Eliza Sanders - Guest Choreographer
Eliza is a dancer, choreographer and teacher. She holds a Bachelor of Dance Performance from the New Zealand School of Dance (NZSD) and is a certified Countertechnique teacher and Vinyasa Flow Yoga Teacher. She has studied The Alexander Technique and Viewpoints extensively. Her practice utilises improvisation focusing on anatomical exploration and uninhibited voice work. Eliza’s work involves a prevalence of theatrical absurdity, the integration of text with movement and integrated stage and costume design.
Eliza has created multiple works on Footnote Dance Company, QL2 and The New Zealand School of Dance. She was the Master Workshop Leader at the Busan International Choreographers Camp in 2023 and her new work ‘Resisting Resistance’ will premier in South Korea this June.
Eliza has worked as a teacher of dance, improvisation and yoga around Australia and Aotearoa with students aged 5-82. She is the only certified teacher of Countertechnique in Aotearoa, was a key artist on the Make a Move program for the Australian National Curriculum and has been a full time tutor at The New Zealand School of Dance.
Alongside her sister Charley, Eliza is the Co-Artistic Director or House of Sand - a contemporary performance company that has presented 25 seasons of 16 original shows since they launched in 2015. All of which Eliza has been a key collaborator on, whether that be as a creator, choreographer, performer or assistant director
As a dancer Eliza has worked for; The New Zealand Dance Company - Jo Loyd, Katrina Bastian, Chrissie Parrot, The Australian Dance Party, Body Cartography, Java Dance Theatre, The World of Wearable Art, Battleground Productions, Little Dove Theatre Art and Liz Lea..
Eliza has created six full-length original works for House of Sand; Pedal.Peddle 2015, Knitting While Sleeping 2016, Castles 2016, Feet.Us 2017, Fear of Eggs 2018 and UNDOING 2022. Her solo shows Pedal. Peddle & Castles have toured to Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide Wellington and Auckland with support and awards from The NZ, Adelaide & Sydney Fringe Festivals, Arts Act, CNZ, QL2, and Bats Theatre. Castles received numerous awards and nominations from The NZ Fringe including Best in Fringe and Most Promising Performer. Knitting While Sleeping, Feet.Us & Fear of Eggs have been nominated for awards from the NZ Fringe Festival
Eliza’s dance/ visual art film MGWH premiered at the Festival of Recorded Movement (FORM) in Vancouver, Canada in 2017.
In 2017 Eliza collaborated with photographer Lorna Sim on a series of images. An exhibition of these titled Enigma featured at The Photo Room in Canberra in May/ June 2017.
Eliza received one the last ArtStart grants from the Australia Council for the Arts in 2015 enabling her to undergo extensive professional development in North America and Europe. During this time she trained in Viewpoints and Suzuki with the SITI Company, participated in a residency at PAF in France and studied with numerous movement artists at ImpulsTanz in Vienna.
Prior to her training at NZSD Eliza completed RAD Ballet examinations to Advanced 2 with High Distinctions and was a semi finalist in the RAD’s Genee International Ballet Competition. From 2008 - 2011 Eliza was a member of the Quantum Leap Youth Dance Ensemble (QL2) and in 2011 toured with the company to Thailand. In both 2010 and 2011 Eliza was awarded best female dancer in Short and Sweet Dance Canberra, in 2011 her work Parallels was also awarded best choreography. In 2011 Eliza was nominated in the Australian of the Year Awards in the Youth Arts category.
Photo credit: ojwikner_photography