Performing Artist  ●  Acting Teacher  ●  Feldenkrais Practitioner

About Heidi Carlsen

Over the past 25 years, Heidi has created and presented works that investigate both surreal and quotidian worlds. Through movement-driven performances, her work reveals darkness, humor, and above all, humanity. Each performance embraces liminality, both spatial and temporal, and pushes upon the boundaries of the tangible and imagined.

Carlsen’s performances emerge from multi-faceted training, and have been presented in a myriad of venues. She earned an MFA in Directing from the California Institute of the Arts and later was a Fulbright Fellow in Poland. There, Carlsen studied the work of Jerzy Grotowski and created an original musical movement theater piece titled, + – INFINITY.

A certified Feldenkrais practitioner, she integrates phenomenological inquiry into her artistic and educational practices. She has taught at San Francisco State University and the American Conservatory Theater among others, and has performed and taught in Germany, Norway, Denmark, Poland, and across the United States. She currently lives and works in San Francisco.

Artist’s Statement

I investigate fragile thresholds. Liminality, the unstable and unknown space between the surreal and the everyday, is where my artistic investigations begin.

I find freedom here because what is liminal is always changing and cannot be fixed. This place of ambiguity and metamorphosis can take audiences to uncomfortable places. Here the ice is millimeters thin and all barriers can shatter. Movement, image and sound hold the tension between multiple realities and truths that lie above and below the water’s surface. Into these ambiguous and uncomfortable spaces, curiosity and changes in perspective can arise. This change, this unstuckness, can also bring about hope and integration. 

Influenced by Tanztheater, silent film physicality, and experimental performance traditions, I ask: What forms of resilience emerge through displacement? How do we reconstruct meaning when familiar structures dissolve? By disrupting the boundary between pedestrian reality and dream states, I create immersive worlds that challenge social norms through the transformation of ordinary objects and gestures into emotionally and psychologically charged metaphors – exploring how the body carries histories of adaptation, survival, and transformation.

Heidi Carlsen CV 

Work

Heidi Carlsen Performance artist, director & Feldenkrais practitioner — San Francisco, CA

Education

  • MFA, Performance/Installation — School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2026

  • MFA, Theater Directing — California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Valencia, CA, 2005

  • Fulbright Fellowship — new performance work and acting/voice research, Poland, 2007–08

  • BA, Anthropology (minor: Theater/Dance) — Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR, 1994

Directing, Devising & Performing Original Dance/Theater

Work created, presented and performed across NY, CA, OR and ME

  • The Empty Pocket (solo) — created, designed & performed, SAIC, Chicago, IL, 2026

  • Wait! She Waits! (solo) — created/performed, No Nation, Chicago, IL, 2025

  • The Peacoat (solo) — created/performed, showcase "Working on It" at Joe Goode, 2025

  • Distance Masquerade — created in collaboration with Belinda He, RAW Dance, CA, 2024

  • The Bell Tower — collaborative dance with Justine Costerouse, Safehouse Arts, CA, 2023

  • The Peacoat (solo) — created/performed, LaMama Theater – Gallery, NY, 2023

  • Hit By Light (solo) — created/performed, Shawl Anderson Dance, Berkeley, CA, 2019

  • Chrysanthemum (solo, multiple characters) — SafeHouse Arts, San Francisco, 2018

  • Those Who Cannot Fly (multiple immigrant characters) — FoolsFURY Festival, Z Below Theater, CA, 2016

  • The Ingredients of Music — self-devised/performed, The Garage, San Francisco, 2014

  • Wait! She Waits — self-devised/performed, collaboration with lighting designer John Eckert (HERE; Roy Arias Theater, NYC; Movement Research, Judson Church; The Garage), 2011–14

  • A Point on the Curve — solo movement work, self-authored/performed, curated by BAX (Brooklyn Arts Exchange), NY, directed by Alison Russo, 2013

  • White Wines — adapted and directed Gertrude Stein's play, performed at Horse Trade Theater, NYC, 2012

  • I KNOW — collaboration with designer Miranda K. Hardy, Ontological-Hysteric Theater, New York, 2009

