Leo
Kees
Earlier Works
From the beginning of his artistic practice, Leo Kees has used non-fiction, philosophy, scientific research, sociology, and documentary material as starting points for the creation of performances. His works investigate how knowledge is produced, embodied, emotionally processed, and transformed into artistic experiences.
One of the earliest examples was "Antropomorfia" (2010), created with the Tanzplan Dresden grant and co-produced by HELLERAU and the Semperoper. Inspired by Darwin’s book "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals" and influenced by zoologists Frans de Waal and Desmond Morris, the work explored the manifestation of emotional states while seeking parallels between evolutionary origins, pop music, and classical culture.
Environmental and social systems became central in "TRASHedy" (2011), produced by tanzhaus nrw. This performance for young audiences was inspired, among others, by Daniel Goleman’s concept of ecological intelligence. The production was later analysed in depth by Julia Dina Hesse in her doctoral dissertation on anthropocene narratives in contemporary performance for young audiences. These questions were further developed in "Das Unsichtbare Haus" (2016), commissioned by Theater Münster, which explored biological and social evolution, emphasising migration as a natural and continuous component of human development. This was an attempt to react artistically to the growing social aversion toward migrants. Both works were awarded the Westwind Prize as the best production of the year for young audiences in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Other works continued this dialogue between performance and scientific research: "For Pleasure" (Marseille, 2012) explored sexuality, normative ideas of desire and its relation to the concept of legality; "Sex, Drugs, Ethics, History and Rock’n’Roll" (Frankfurt, 2018) questioned educational canons; "HIGH" (Frankfurt, 2024) dealt with drug addiction among young people and was developed through interviews with doctors, toxicologists, sociologists, and criminal police; and "The Food Show!" (Cologne, 2024) explored the relationship between sugar consumption, addictive patterns, dopamine loops, and behavioural conditioning.
His current long-term research project, Learning as Performance (LeAP), extends this trajectory by investigating learning itself as an embodied, emotional, social, and performative process shaped by attention, vulnerability, imagination, repetition, and shared physical presence.
*The following list of works is a representative selection and does not follow chronological order. A complete chronological list of works can be found at the bottom of this page.
Darwin on the Spot
What can evolutionary theory reveal about contemporary human behaviour?
Developed from an ongoing interest in Charles Darwin’s writings on emotional expression, Darwin on the Spot explored the relationship between biological inheritance, social behaviour, and cultural identity. Combining choreography, observation, and performative experimentation, the work examined how gestures, reactions, and emotional states emerge at the intersection of instinct and learned behaviour. Rather than illustrating scientific theories, the performance used evolutionary thought as a lens through which to reconsider everyday human interactions and the often invisible patterns that shape them. Humour, physicality, and visual composition created unexpected connections between contemporary life and its evolutionary origins. Together with Anthropomorphia, the work formed part of a broader artistic investigation into how knowledge from outside the arts can be transformed into embodied and collective experiences.
* for further infomration see Archive
CREDITS
Performed by: Rose Lohmann, Michael Wischnowski, David Vormweg, Lorenz Nolting, Nils Kretschmer, Carl Bruchhäuser, Paulina Alpen, Thomas Kaschel, Mats Süthoff, Saskia Rudat, Ivo Schneider | Direction: Leo Kees | Choreographic assistant: Maria Elena Kaiser | Music: La Bomba del Tiempo | Video recording: Pipo Tafel | produced by the Acting Department and the Physical Theatre Department of the Folkwang University of the Arts, Essen, Germany
HOLY WOOD
Who gets to be seen, and who remains invisible?
Created for two performers, Holy Wood explored how film, popular culture, and media imagery influence ideas of beauty, success, gender, and social belonging. Moving between everyday situations and iconic cinematic references, the performance examined the often-unquestioned standards embedded in mainstream entertainment. Humour, physical transformation, and visual contrast became tools for exposing the distance between lived experience and idealised representation. Rather than criticising popular culture from the outside, the work embraced its contradictions, pleasures, and absurdities, allowing audiences to recognise themselves within the images being questioned. Positioned between dance, theatre, and visual composition, Holy Wood investigated how collective fantasies shape individual identities and how representation influences the ways people imagine themselves and others.
* for further infomration see Archive
CREDITS
Performed by: Alejandra Jenni, Wayne Götz | Direction: Leo Kees | Choreography: Leo Kees in collaboration with Alejandra Jenni and Wayne Götz | Dramaturgical collaborator: Max Böhner | Music: Hans Zimmer, Nina Simone, Fiona Apple | produced by Leo Kees with support from Fonds Darstellende Künste, NRW Landesbüro Darstellende Künste, Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft des Landes NRW and Kunststiftung NRW.
Darwin on the Spot
Darwin on the Spot
Developed from an ongoing interest in Charles Darwin’s writings on emotional expression, Darwin on the Spot explored the relationship between biological inheritance, social behaviour, and cultural identity. Combining choreography, observation, and performative experimentation, the work examined how gestures, reactions, and emotional states emerge at the intersection of instinct and learned behaviour. Rather than illustrating scientific theories, the performance used evolutionary thought as a lens through which to reconsider everyday human interactions and the often invisible patterns that shape them. Humour, physicality, and visual composition created unexpected connections between contemporary life and its evolutionary origins. Together with Anthropomorphia, the work formed part of a broader artistic investigation into how knowledge from outside the arts can be transformed into embodied and collective experiences.
* for further infomration see Archive
CREDITS
Performed by: Rose Lohmann, Michael Wischnowski, David Vormweg, Lorenz Nolting, Nils Kretschmer, Carl Bruchhäuser, Paulina Alpen, Thomas Kaschel, Mats Süthoff, Saskia Rudat, Ivo Schneider | Direction: Leo Kees | Choreographic assistant: Maria Elena Kaiser | Music: La Bomba del Tiempo | Video recording: Pipo Tafel | produced by the Acting Department and the Physical Theatre Department of the Folkwang University of the Arts, Essen, Germany
Darwin on the Spot
Darwin on the Spot
Developed from an ongoing interest in Charles Darwin’s writings on emotional expression, Darwin on the Spot explored the relationship between biological inheritance, social behaviour, and cultural identity. Combining choreography, observation, and performative experimentation, the work examined how gestures, reactions, and emotional states emerge at the intersection of instinct and learned behaviour. Rather than illustrating scientific theories, the performance used evolutionary thought as a lens through which to reconsider everyday human interactions and the often invisible patterns that shape them. Humour, physicality, and visual composition created unexpected connections between contemporary life and its evolutionary origins. Together with Anthropomorphia, the work formed part of a broader artistic investigation into how knowledge from outside the arts can be transformed into embodied and collective experiences.
* for further infomration see Archive
CREDITS
Performed by: Rose Lohmann, Michael Wischnowski, David Vormweg, Lorenz Nolting, Nils Kretschmer, Carl Bruchhäuser, Paulina Alpen, Thomas Kaschel, Mats Süthoff, Saskia Rudat, Ivo Schneider | Direction: Leo Kees | Choreographic assistant: Maria Elena Kaiser | Music: La Bomba del Tiempo | Video recording: Pipo Tafel | produced by the Acting Department and the Physical Theatre Department of the Folkwang University of the Arts, Essen, Germany