VALERIE OBERLEITHNER
artist choreographer | movement director | coach
BIOGRAPHY
Valerie Oberleithner is a choreographer, performer and Embodiment Coach based in France. For more than twenty years, she has worked across dance, performance and choreography. Today, she brings this longstanding artistic practice into her work with actors and actresses in film and theatre, as well as into transdisciplinary projects in the field of Arts & Health.
As a choreographer, she has worked with internationally renowned artists and companies including Jennifer Lacey, Boris Charmatz, Ivana Müller and SUPERAMAS. Her own work has been presented at venues and festivals including the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, ImPulsTanz Festival in Vienna and the eXplore Festival in Bucharest. Valerie teaches dance, choreography and composition at universities and arts institutions across Europe. She has led numerous workshops, masterclasses and laboratories at international festivals and renowned institutions. Since 2018, her choreographic research has focused increasingly on body-based practices in relation to empowerment, body politics and mental health.
Today, a significant part of her practice focuses on working with actors and actresses in film and theatre. As an Embodiment Coach, she supports performers in preparing and developing roles and scenes, drawing on somatic practices, movement, improvisation and choreographic tools. Her work focuses on the embodiment of a role, the development of movement qualities, working with presence, and preparing for scenes involving high levels of physical engagement as well as the portrayal of intense emotional and mental states. She works with concrete physical tools and practices that are adapted to each scene and to the individual needs of the actors and actresses.
She has supported actors and actresses both during the preparation of film productions and directly on set. In her collaborations with actors, actresses, directors and creative teams, she places particular importance on clear communication, a respectful working environment and a calm, attentive presence. CARE practices are an important part of her approach, as is creating a working environment that is as safe and supportive as possible. She now aims to deepen this experience through professional training in Intimacy Coordination and to develop a thorough understanding of the specific methods, standards and professional frameworks of the field.
Her more than twenty years of experience as a performer is a fundamental part of this work. She knows first-hand the demands and vulnerability that can be involved in working with one's own body in front of an audience and camera. At the same time, her choreographic practice enables her to analyse movement precisely, structure physical actions and, when needed, develop solutions that remain compatible with the artistic intentions of a scene.
Alongside this work, Valerie Oberleithner is active in the field of Arts & Health. She is a member of the Salzburg Institute Arts in Medicine (SIAM) and contributes to artistic and research-based projects exploring resilience, wellbeing and mental health. Her current projects include the development of the “Artistic Resilience Suitcase”, a hybrid prototype combining a physical suitcase with a digital app. Designed as a preventive tool for children and young people, the project aims to reduce stress, enhance wellbeing and foster self-empowerment through artistic practice.
Valerie was also part of the “Tanz mit!” project, for which she developed and delivered six dance interventions in public space and, as artistic lead, facilitated dialogue between artistic and scientific perspectives. Across these projects, her work consistently operates at the intersection of artistic practice, embodied knowledge and social responsibility.
Today, Valerie brings these different areas of experience – choreography, performance, embodiment, working with actors and actresses, Arts & Health – together in a practice that understands the body as a resource for presence, communication, self-regulation and artistic expression.
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