Darja Reznikova is a choreographer, educator, and artistic researcher whose work explores the intersection of contemporary dance, interdisciplinary performance, and embodied research. Educated in Ukraine, Germany, the USA, and the UK, she holds an MA in Dance Performance from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, a PGCert in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education from Rose Bruford College, and a BA (Hons) in Dance & Theatre Performance from Bird College.
During her time as a freelance dancer in the UK, Darja worked with international choreographers and directors including Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Joe Wright (Anna Karenina), Oona Doherty, Cameron McMillan (Bonachela Dance), Angela Woodhouse, Colin Poole, Lucy Cash, and Joss Arnott, as well as collaborating with artists from companies such as Akram Khan, Hofesh Shechter, and Wayne McGregor.
Alongside her international performing career, Darja developed SoundBody, an interdisciplinary artistic practice that explores the holistic integration of movement and voice, focusing on the reciprocal the reciprocal nature and the inherent knowledge of the body. Her research into interdisciplinarity — Using Self-Feedback to Enhance Integrative and Conscious Practice — was published in Innovative Assessment in HE: A Handbook for Academic Practice (2nd ed., Routledge, 2019), edited by Kay Clegg and Catherine Bryan, and continues to inform her creative and pedagogical work.
Darja teaches Release Technique, Laban Movement Analysis, and Bartenieff Fundamentals, and mentors independent artistic research projects in Germany and the UK. Fluent in German, English, and Russian, she is a certified Reiki practitioner with a broader practice rooted in holistic and somatic approaches, including Yoga, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, Klein Technique, Body-Mind Centering®, Authentic Movement, and breathwork. Her artistic enquiry also engages with physical theatre, particularly the work of Jerzy Grotowski and Poor Theatre, performance art, and explorations of consciousness, spirituality, energetic studies, and embodied perception. These diverse influences continue to inform her interdisciplinary approach to movement, creativity, and artistic research.
In 2019, she founded SoBo Productions, a contemporary dance company based in Mannheim, Germany. Informed by Darja's ongoing research into inter- and transdisciplinarity, the company develops her SoundBody (SoBo) approach, drawing on principles of sound and vibration. Its work spans visceral stage, site-specific, and dance film productions that seek to evoke visually, acoustically, and emotionally transformative experiences. Each creation strives towards a holistic constellation of voice, body, space, and sound, inviting audiences into immersive, multisensory environments.
Darja's most recent production, M | Я, has received national awards and was selected by the international Aerowaves 2026 jury as one of 56 outstanding dance works from across Europe, recognising it as one of the year's most promising contemporary dance productions.
https://darjareznikova.com/
https://sobopro.com/
