KARETH SCHAFFER
Kareth Schaffer (1987, USA/NL) is a Berlin/Amsterdam-based choreographer and performer, and the artistic director of Construction Company. Practicing an extended concept of choreography, her pieces take current events and (pop)cultural phenomena as their starting points. Physical and anthropological research, moments of cooperation and exchange, and the committed labor of long- and short-term accomplices ripen seemingly simple ideas into performative complexity.
Schaffer uses movement, text, scores, and sound to create shifting atmospheres permeated with a wry humor and a restless physicality. Her “post-postmodern” dance pieces have so far scrutinized a variety of themes, including prophecies, mudwrestling, thrillers, synchronized swimming, foley, Angela Merkel, emojis, jumping rope, ancient monastic practices, and conversational formats.
Construction Company works have been shown in Berlin (Sophiensaele, Tanzfabrik, HAU, Uferstudios, Ballhaus Ost), Amsterdam (Het Veemtheater), Düsseldorf (tanzhaus NRW), Essen (PACT Zollverein), Malmö, Hamburg (Kampnagel), Denpasar (CushCush Gallery), and Mexico City (Universitario del Chopo).
Kareth Schaffer was named “New Talent 2016” and nominated for “Female Dancer of the Year 2018” by Jahrbuch Tanz. A recipient of the Tanzrecherche (Dance Research) Residency in 2014, she was awarded the Pina Bausch Fellowship in 2018, in cooperation with Mekar Bhuana Center in Denpasar, Bali. She was an elected representative of the Berlin independent dance scene at the Round Table of Dance of the Berlin Senate in 2018, served on the board of zeitgenössicher tanz berlin e.V. from 2019–2021, and is a member of the Inter-University Center for Dance Berlin (HZT)’s council.