  • + -INFINITY — site-specific dance/opera work, collaboration with Polish ensemble, composer Maciej Markowski & designer Valerie Alverman, Zajezdnia Tramwajowe (tram warehouse), Poland, 2008

  • until soon…/Trace — text, choreography & design, presented by New York Theatre Workshop (2007), Highways Performance Space (2007), Hand2Mouth Theatre (2006) & REDCAT's Studio Series (2006)

  • Madman — movement-based adaptation of S. Witkiewicz's Madman & the Nun, REDCAT, CA

  • KG: Life in a Tin Can — created/authored by TENT, an international theater artist collaboration, St Lawrence Arts/Community Center, 2005

  • Oh, Sweet Captain... — created/authored by TENT, St Lawrence Arts/Community Center, 2004

  • Jellies — site-specific performance with company Eco-Trust, collaboration with scenic designer Teryl Saxon-Hill & video designer Erik Johnson, 2002

  • Monster Squid — movement & design, Conduit, 2001

  • A Gradual Instant — self-authored & performed, collaboration with sculptor Nan Curtis, Conduit, 2000

  • The Line Between — self-authored & performed, produced with Tahni Holt & Jae Diego, Conduit, 2000

  • Comic Moment — direction & design, musician Erin Boberg-Daughton, Echo Theatre, 1999

  • Pause In X — solo, choreographer/performer, Conduit, 1999

Theater Directing

  • Eve, An Opera (artistic advising) — original dance/musical performance by Anny Densmore, ODC, CA, 2024

  • Into The Woods by Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine — Hidden Valley Elementary, CA, 2015

  • You Can't Take It With You by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart — Albany High School, CA, 2014

  • The Late Wedding by Chris Chen — movement director, Crowded Fire Theater, CA, 2014

  • La Frontera/The Border by Elaine Avila — Hybrid Theater Works, Occupy the Empty Space Festival, Ingenue Theatre, NY, 2011

  • The Greatest Actress Who Ever Lived by Carolyn Gage — Fresh Fruit Festival, Westside Theater, NY, 2011

  • Jane Austen Action Figure by Elaine Avila (reading) — Women's Project, New York, NY; San Jose Rep.; informal workshop, New York, NY, 2010

  • Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain — Twain Museum, Hartford, CT, collaboration with musicians, 2010

  • The House on Kenfield Road by Diana Polansky — The New School, New York, NY, 2009

  • Muddy the Waters by Charity Ballard (dance/theater) — World Financial Center, NY, 2009

  • The Great White Way by Sigrid Gilmer — Metro Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2006

  • Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe — CalArts, with composer Bill Clark, 2005

  • Fantasias of the Immoderate by Jennifer Tsuei — CalArts, outside event & formally staged, 2004

  • Mud by Maria Irene Fornes — CalArts, 2003

  • David Hasselhoff by Jonathan Pope Evans — CalArts, collaboration with filmmaker, 2003

  • The Pragmatists by Stanislaw Witkiewicz — CalArts, 2003

Assistant Directing

  • Bike Wreck by Qui Nguyen, directed by John Gould Rubin — EST Marathon, NY, 2011

  • Love's Labour's Lost, directed by Karin Coonrod (workshop) — The Public Theater, NY, 2010

  • Everything That Rises Must Converge, directed by Karin Coonrod — Flannery O'Connor short story, Pontifical University in Rome, Italy, 2009

  • Strangers & Other Angels, directed by Karin Coonrod with Compagnia de' Colombari — annual site-specific spectacle inspired by medieval mystery plays, 70 performers, Museum of the City of New York, Harlem, NY, 2009

  • All's Well That Ends Well, directed by Karin Coonrod — CalArts, 2003

  • King Lear, directed by Travis Preston — CalArts, 2003

  • Jerusalem Syndrome by Sommer Ulricksen — multi-media dance, collaboration with video designer Christopher Kondek, Sophiensælen, Berlin, 2003

  • January Postcard by Kristy Edmunds — Oregon Ballet, OR, 2000

  • not fully myself — soloist Linda K. Johnson commissioned 7 choreographers/directors to create short solos, Lincoln Hall, OR, 1998

