Verena Schneider (she/her, they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist, performer and circus/dance maker based in Vienna and working internationally between Austria and France. With a background in biology, circus arts (ESAC, Toulouse, France), and choreography, their performative practice explores the interplay between the human body and material presence—working with both animate and inanimate matter, ranging from plastic and natural materials to everyday objects and spatial environments.
Their work spans stage pieces, site-specific performances, videos and installations as traces from performative actions, focusing on the ecology of the body, heritage and origin, perception, processes, and artistic labour.
Verena Schneider has performed for artists such as Doris Uhlich, OFFTANZ Tirol, Bert Gstettner, and Le GdRA, and is the co-founder of Kumquat Circus Company (with Charlotte Le May) as well as the Vienna-based cultural association Freifall. Currently working from their studio at das weisse haus, their works have been presented at venues including WUK Performing Arts, Theater am Werk, Parallel Vienna, CircusDanceFestival, Premieretage Innsbruck and Latitude50.
The residency is realized in collaboration with La Boîte Tunis. During the stay in Gabès Verena Schneider presents, together with Ava Binta Giallo, the project Sense of Touch: Gestures on Archeologies of Place at the Gabes Cinema Fen Festival.
