg and began her collaboration with the dance/performance collective PVC at the Theater Freiburg. Subsequently, she was part of Graham Smith's team for many years in the "Learning By Movement" program, also at the Theater Freiburg. Other projects included the city opera "Die Gute Stadt" (Music: Sinem Altan, Direction: Thalia Kellmeyer) and the community opera project "Attacca" (Artistic Direction: Thalia Kellmeyer, Musical Direction: Joel da Silva). Her intensive choreographic and pedagogical involvement in productions with non-professional performers at the Theater Freiburg ended with the change of artistic director in 2017. During this phase, the 18-month Aktion Mensch project "Kontaktkunst-Inklusion in Aktion" shaped her work, where she led the dance department. Eventually, she found a new artistic home in the independent scene with the Compagnie LaPerformance and was part of the core team under the artistic direction of Julie Jaffrennou for the last seven years.

(Photo: © Carola Hölting)

Own Choreography

- TANGO – Solo – Essen – 1984
- SHE IS NOT AT ALL DOMESTICATED – Solo – Essen – 1985
- SOLO FÜR DORIS – Solo for Doris Lamatsch – Essen – 1986
- KARAVANE – 10 performers – Essen – 1987
- SOLO FÜR DORIS – Trio – Brussels – 1989
- LE RÊVE – as part of PAS PERDU – 4 performers – Paris/Antwerp – 1994
- PERSONA – 2 performers – International Festival "Kunstfest" Weimar – 1997
- SHE, WHO CROSSES THE OCEAN ON A LEAF – 4 performers – Basel – 1998
- ON THE TRESHHOLD – Solo – Basel – 1999
- TRANSLUCENCE – Solos as part of an evening of theater – Zurich – 2001
- GLÜCK – Duo with Livia Patrizi – Berlin – 2003
- REQUIEM – Solo – Trieste – 2006
- THIS WILD DARKNESS – Solo for Unita Gay-Galiluyo – Freiburg – 2007
- LILITH – Trio + Choir – Freiburg – 2007
- KO-THA / EWIGE WEGE – Solo – ton-art Festival Esslingen – 2020