Aura Fischbeck is a San Francisco based dancer, choreographer, writer, and teacher of movement.  A Philadelphia native, she received her earliest dance training from her mother Brigitta Herrmann, a student of Mary Wigman and cofounder of Group Motion Dance Company, and her father Manfred Fischbeck, cofounder and current artistic director of Group Motion Dance Company.  

    

She received her B.A. in dance and poetry from the Naropa University in Boulder, CO in 2001, studying under Barbara Dilley, Cara Reeser, and Wendell Beavers.  Since that time,  the work of Aura Fischbeck/AFD has been presented nationally in series, festivals and shared programs including After Hours at  the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (Boulder, CO) the Spiel Uhr series at the Kumquat Dance Center (Philadelphia, PA) and  3 New Steps, as part of the 2003 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. In San Francisco, Aura’s home since 2004, AFD has been presented as part of Women on the Way ,  ODC’s PILOT program, the Summer Performance Festival, the Retail Dance Festival, The West Wave Dance Festival, the Artist’s in Motion series, raw&uncut and Women on the Way (2008).  Aura has held residencies with the Group Motion Dance Company in Philadelphia, and in S.F. at the Shotwell Studios, and as part of raw (the resident artist’s workshop) at 975 Howard/the Garage.   Most recently AFD presented Epic, Abstract, Actual in collaboration with the Riley Project at CounterPULSE in December 2008.  Aura also returns to Philadelphia on a regular basis to present her work as a guest artist with the Group Motion Dance company.  Aura has also taught community classes and workshops in San Francisco (the Shotwell Studios) in improvisation and release technique, as well as facilitated workshops with visiting artist Barbara Dilley.   AFD has received grants from the Zellerbach Family Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.  She is also a certified pilates instructor form the Pilates Center of Boulder, and teaches group classes and private lessons all over the bay area.

 

Since her arrival in San Francisco , she has had the pleasure of performing in the

work of San Francisco based choreographers Chris Black/Potrezebie Dance Project, Kathleen Hermesdorf/MOTIONLAB, Leigh Riley, Krista DeNio, Christine Cali, Joe Landini, and others.  She has also danced professionally with the Ausdruckstanz Dance Company (Philadelphia) from 1992-1995, the Still Moving Dance Company (Denver) from 2000-2002,  and while in Colorado  performed and studied with Barbara Dilley, and Wendell Beavers from 2001-2002.  She currently performs with the Riley Project, under the direction of Leigh Riley.