Liz Aggiss is a critically acclaimed, award winning, mature solo feminist dance theatre artist. Her work is framed by extensive contextual research that considers and uses the personal and historical as reference. Her performances have a distinct expressive, grotesque and British music hall movement style, and integrate text, film and humour. Her work investigates the shifting nature of presentation and pushes boundaries within conventional dance practice, considering gender politics, feminism, the representation of women and mature female visibility.
Her work has been selected for British Dance Editions, British Council Edinburgh Festival Showcases, and she has performed nationally and internationally within broad contexts: Age on Stage, Mature Moves, B(old), Women of the World (WOW), Queer, Live Art, Contemporary Theatre and Dance Festivals.
Her dance films, screened on BBC, Channel 4, ABC Australia, have received numerous awards including; for Motion Control Czech Crystal Prague Golden Film Festival, Special Jury Golden Houston, Best Woman Film MediaWaves Hungary: for Anarchic Variations Romanian National Office of Cinematography, Special Jury Prize Napolidanza: for Men in the Wall DCW L.A. Innovation in the field of Dance Media: for Diva Hong Kong Jumping Frames Screen Dance Award: for Beach Party Animal South East Dance Award. In 2010/11 she undertook an international tour for The British Council and South East Dance presenting Forward Motion a screen dance package.
She received the Bonnie Bird Choreography Award 1994, an Arts Council Dance Fellowship 2003, is Emeritus Professor in Visual Performance at University of Brighton, has Honorary Doctorates in Interdisciplinary Practice University of Gothenburg Sweden, and in Art University of Chichester. She won a Total Theatre Award Edinburgh Festival 2017.
Anarchic Dance, published by Routledge (Taylor and Francis), is a visual and textual record of her live and screen dance work.
Liz Aggiss has been described as: maverick, challenging, anarchic, indomitable uncompromising, dangerous, subversive, fearless, funny, powerfully disturbing yet vulnerable. Liz Aggiss simply says … “I am lizaggiss”
