Join the ICONS

Dance ICONS is a global network for choreographers of all levels of experience, nationalities, and genres. We offer a cloud-based platform for knowledge exchange, collaboration, inspiration, and debate. Dance ICONS is based in Washington, D.C., and serves choreographers the world over. 

 

Subscribe today to receive our news and updates. Become a member of your global artistic community ​-- join the ICONS!

 

 

RAPHAEL MIRO HOLZER: DANCING THE BLUE

 

Austrian celebrity choreographer Raphael Miro Holzer splits his busy time between developing original work and cultivating the next generation of dance makers with his educational program entitled BLUEBOX. Miro Holzer is on the front edge of a new generation of interdisciplinary choreographers working across artist media and using all sorts of innovative devices, including artificial intelligence. He spoke with ICONS about his signature creative toolbox entitled BLUEPRINT, an ever-changing methodology for developing unique movement and forming global artistic collaborations.

 

ICONS: You have a unique background as a classically trained dancer with creative interests in contemporary dance -- can you tell us about your beginning as an artist?

 

Raphael Miro Holzer: I first encountered contemporary dance at ImPulsTanz in Vienna. I went there because my mother wanted to do a workshop, and I wanted to join the class, but the teacher, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, told me I was too young. It took some convincing, but finally I was allowed to join.

 

At the age of six, I started to train in Shaolin Kung Fu, and I felt very attracted to the discipline of it. I was constantly looking for new ways to express myself physically. Then I auditioned for the Viennese Conservatory, which is classical training, and I think the ritualistic discipline of classical training always appealed to me. It’s a perfect fusion of art and sport. It took me many years to come back to contemporary dance, but eventually I did.

 

 

ICONS: Are there any choreographers that inspired you, that made you think, maybe I’ll be a choreographer rather than a professional dancer?

 

RMH: I met Ismael Ivo, who was the Artistic Director of ImPulsTanz, and he recommended that I switch my career focus to contemporary dance. He reignited my passion for dance and became a very important figure throughout my career. My eyes were set on choreography from that moment.

I took lectures at the main university in Vienna in theater, film, and media science. And I worked as a dancer with artists I wanted to learn from, such as Lorena Nogal. I was looking for the most nurturing context to satisfy my curiosity. I watched the Pina Bausch works on stage in Vienna. There's always a lot of inspiration on stage, and not only on the dance stage, but also in theater and film for me.

 

 I was very inspired by her interpretation of the Rite of Spring, for example. With Ismael, I met him as a dancer, but he was a choreographer. He choreographed many dance pieces, and I was inspired to watch him work often sitting next to him. That was my insight into the perspective of a choreographer and what a choreographer can be like. Most recently, I’ve been inspired by Marcos Morau and that generation of artists, as well as by Alan Lucien Øyen and his Winter Guests dance company. I'm always attracted to choreographers who interpret dramaturgy in a different way.

 

 

ICONS:  You have created BLUEPRINT. Is that a style of choreography, a method, or a framework that you use to create?

 

RMH: BLUEPRINT is a skeleton of my artistic practice. It originated right after I graduated from Institut del Teatre in Barcelona. I was lucky enough to have a lot of choreographic work early on, but I was also overwhelmed with the deadlines and the limited studio access. So I came up with a method that I would called BLUEPRINT, and it basically bridges the gap between improvisation and set material. The new approach helped me to create movement and  dramaturgical scores in a very efficient manner.

 

BLUEPRINT also became useful as I was constantly engaging in dialogue with other creative disciplines. Additionally, in recent years, I started to teach it in a workshop format and dance institutions all around Europe, and participants loved it.

 

 

The first day in the studio I use it to research and channel the interaction between the dancers and me and the work I want to create. It all depends on the creative discipline, the individuals, and their story and background. BLUEPRINT is a method I've worked on with actors, dancers, acrobats, classically-trained dancers, and contemporary dancers.

 

ICONS: Your talent development program called BLUEBOX invites younger creators to get training and to interact with each other. Are BLUEBOX and BLUEPRINT related?

 

RMH: BLUEBOX is a new project based in my hometown of Vienna, Austria. I was motivated to create a platform where movers can work and learn from the best artists throughout a season. I invite one artist or a company each week to work with the BLUEBOX dance artists. And my method BLUEPRINT is taught there as well. The program is a choreographic lab which future dance makers can use to expand their movement vocabulary.

 

ICONS: One of your works that got a lot of international attention was your Rite of Spring exploring the idea of artificial intelligence. Can you share more about it?  

 

RMH: In recent years, I have started to slow down my creative process. I need time to listen to what the dancers are offering and how I can facilitate an interaction between their story and the story I want to tell. Sacre [Rite of Spring] is such a legendary piece of music, and a lot of amazing choreographers have done tremendous pieces with it. So I'm relating to the past. I'm echoing amazing works that have already been staged to the music by Igor Stravinsky.

 

I'm relating it to the “supposed” future of humanhood, AI. This is a struggle for human expression and identity in an increasingly AI-dominated society, where the boundaries between human and artificial intelligence are blurring. Isn’t humanity sacrificed?

 

 

ICONS: As you work interactively with other artists, such as the cinematographers in your latest award-winning dance film, to what extent are you open to collaboration?

 

RMH: I'm constantly engaging in dialogue with other creative disciplines. I believe that's the path to push the boundaries of what dance is capable of. Additionally, I'm a big admirer of individualism on stage. And that's very visible in the creative process as well. Every dancer plays a big role. If I meet artists and I fall in love with their work, then there might be exciting collaborations possible. I'm always open to it.

 

ICONS: What are your creative plans for the next two or three years?

 

RMH: I'm going to offer a BLUEPRINT Masterclass at Studio Wayne McGregor in London in March, and currently BLUEBOX is holding auditions all around the globe, so a lot of traveling ahead for me. I continue to work on Sacre. Since I started to slow the creative process, that might take a while.

 

 

Additionally, I am conducting research on a new production with a visual artist on the topic of landscapes in dance. I'm also preparing for a new dance film for next season. While I'm creating new work, I’m always looking for the next thing. There's inspiration everywhere. It's in the streets, the metro, the coffee shop, the movies, the music.

 

ICONS: As an independent choreographer, how do you see the art choreography changing in the future?

 

RMH: The future of choreography lies in the idea that every dancer becomes a creator and the choreographer's role is to listen, guide, and lead the creative process; that aligns with the exact translation of pedagogy in Greek. I really hope for a holistic reinterpretation of what it means to direct anything, whether it's a dance production company or a program.

 

                                  

 

ICONS: Are you saying that in the future you see us as becoming more integrative and assimilative, and less autonomous and individualistic?

 

RMH: I think there is space for all sorts of approaches in the space of creative practices. Personally, I aim to live a life that cultivates all types of artistry. I would not limit myself to say one or the other. I think it depends on the project, to be honest. But I would suggest we all just take things one day at a time.

 

                                      

 

*             *             *             *             *             *             *

 

BIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCE:

https://www.raphaelmiroholzer.com/about/

 

PHOTOGRAPHY IMAGES:

© Dorothee Elfring © Mirek Dworczak, © groxpressimages

 

VIDEO REFERENCE:

 

Demo Real 2024-25:

 

 

and

 

Truth is in the details: When dance meets architecture & fashion.

 

 

 

INTERVIEW'S CREATIVE TEAM ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

 

Interviewer: Vladimir Angelov

Executive Content Editor: Camilla Acquista

Executive Assistant: Charles Scheland

Founding and Executive Director: Vladimir Angelov

Dance ICONS, Inc., February 2025 © All rights reserved

This digital resource and publication was made  possible by