Meet the Artist
Swantje Kawecki (she/her) is a contemporary circus artist and dancer based in Cologne. Her artistic practice combines contemporary circus, dance, and performance across participatory, site-specific, and interdisciplinary formats. She studied Circus and Performance Art in Tilburg (BA 2021) and completed an MA in Dance Studies at the Center for Contemporary Dance Cologne (2026). Before her formal training, she developed a diverse movement background in martial arts, handball, climbing, and vaulting, which continues to inform her physical approach, her adaptability as a performer, and her sensitivity to space, dynamics, and collaboration.
As a performer, Swantje Kawecki works across contemporary circus and dance productions that explore relationships between body, material, image, and spatial composition. Her artistic interest lies in hybrid formats situated between choreography, performance, and installation-based contexts. She has been collaborating continuously with Tall Tales Company (Rotterdam) for several years, contributing to visually composed works that combine physical precision with musicality, atmospheric imagery, and a strong sensitivity to vertical space and scenographic structures.
In addition to collaborative productions, she develops her own artistic works, investigating how physical practice can function as a mode of thinking and how dramaturgy can emerge through bodily experience, objects, and environments. Her work contributes to an expanded understanding of contemporary circus as a transdisciplinary artistic field.
Alongside her stage work, Kawecki writes about contemporary circus and dance for platforms such as Zirkusplus, Around About Circus, and tanznetz. As part of the festival Zeit für Zirkus Köln 2025, she initiated the Circus Blog to strengthen the visibility of contemporary circus in Germany and to foster critical dialogue around its artistic developments. Her writing explores artistic practices, aesthetics, and discourse within contemporary circus.
Sharing her experience and skills with others, as well as supporting them in their creative process, inspires Swantje as a person and artist. Over the years, she has taught in both German and English in a wide range of contexts, including continuing education formats, school projects, regular classes, holiday camps, and festival workshops. Her pedagogical approach combines contemporary circus, dance, and somatic practices, supporting participants in developing their own creative processes within respectful and supportive learning environments.
© Tamara Mauss