Brigitta Luisa Merki

Artistic director, choreographer, dancer

2004 Brigitta Luisa Merki was awarded with the Hans Reinhart Ring for her innovative work based on living tradition and continuity. She is - after Heinz Spoerli and Anna Huber - the third artist in the field of dance receiving the highest award in Swiss performing arts given by the Swiss Society for Theater Culture (SGTK) and the Swiss Federal Office for Culture (BAK). Brigitta Luisa Merki has found her own way within her creative framework, which is dedicated to the long-term development of contemporary dance theater based on the spirit of Spanish folk art. Her past and present work deal with the perpetual changes and developments Flamenco has undergone while being handed down over time. Merki's work also centers around new uses of Spanish forms of movement as elements of an artistic, highly stylized dance idiom and their adequate translation for the professional theater. In 1999 she received the cultural award of the "AZ Medien", Switzerland.

Brigitta Luisa's artistic creations are characterized by her persistent search for a unique, contemporary dance and stage language - a language which stays true to the authenticity and the inner, real expression of Flamenco. The expressiveness of every individual is important in her creations. Lyric poetry and current events provide the inspiration for her choreographies. She is willing to experiment together with women painters and sculptors who create her unusual stage sets. For many years, her focus has been the continuous development of the Flamencos en route dance company in the areas of dance and choreography; she founded the company in 1984 and has been its artistic director since 1994. The company has gained an international reputation, thanks to the originality and high artistic standards of its productions, which - independent from the short-lived Zeitgeist - have won over an ever-growing audience.

Brigitta Luisa's long-term artistic cooperation with composer Antonio Robledo and the legendary dancer and choreographer Susana have been a decisive influence on her artistic development. The two introduced her to important Flamenco artists such as Enrique Morente and Carmen Linares, who would sing in Robledo's compositions for her dance company. A series of solo programs and elaborate stage works, which toured internationally, were created. At the same time, she designed choreographies for the Palucca School Dresden, a university of dance, and for the Music and Performing Arts University in Heidelberg/Mannheim. At the same time she has dedicated herself to intensive teaching activities in Italy, Germany, and Switzerland.

The Art of Confidence

Her very intensive cooperation with Susana and Antonio Robledo, going back to the beginnings of the company, has resulted in an organically grown form of developing dance and music.

Brigitta Luisa Merki incorporates various art forms into her work and has music composed specifically for her creations. She draws her inspiration from literature and the visual arts and integrates these in her various stage productions, both in contextual and pictorial form. In her production Soleá and the Winds she works with a contemporary dance choreographer, Colin Connor, and contemporary dancers.  This cooperation beyond the dividing lines demands the art of confidence in tradition and artistic visions, a confidence in the dialogue between tradition and the lively examination of the present as well as between various cultures.

Since 1984 a production form which readily embraces risk has developed into an originality and language of dance unique to this individually formed international ensemble.

