Dance does not … diligently conduct a building project of the world, but rather stops mechanical building and begins poetic living.
Kirsi Monni

Michael Kliën’s choreographies are predominantly movement-based works of art, situated in galleries, museums or on stages. Increasingly, visual art works form part of his choreographic output (Situational Choreographies); yet, other creations may act directly upon the social sphere (Social Choreography). His choreographies for dance are marked by distinctive methodologies and the subsequent, unique movement aesthetic.

All choreographies are the outcome of lengthy periods of research, so-called Field Studies. They are rigorous, poetic artefacts that aspire to engage ‘the unkown,’ observational and reflective realms offered to the audience to sense reality beyond rationality and purpose. The inner processes of these choreographies take years to fall into place. They change and grow whenever performed or situated; they are cradles of relations—‘organisms’—interacting with the world, affecting and being affected.

Amongst a considerable body of work, Michael Kliën’s seminal choreographies include Einem for Ballett Frankfurt, Sediments of an Ordinary Mind and Sense and Meaning for Daghdha Dance Company (Limerick), Choreography for Blackboards for Hayward Gallery (London), Slattery’s Lamp of IMMA’s (Irish Museum of Modern Art) permanent collection, Parliament for Benaki Museum (Athens) and State of the Union (Excavation Site) for New Museum, Martha Graham Dance Company and PS122 (NY).

… it is like watching a Jackson Pollock painting unfold … Kliën’s style is radically different to everything else.
Dance Europe

Full list of works (pdf)
Comprehensive video documentation of recent and past works