foto: allen browne 2012
we – the members of danse brute – are very different, neuro- and generally diverse, and that is the starting point and at the same time the challenge of our training, rehearsals and performances. the real, political message of our work lies in the equality of all those involved (including the audience, who are called upon to complete what they have seen using their own imagination). we understand “political”, derived from the greek “polis” – community – i.e. “serving the community” by cooperating on an equal level.
artists: luna scheib and
david ender
who are we?
sonja browne
born in vienna. dancer, choreographer, educator, social worker, theater scholar. founder of the two inclusive dance ensembles danse brute (1999) and tanzmontage (2013). www.sonjabrowne.at
david ender
born in wodonga, australia. musician, performer, writer (gav member), fermenter, translator, and general improviser. writes experimental crime novels together with jack hauser.
geli goldman
born in vienna, self-confessed scandinavianist with sweden as her second home, photographer and photojournalist, graduate of acting training as a stage clown and ensemble theater at the clown school darmstadt, dance training in vienna and currently in theater education training at ifant – institute for applied theater.
magdalena hinterreitner-ecker
born in salzburg, dancer, feldenkrais teacher. in 2023, she founded maggies-parade.com together with nicholas mortimore.
violetta höhn
born in vienna. together with her family, she is a pioneer of the debra movement in
austria, which (founded 25 years ago as a self-help group) is committed to research, healing, and improving everyday life with the butterfly disease epidermolysis bullosa. dancer, visual artist: self-taught and as a student of sonja browne. since 2020, ensemble member of danse brute. dancer, visual artist: self-taught and a student of sonja browne. member of the danse brute ensemble since 2020.
steve macmillan
born in europe. conversation coach, psychosocial counselor, moderator, addiction and risk educator, health and fitness instructor. member of the danse brute ensemble since 2023.
luna scheib
born in vienna. dancer with ich bin ok, t21büne, and idance company. commercial assistant at wins job aktiv. member of danse brute since 2022.
cathi sedhoum
born in vienna. dancer with ich bin ok, trained as a dance assistant. training manager together with sonja browne at the university sports center vienna. trained sales assistant. member of danse brute since 2025.
alexander stuchlik
born in vienna. dancer with ich bin ok, trained as a dance assistant. trained retail sales assistant. member of danse brute since 2025.
ariel uziga
born in buenos aires, argentina. dancer with the ensemble serapion/odeon vienna from 2006 to 2018. feldenkrais practitioner, teacher of improvisation and dance composition in europe and south america. member of the ensemble danse brute since 2020. www.arieluziga.com.
michael turinksky on danse brute
you can read the (german) text by the theorist, philosopher and choreographer michael turinsky here
2025/26
the höhn cards
danse brute, the höhn cards, photo: videostill browne, 2025
the current project, the höhn cards (working title), is viewed from a bird’s-eye perspective, a research project for the development of choreographic tools for people who do not primarily communicate verbally – such as ensemble member violetta höhn, assisted by sonja browne, who has the task of arranging the previously found and polished movement material live, in front of an audience: vio is “the MC” of “real-time choreography.”
premiere: summer 2026, flucc
2024/25
volverte a ver – dich wieder zu sehen: a portable dance piece
danse brute volverte a ver at the meidlinger platzl , video: dominik browne, 2025
the body memory of the performers, who together form a heterogeneous complicity of people of different ages, genders, abilities and origins, is the actual compositional power in to see you again. volverte a ver. everyone’s own experiences are brought from the virtual space of memory into the group process of the overall composition and manifest themselves in – sometimes funny, romantic, searching or ostentatious – movement and sound images and drawings. the bodies of the performers accompany each other, listen to each other, resonate and react in the scenic space, which is constantly being rebuilt.
2023/24
not a toy
our piece “not a toy” is about “dancing for the sake of dancing”: dance, not as a representation of feelings or stories, but as an aesthetic event. what the audience sees in the simple stage design are dances and sounds that rhyme but are not dependent on each other. the spoken texts, the live sounds produced by the musician david ender, the “suite for toy piano” played by ender and the pop music from the portable party box alternate and stand equally alongside room-filling choreographies and selective improvisations.
worklist
2025 “volverte a ver” (alte wu; meidlinger platzl; flucc , leitung: ariel uziga)
2024 „not a toy“ (alte wu; semmelweisklinik wien, leitung: s.browne)
2023 „not a toy“ (kunst.fest währing, semmelweisklinik wien, leitung: s. browne)
2023 „etüde a. flotter dreier“
2019 „metatango“ (teilnahme von christian polster und sonja browne am symposium „FCCC´ing ImPulsTanz“ im rahmen von ImPulsTanz 2019; sound: julian siffert)
2012 „charly k.o.“ (3raum-anatomietheater wien; Łódź/polen; choreography: g. seeleitner)
2011 „narcissus project“ (kabelwerk wien; choreography: m.turinsky)
2010 „fort von hier mit hermes“ und
„hermes im park“ (vienna international theatre; pötzleinsdorfer schlosspark; choreography: s. browne)
2008 „triangulum“ (theater des augenblicks wien; choreography : a. mairoser),
„rücksicht auf darstellbarkeit“ (theater des augenblicks wien; choreography: m.turinsky)
2007 „flamenco“ (festival sich:wechsel linz; kulturtage reutlingen/ brd; choreography: s. browne)
„entdeckung der langsamkeit“ (wien; choreography: s. browne)
2006 „in-mich“ (historische bühne vhs ottakring; choreography: s. browne/ video: m. loizenbauer)
„escher“ (wien; choreography: s. browne)
2005 „fliegen“, „xanadu“, „two“ (vienna international theatre; choreography: s. browne)
2004 „nachbarn“ (wien; choreography: s. browne)
2003 „lilith“ (jüdisches institut für erwachsenenbildung wien; choreography: s. browne)
1999 „eines tages …“ (theater des augenblicks wien; choreography: s. browne)