Additional Acting Experience

  • Love and Information — multiple characters, Dugway Proving Ground, Oakland, CA

  • Marat/Sade — Mad Woman, Waterfront Theater, Oakland, CA

  • Hedda Gabler — Juliane Tessman, Cutting Ball Theater, dir. Yury Umov, CA

  • Tartuffe by Molière — Mme. Pernelle/Child, dir. Michael Rohd of Sojourn Theater, Echo Theatre

  • Blood Wedding by Garcia Lorca — Death/Child/Neighbor, dir. Jerry Mouawad of Imago Theatre

  • Surface Scratchings, choreographer Dawn Jackson — Dancer/Child, Conduit Dance Space

  • Mississippi Mud, choreographer Tahni Holt — Dancer, Hoyt Arboretum

  • Terrifying Grace, choreographer Mary Oslund/Oslund & Co. — Company Member, Conduit Dance

  • Freeze, choreographer Tahni Holt — Mother/Sister, Conduit Dance

  • MMRBDC Goes to Hell, dir. Michael Menger — Girl/Chorus, Winningstad Theater (PCPA)

  • Channels, choreographers Erin Boberg/Barry Pack — Woman/Dinner Guest, Conduit Dance

  • Over There, dir. Kristy Edmunds — Red, Willamette Riverbank, OR

Independent Specialized Study & Training

Acting

  • Yat Method, Yat-Bentley Centre for Performance, Oakland, CA — instructors Tom Bentley-Fisher & Penelope Chater, 2017–present

  • Acting Methods Reconsidered, The Making Actor Conference, Marathon, Greece — Summer 2022

  • Piesn Kozla (Song of the Goat Theatre), acting & voice training, Poland — instructors Grzegorz Bral & Anna Zubrzycki, 2008

  • International University Global Theatre Experience (IUGTE), Physical Theatre Laboratory — instructor Sergey Ostrenko, Malpils, Latvia, 2008

  • Shakespeare's Fathers & Daughters Workshop, Wroclaw, Poland — instructor Bruce Myers (of Peter Brook's company), 2007

  • SITI Company/Directing Intensive, Los Angeles, CA — Suzuki/Viewpoints Technique, Composition; instructors Ellen Lauren, J. Ed Araiza, Barney O'Hanlon, 2001

  • Second City (Improvisation), Portland, OR — instructors Chris Hinds, Michael Menger, 2000

  • Saratoga International Theatre Institute (SITI), Saratoga Springs, NY — Suzuki/Viewpoints Technique, Playwriting (one month), instructors Anne Bogart & SITI Company members, 1999

  • Suzuki/Viewpoints Technique, Portland, OR — instructor Will Bond, 1999

  • Action Theater: The Improvisation of Presence, Berkeley, CA — instructor Ruth Zaporah, 1998 and 1996

Voice

  • Rebecca Castelli, Singing — 2004–present

  • Linklater Voice, Linklater Center for Voice (online during the pandemic) — instructors Natsuko Ohama, Fran Bennett & Andrea Harding

  • Voice Workshop, Wroclaw, Poland — instructor Zygmunt Molik (worked with Jerzy Grotowski), 2008

  • Improvisational Voice/Acting Intensive, Portland, OR — instructor Shelley Hirsch, 2002

  • Singing/Vocal Technique, Portland, OR — instructor Lyndee Mah, 1999–2002

  • Spoken Word in Performance, Bernadette Speech, Thulani Davis, Vancouver, WA, 2001

Dance

  • Improvisation, Brussels, Belgium — TicTac Art Centre, David Zambrano, 2023

  • Improvisation, San Francisco, CA — Sara Shelton Mann (and Jesse Zaritt at times), 2017–present

  • Ballet & Contemporary Dance, San Francisco/Berkeley, CA — ODC, Shawl-Anderson, Alonzo King's Lines Ballet, City Ballet, 2014–present

  • Ballet, Ballet Arts, New York, NY — instructor Richard Marsden, 2007–2014

  • Contemporary Dance Technique, Conduit Studio, Portland, OR — Bartenieff, Laban, Improvisation, Cunningham & original techniques, Yoga; instructors Linda K. Johnson, Mary Oslund, Gregg Bielemier, Tere Mathern, 1995–2002

  • Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre & Reneau Dance Studio, Portland, OR — instructors James Canfield (OBT), Linda K. Johnson, Christina Heinz, 1995–2002

  • Improvisational Dance, Portland, OR — instructor Jennifer Monson and Company, 2001

  • Contemporary Dance Technique, Portland, OR — instructor Wally Cardona, 2000

  • New Work Workshop in Dance, Portland, OR — instructor Bebe Miller, 1999

  • Improvisational Movement and Performance, Portland, OR — instructor Deborah Hay, 1998

  • Solo Performance, Portland, OR — instructor Ann Carlson, 1998

  • Specialized Contemporary Dance Technique, Portland, OR — instructors Elizabeth Streb, Hope Clark and Company, 1996

  • Contemporary Dance Technique, Portland, OR — instructor Molissa Fenley, 1996

  • Choreography/Observation/Dance, Portland, OR — instructor Donna Uchizono, 1996

  • Improvisational Movement/Skinner Release Technique, Portland, OR — instructor Stephanie Skura/Cranky Destroyers, 1995

Directing/Playwriting

  • Playwriting, CalArts, CA — master classes with Suzan-Lori Parks and Erik Ehn, 2002–05

  • Director/Playwrights Training, San Francisco, CA — Dijana Milosevic of Dah Theatre, 2005

  • Puppet Creation and Design, Portland, OR — instructors Phelim McDermott, Julian Crouch, Lee Simpson, 1999

  • Creating Original Script Material, Portland, OR — instructor Holly Hughes, 1995

Movement

  • Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner (GCFP) — Feldenkrais Method Training Program, New York, 2009–2013; instructors David Zemach-Bersin, Anna Johnson-Chase, Sheryl Field

  • Alexander Technique, Los Angeles, CA — instructor Judith Stransky, 2006–07

  • Aikido, Portland Aikikai, Portland, OR — instructors Yoko Okamoto, Chris Mulligan and others, 2002

  • Alexander Technique, Portland, OR — instructors Ros Worby, Rebecca Robbins, Sara Padilla, 2000–2002

Music

  • Time Based Art Festival (TBA), Portland, OR, 2005 — Music In Performance: instructor Daniel Bernard Roumain; Improvisational Acting: instructor Guy Dartnell of Improbable Theatre

Master Teachers

Chris Akerlind, Chris Barreca, Fran Bennett, Tom Bentley-Fisher, Anne Bogart, Will Bond, Grzegorz Bral, Ann Carlson, Liat Dror & Nir Ben Gal, Janie Geiser, Lucy Guerin, Deborah Hay, Shelley Hirsch, Improbable Theater, Lewis Klahr, Bebe Miller, Dijana Milosevic of Dah Theatre, Rena Mirecka, Zygmunt Molik, Bruce Myers (actor in Peter Brook's company), Sergey Ostrenko (Director of IUGTE), Suzan-Lori Parks, Travis Preston, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Carl Hancock-Rux, Shelly Senter, Elizabeth Streb, Paul Taylor, David Zambrano, Anna Zubrzycki and others

Theater Community Involvement

  • Movement director/choreographer for Crowded Fire Theater's The Late Wedding, San Francisco, CA, 2014

  • Intersection for the Arts — Volunteer & House Manager (contracted), San Francisco, CA, 2014

  • PICA (Portland Institute for Contemporary Art) — Volunteer, 1995–2002

  • Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) — Panelist for Technical Assistance Grants, 1998 and 2001

Awards Received

  • The Field (NYC) — Artist in Residence through The Field Artist Residency, 2013, 2009

  • The Women's Project Lab Member, 2008–10 — a lab for women directors, playwrights and producers

  • Fulbright Fellow — Poland, 2007/08

Publications

  • notatnik TEATRALNY, "Sleep Now in the Fire," 47/2007–48/2008, p. 127

International Study & Research

Norway, Denmark, Germany, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Poland

  • Fulbright Scholarship to Poland, 2007–2008

  • School for International Training (SIT), Kenya & Eastern Africa, 1993 — study and research of Swahili & Muslim culture and Swahili language

  • Ringerike Folkehøgskole, Hønefoss, Norway, 1987–88 — sociology, theater, singing/voice, Norwegian language

Language: Norwegian (spoken)