Choreographies

2018 - rondo flamenco - live vocals, guitar, percussion
2018 - kopfüber - tanz&kunst königsfelden, artistic director: Brigitta Luisa Merki, Art Education
2017 - MOSAICO - live vocals, guitar, percussion
2017 - Bolero. Tanz der Feuertaube - tanz&kunst königsfelden, 90. min. live music
2016 - àMiró - 90 min. live vocals, guitar, percussion
2016 - leise brüllen - tanz&kunst königsfelden, Art Education Project
2016 - Ritual & Secreto - live vocals, guitar, percussion
2015 - ... adónde vas, Siguiriya? - Capricho Flamenco - live vocals, guitar, percussion
2014 - ... y que más! haiku flamenco - 90 min. live vocals, guitar, percussion
2014 - ... y que más! perlas peregrinas - 90 min. live vocals, guitar, percussion
2014 - ... y que más! siesta - 90 min. live vocals, guitar, percussion, nyckelharpa, bandoneon, bass, bouzouki
2014 - babel. überall - tanz&kunst königsfelden - 90 min. Art Education Project, live percussion, flute, vocals, violin, piano, bass
2013 - paso por paso - live vocals, guitar, flute, percussion
2013 - babel.torre viva - tanz&kunst königsfelden - live vocals, choir, guitar, flute, percussion
2012 - canto amor - live guitar, vocals, percussion and nyckelharpa
2011 - el rubí - live guitar, vocals, percussion and nyckelharpa
2011 - orfeo.euridíce.das paradies - Tanz & Kunst Königsfelden - live guitar, vocals, percussion and nyckelharpa
2009 - florescencia - 80 min. live guitar, vocals, percussion
2009 - caleidoscopio - Tanz & Kunst Königsfelden - 80 min. live guitar, vocals, percussion
2008 - ¡mírame! - 90 min. live guitar, vocals, percussion
2008 - a solas y a dos - 60 min. live guitar, vocals
2007 - resonancias - Tanz & Kunst Königsfelden - 75 min. live guitar, vocals, percussion
2006 - afán - 60 min. live guitar, violoncello, bandoneon, percussion
2005 - El círculo mágico - 90 min. live guitar, vocals, percussion
2004 - Caprichos Flamencos - 100 min. live guitar, vocals
(Centauras y Faunos by Brigitta Luisa Merki and cucharada de locura by Joaquin Ruiz, Spain)
2004 - Antonia y Antoñita - 75 min. live and recording guitar
2003 - Centaura y Flamenca - 90 min. live guitar, vocals, percussion, clarinet
2002 - tránsito flamenco - 90 min. live guitar, vocals, percussion, flute
2001 - Laberinto Soledad - 70 min. live guitar, vocals, percussion
2001 - Fragmentos II - 45 min. live guitar, vocals, percussion
2001 - Fragmentos I - 90 min. live guitar, vocals, percussion, flute
2001 - Impresiones Flamencas - 7 min. music Madre Deus
1999 - Soleá and the Winds - 90 min. music Antonio Robledo
(In creative cooperation with Colin Connor, USA)
1997 - El canto nómada - 90 min. music Antonio Robledo
1996 - Capricho Amor - 90 min. live guitar, vocals
(In creative cooperation with Bruno Argenta)
1996 - Calixto y Melibea - 10 min. music Antonio Robledo
1995 - Verbena - 10 min. music Antonio Robledo
1994 - Rondón - 90 min. music Antonio Robledo
1994 - Circo de Sevillanas - 35 min. recording Traditional
1993 - Gritos - 90 min. live guitar, vocals
1992 - Fiesta Flamenca - 20 min. recording Traditional
1991 - Entre mariposas negras - 70 min. live guitar, vocals
1989 - Nocturnos - 70 min. live guitar, vocals
1983 - Fantasias de una Flamenca - 70 min. live Antonio Robledo

Teaching Activities

Professional Schools of Dance
Music and Performing Arts University, Heidelberg/Mannheim, since 1989
Palucca School Dresden, University of Dance, since 1992
Scuola Dimitri, University, Verscio, Switzerland, 1983

International Summer Courses
Palucca School Dresden, University of Dance, Germany, since 1992
Bolzano Danza, Italy, since 1988
Swiss promotion dance, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 1998
Arena, Zurich, Switzerland, since 1999
Workshops and master classes at various schools of dance in Switzerland, Germany, and Italy

Education

Matura (school-leaving exam)
Teacher diploma
Acting classes with various teachers of the Zurich School of Drama
Dance training in Switzerland under Susana
Dance training in Spain under Mercedes y Albano, Maria Magdalena, Ciro, Paco Fernandez, Tomas de Madrid, La Tati, Manolo Marin

Dancing, Acting, and Teaching Activities
Dancer in various dance and music projects in Switzerland
Solo dancer of the Flamencos en route dance company for 18 years.
Solo dancer and assistant to Susana in the Spanish ballet Soledad, created for the Zurich Ballet, Zurich Opera House, Switzerland
Actress in the claque! theater group as well as in various other theater formations for 3 years
Elementary school teacher for children aged 7 to 10 for 4 years

Tours

Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Luxembourg, Hungary

Festivals

Stuttgart, Dresden, Hamburg - Germany; Zurich, Neuchâtel - Switzerland; Bregenz - Austria; Bolzano - Italy, VIII Bienal de Arte Flamenco de Sevilla

"A grasp on all aspects of human life!(...) A close examination of life in its most revealing form! (...) each one unique in his or her own way - an intense exploration of human life and desire. Their art (almost) makes the performance look like real life. The award for best actress, however, goes to Brigitta Luisa in the role of Celestina, the matchmaker; her way of combining the role's vitality and lust for life with the frailty of an old woman borders on the obscene and shocking. A mean and vulgar - yet human and moving - portrayal. The most remarkable phenomenon is the "Flamencos en route" dance troupe itself."
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 09.12.91, La Celestina