Eva Balzer

🪔 About

Eva Isolde Balzer is a Berlin-based Bharatanatyam practitioner, performer, director, and dramatherapist, with over two decades of experience in Indian classical dance and theatre. She commenced her studies in Classical Indian Dance Theatre, encompassing both Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam, in Chennai and Berlin in 2006. Her primary guru is Rajyashree Ramesh, under whom she performed her debut solo-margam, "Berlin Margam," in June 2013. Balzer has also received training from other notable teachers, including Sangeeta Ishwaran, a disciple of Kalanidhi Narayanan, and Srilatha Vinodh, a disciple of the Dhananjayans. Her academic background includes a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Freie Universität Berlin in 2010, which informs her critical perspective on post-coloniality and hybridity within dance. Throughout her career, Balzer has co-created and performed in over 40 transcultural theatre pieces, blending diverse cultural elements. She performs both classical Bharatanatyam repertoire and her own contemporary choreographies. Her solo piece, "BalaPina2," co-choreographed with Johanna Devi and Giorgia Minisini, was selected for the final round of "Germany's best dance solo" in November 2011. Since 2012, she has been a collaborator with the Johanna Devi Dance Company, and since 2014, she has toured "Raga-Abhinaya" with Manickam Yogeswaran. Beyond performance, Eva Balzer is actively involved in community building and research. She is a key figure in the Natya Initiative Berlin, an organization dedicated to fostering the classical Indian dance scene in Berlin. In 2012, she initiated "meet MIMOSA," a performance collective exploring themes of self-perception and decoloniality, and has led workshops on "Critical Whiteness." Her research interests include the therapeutic application of rasa (emotions) in Indian Dance Theatre. She also contributes to Phoenix e.V., an antiracist association. Awards & Honours: Finalist, Germany's best dance solo (2011).