BIO
Erika Batdorf, currently living for the year in Bali has written, created, performed, directed and choreographed original movement theater since 1983. Her solo works have appeared in such places as the Smithsonian Institute, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Landegg Academy for International Development in Switzerland, on the mainstage for The 7th International Women Playwrights Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, Nine Dragon Heads International Art Symposium in South Korea, France, Hawaii, Mexico, Harvard University, the Movement Theater Festival International and the Women's Theater Festival in Philadelphia, Trinity Repertory Theatre in Providence, RI, for three years featured at Boston’s Women on Top theatre festival and in NYC for PS122, Dixon Place, Moonworks, So Grand Studio's Movement Theater Festival, the NY International Fringe Festival and recently in Brooklyn. She has performed in Toronto at Theatre Passe Muraille backspace, twice in Hysteria at Buddies in Bad Times and 3 times in Rhubarb! Batdorf performed for the UN conference in Switzerland entitled, ‘The Role of Women in a United Europe’, the UN Global Summit in Copenhagen. She has performed, created plays and guest directed for universities and theatres across the USA. She ran The Batdorf School for Movement Theatre in Boston for several years and currently teaches at York University in Toronto. She has received 4 Dora nominations since 2005 (two for new plays, one for performance and one for directing).
She has created and directed original productions for Luminato 2010 (One Pure Longing), and several with The Thistle Project. Her directing work has made the top 10 list in NOW for theatre twice- 2006 for the smash hit Gorey Story and 2010 for Peer Gynt, featuring Susan Coyne and Matthew Romantini. She also received the jury prize at Summerworks 07 for co-creating and directing Faye Dupras in Bird’s Eye View. This past fall she performed in Tblisi, Georgia with the German band Arwinda and traveled through Uzbekistan with a group of international nomadic visual artists called 9dragonheads. She will continue to develop her new show The Smell of the Soul with Arwinda in Germany, with performances in Munich and also perform in Indonesia this coming spring.
REVIEWS
(more can be found for each individual solo or production)
The Village Voice- James Hannaham
“great facility and quirky humor… a new way of perceiving the world."
Backstage, NYC- Jane Hogan
" Batdorf is extremely skilled… both intense and subtle… enigmatic yet accessible."
Eye Weekly Meghan Harrison *****
“Moving effortlessly from dry comedy to a gorgeous movement piece… warm-hearted, well-crafted …. A stunning and absorbing performance in its entirety…”
Toronto Star from a full length article by Susan Walker
“She’s poetry in motion. Batdorf is one of a kind…an electric presence even off-stage… she is unforgettable.”
**** The Globe and Mail (Toronto)- Kate Taylor
"impressively convincing… remarkable.”
The Boston Herald- Karen Campbell
"…striking physicality. She doesn't so much create characters as embody their every thought… Batdorf is a natural and authoritative dancer and choreographer."
The Allentown Express (PA)
"One of the most effective integrations of theater of movement and idea I have ever seen."
Anchorage Daily News- Anne Herman
"…succeeded in presenting the breadth of creative energy inherent in today's movement theater and performance art."
The Providence Phoenix- Johnette Rodriguez
"Reverberations from a preview of Erika Batdorf's performance pieces two weeks ago produced intense conversations with colleagues, friends and even a stranger...Batdorf's down to earth, unpretentious combination of lecture and performance and her creative amalgam of storytelling and dance… make her pieces fresh and startling."
The Nice Paper (Providence, RI)- Rick Massimo
"..entertaining, evocative movement… some of the movements spoke what would have taken hundreds of words…"
The Providence Journal
(Critics Choice) "…might just make you think about the way you think."
The Boston Phoenix
"...talking about Erika Batdorf is like singing about physics."
The Boston Herald- Karen Campbell
“grows on the audience quickly... memorable ... touching and memorable … totally charming...”
The Boston Phoenix- Anne Marie Donahue
“gutsy… entirely convincing…amusing and horrifying by turns… affecting… quirky....”
The National Post (Toronto) Robert Cushman
“ piercingly performed...compassionately written… compelling... she does it admirably.”
EYE magazine, Toronto Kevin Connolly
“impressive, unique creation… humor, cunning internal logic and quiet intimacy”
..a piece of good intellectual theatre.... uncanny in her shifts in and out of male persona, knows how to soft-sell poetic structure …Textbook movement-based theatre delivered from its musty binding, …compassion and intelligence that gives performance art a good name…breathtaking… not just credible… uplifting.”
Propaganda - NYC Fringe Paper-Rachel Scott
" sharp, insightful and entertaining... rich characterizations that embrace physicality with specificity and vivacity … packed with entertainment and surprises.... sporty physical and vocal work....a funny and touching theatrical experience..."
The Boston Globe- Skip Aschein
“gently surreal, imaginative, richly entertaining.…uncanny comic timing, an evocative visual metaphor...”
NOW magazine, Toronto Glenn S.
“…the charismatic Batdorf… is a first-rate physical performer …magical physicalization…"
Jon Kaplan
"Batdorf is marvelous…an appealing humanity.”
Theatre Mirror, New England Larry Stark
“”…effortless and miraculous... Batdorf’s body does amazing things, effortlessly, and there is a hidden hint of searching spirituality shining through all her work. She’s amazing.”
Bay Windows, Boston- Dawn Dougherty
"Her song, movement and emotions are completely absorbing... hard hitting and poignant.... clear and deep. Batdorf's talent is obvious… intriguing”
The Theater Mirror, New England- Larry Stark
" powerful, enigmatic… keeps unfolding in the mind long after the lights fade… She is a commanding figure…The mystery of it never interferes with the obvious art involved… unsettlingly believable…intense and precise…startling images…unbelievably expressive..."
The Boston Phoenix- Anne Marie Donahue
“ abstract and free ranging work,…Batdorf marshals an artistic arsenal that includes multicharacter narrative, dance, song, and music... intense and emotionally raw... evocative...chillingly real...."
The Boston Herald- Iris Fanger
Batdorf brings much talent to the stage, particularly her highly trained, beautifully articulated dancer's body and a pleasing singing voice.
Words and Movement: The Dancer as Kinetic Writer by Anne L. Herman
"Her actions and gestures create a kinetic clarity and truth that is immediately apparent to the audience...."
The Hartford Courant- Tony Angarano
"a provocative solo work... a tightly structured work of real dimension …strength and substance."
Anchorage Daily News- Anne Herman
" thought-provoking… a succinctly potent comment on the human condition..."
Stage and Page- Keith Garebian
“What stamps it with genius is…Ms. Batdorf’s artistry.…quirky humour…Ms. Batdorf’s extraordinary physical movement speaks volumes… One of the extraordinary achievements of this solo piece is its vivid ability to make this longing a thing of spiritual radiance.”
Eye Weekly Paul Issacs
“…supremely talented physical performer. … an absolute marvel: a pitch-perfectly timed symphony .... It’s a wonderfully sustained piece of tragic-comic acting.”
National Post, Robert Cushman,
“Batdorf is an underplayer, and the attitude she presents -- firm in her ideas, diffident in their presentation -- makes everyone feel at ease. (Batdorf is)…stabbing and unadorned.”
She Does the City- Lizzie McNeely
“Erika Batdorf is a force to be reckoned with… hilarious… a remarkable performer …amazing..…mystical beauty'