photo: Andreas Schlagger®
Portuguese born Liliana Barros is an Independent dancer and choreographer based in Germany.
Her choreographic works are described by a strong and intense scenic atmosphere.
Highly visual, her work is characterized by the idiosyncratic aesthetics and movement language. Visceral and archaic combined with elegant plasticity and use of technical elements in a somewhat deconstructed form.
Liliana has created several commissioned work for prominent international dance companies like NationalTheater Mannheim GAIA (2019) , Saarländisches Staatsballett My NAME IS LEGION (2017), Gauthier Dance Company IN TANDEM (2021), MiR Dance Company PANORAMA (2021), Dance Company Theater Osnabrück HIGH RELIEF (2021), Netherlands Dance Theater 2 GROTTO (2022) , TanzKassel, at Staatstheater Kassel 100YEARS 100HEARTS_ Sleeping Beauty (2022), Ballet Koblenz LE SACRE DU PRINTEMPS (2023) and Staatsballett Hannover ARCHIUM (2024). Newest creations include works FAUNO (2025) for Hessisches Staatsballett and IGNIS for National Dance Company of Malta Zfin (2025).
Alongside her commissions, Liliana produces her independent works and has developed a strong independent artistic voice. Her solo NERVURE (2017) received several international prizes and toured extensively. Later works such as MEMORABILIA (2019), INERTIA (2020)—a digital project supported by NPN-Stepping Out, TECHNO FAUNA (2021), and MATRIARCHS (2024) have been supported by the state of Lower Saxony and major German cultural foundations. TECHNO FAUNA was nominated in 2022 by the Foundation of Lower Saxony as one of the most outstanding productions in the state’s independent performing arts scene and was presented at the BestOFF Festival.
Liliana is also an experienced teacher, offering workshops and masterclasses internationally. She has taught at institutions such as DAF – Dance Arts Faculty in Rome, the Copenhagen International Dance Festival, the Cyprus International Dance Festival, and NDT Summer Intensive in The Hague. She has also taught daily class at the dance companies of the State Theaters in Braunschweig and Giessen.
Her choreographic work extends into opera and theater. She collaborated with director and set designer Ben Baur for La Bohème at the Staatstheater Braunschweig (2018), and worked with the polish theater director Marta Górnicka as performer and choreographic assistant on JEDEM das SEINE at Münchner Kammerspiele (2018). In 2017, she worked with Christopher Hanninger on Allons, Enfants, and in 2012, she designed the stage and costumes for FaustKampf, a theatrical monologue after Goethe, which premiered at Sparte4, Saarländisches Staatstheater.
Liliana Barros received her dance training at BALLETEATRO Escola Profissional and the Pirmin Treku Classical Ballet School in Porto before graduating with a BA in Dance from the Rotterdam Dance Academy – CODARTS. She has performed with companies including Compagnia Zappalá Danza (Italy), Pretty Ugly Tanz Köln under Amanda Miller, the Saarländisches Staatsballett (Germany), and Compagnie Marie Chouinard (Canada).
Throughout her career, she has performed both existing works and creations by Marguerite Donlon, Amanda Miller, Roberto Zappalà, Itzik Galili, Stephan Thoss, Marco Goecke, Marie Chouinard, Kurt Jooss, Stijn Celis, Johan Inger, Jiří Kylián, and Alexander Ekman.
In 2011, she was awarded the Sponsor Club Preis for her outstanding performance as The Chosen One in Le Sacre du Printemps, choreographed by Marguerite Donlon.
She is also a certified Gyrotonic® trainer.
I'm interested in a better understanding of a primordial and universal behavior and how this acquired data moves through us.
With the body as a theme, how does this synchronicity through ordinary and personal rituals make our understanding of "WHAT MOVES US ?"
I'm inspired by other art forms and artists!
I'm inspired by life!
I like being curious! I like to have visions!
I'm interested in creating worlds, new dimensions and atmospheres.
In my work I like to depart from a state, be it physical, emotional or mental, and allow myself, within that energetic state to unveil a choreographic language that arises from that same energy.