Simeon Ohlsen
Artist in Residence
Born in Germany, he is a dancer, musician, and interdisciplinary artist whose work investigates gender, identity, and the emotional landscapes of contemporary society.
With a background in classical piano, he has conducted various choirs in Germany and Austria, bringing together voices across generations and communities. In 2024, he performed Silent Lovers, a choreography by Luca Bonamore, at ImPulsTanz in Vienna, one of Europe’s leading festivals for contemporary dance.
A central theme of his artistic practice is the intersection of climate and emotion. His recent works explore how the climate crisis not only threatens our environment but also deeply affects our emotional and social lives. He examines feelings such as ecological grief, fear, disconnection, and resilience, asking how these emotional states can be embodied, shared, and transformed through performance.
His work often draws from queer and feminist perspectives, using the body as a site of resistance, vulnerability, and transformation. Through dance, music, and collective practice, he aims to create spaces where new relationships to self, others, and the planet can emerge.
Do you relate? 2025
How do we encounter water – as a resource, a mirror, an organism? What if water had its own voice – would we listen? What memories and invisible stories does it carry within?
Do You Relate? is a dance performance that shifts the focus from ownership to relationship. It does not seek answers but resonance. Moving in dialogue with water, the choreography explores fluidity, resistance, and connection, inviting the audience to experience water as a living presence rather than a passive element.
Created within the European cultural project Turning the Tide, the piece reflects on ecological awareness and interdependence. By dancing in and around water, the performers open a space for contemplation:
How do we respond to the voices of nature? How do we embody care in times of environmental crisis?
Friday, 29 August – Seepark Seestadt Aspern
Friday, 17 October – Future Visions: Turning Ideas into Action at VRAK – Museum of Wrecks
Dance & Choreography: Adrian Dorfmeister-Pölzer and Simeon Ohlsen
Workshop: Do you relate? 2025
Held at Bildungscampus Seestadt Aspern, this workshop invited participants to explore water as a creative partner. Through guided movement, sensory awareness, and playful interaction, we investigated how water shapes perception and imagination.
Rather than treating water as a resource, we approached it as a collaborator – listening, responding, and creating together. Participants were encouraged to sense the stories flowing through their bodies and the connections that emerge when engaging with this vital element.
A heartfelt thank you to Nina Kellner and to all the children who took part and contributed to this dialogue through words, thoughts, and pictures. Your voices made this exploration richer and more meaningful.
Part of the Turning the Tide project by Wiener Bildungsakademie.
