Elza Abdulkhakova

Elza Abdulkhakova (b. 1990) is an artist and curator working at the intersection of contemporary dance, performance, and video art. Based in St Petersburg, her practice explores corporeality, movement, and the performative potential of the body in both solo and collaborative projects. Abdulkhakova has worked with key cultural institutions in Russia, including the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, V-A-C Foundation, and the N.A. Nekrasov Library. Her artistic research extends into curatorial initiatives and experimental laboratories focused on movement and identity.

Since 2020, Abdulkhakova has collaborated with artist Herman Stroganov as part of the Abdulkhakova Stroganov Dance Company (ASDC), investigating the intersection of dance and video. She is also a member of forbidden body language (since 2021) and tridevyat’, a St. Petersburg-based artistic collective (since 2024). In her choreographic and performative projects, she engages with various artistic mediums, creating dance installations, video works, and site-specific performances.

Her educational background includes studies at the IDC Professional Online Program (St. Petersburg), the New Dance Academy of Olga Tsvetkova, and the Institute of Contemporary Art (Moscow). Additionally, she has completed programs at the Higher School of Economics (Moscow) in collaboration with Goldsmiths, University of London, the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, and St. Petersburg State University.

Selected Projects

2024

• Laboratory “Boredom in Dance”, part of the bodily practices module at the “Boring Summer” festival, GES-2, Moscow
• “Tridevyat'”, “Tridevyat’-2”, “Four by Four”, dance performances within the Sergei Kuryokhin Music Festival and the exhibition “Pop-Mechanics of Sergei Kuryokhin,” CCA Kuryokhin, Alexandrinsky Theatre, Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
• Performance “Mermaids”, Digital Opera Performance “Pushkin’s Fairy Tales. Life as a Miracle,” Musical Comedy Theatre, St. Petersburg
• “Unsupportedness” (dance film) screened at “Another Way to Say” (St. Petersburg), “KinoTanets Permsky” (Perm), and SOMAfest (Tyumen)

2023

• Dance installation “Something About Love”, Museum of Nonconformist Art, ESCABO Contemporary Dance Stage, St. Petersburg
• Performance “Bom”, part of Elena Morozova’s masterclass, House of Radio, St. Petersburg
• Choreography for the performance “Siren”, experimental dance laboratory YAMIF, Stanislavsky Electrotheatre, Moscow
• Lecture on identity in dance and curatorial practice, as part of the “42” artist talk series, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow
• Solo “Run, Elsa, Run”, Open Day at the festival “Dance Without Mind and Love,” Shift Studio, St. Petersburg

2022

• Performative practice “Nothing to Dream About”, GES-2, Moscow
• Dance performance “Commentary”, by Elena Petiko, part of the Young Choreographers’ Residency, ZIL Cultural Center, Moscow
• Opera Lab, stage direction for “The Rake’s Progress”, directed by Mikhail Kolegova

2020-2021

• “100 Words/100 Movements”, +DNO+ Festival, Moscow
• “±3/±30”, a five-hour dance marathon in collaboration with Nyu Simakina
• Video performance “Shadow Tale”, Abdulkhakova Stroganov Dance Company

Curatorial & Research Practice

• Since 2019 – “6 Square Meters Movement Laboratory”, an artistic research project on corporeality
• 2020 – Curator, VII Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, shortlisted for the Innovation State Prize in Contemporary Art (“Curator of the Year” category)
• 2023 – Curator of “WHY F” by Alena Tereshko, Garage Museum Studios

Residencies

• 2022 – Residency at “The Station”, Kostroma, curated by Tatyana Gordeeva
• 2020 – Lesnoye 11, in collaboration with Elena Drozdova, Nyu Simakina, and Evgenia Fomina

Abdulkhakova continues to develop her practice through interdisciplinary collaborations, expanding the dialogue between contemporary dance, performance, and video art.