Franka Marlene Foth

Meet The Choreographer:

Franka Marlene Foth

26 June 2026

Meet The Choreographer:

Franka Marlene Foth

26 June 2026

Q: Collaboration and exchange seem central to how you work, and they're pretty much embodied in FMKF, the art collective founded and led by you. How would you describe the flow of work between you and the artists, as well as among them? And why does exchange matter so much to you?

A: I’m quite specific and perfectionistic in my creative process. I have a very clear vision of the mise-en-scène, and the dancers and what they are capable of are crucial to that process.With people I've worked with for a long time, like FMKF, it's a true symbiosis. I create the framework and choreographic foundation, often very precise in the movement language, but every dancer brings their own character.I love synchronicity, but what excites me most is the tension between unison and singular presence: people moving together while remaining entirely themselves. I plant the creative seeds, and they blossom through the dancers' own capabilities.

Q: More recently, you've been part of a Jil Sander exhibition in Milan, in collaboration with Apartamento, the interiors and lifestyle magazine. The show featured sixty books, each one chosen by a person whose unique way of looking at the world the co-hosts admire: sixty individuals whose lives had been shaped by their pick. You were one of them. Which book meant so much to you that you chose it as your personal reference?

A: My first choice was Knots by R. D. Laing, but it had already been selected by another artist, so I chose David Lynch's Catching the Big Fish instead. I'm always drawn to poetic, surrealistic inspirations. Knots reads almost like an invitation: a sensitivity to what remains unsaid, a deeper look into the layered complexities of human exchange. Its rhythm reminds me of my own creative process, almost choreographic in itself.

"Lynch's surrealistic approach to filmmaking resonates with me too: his patience in capturing and working with ideas is something I deeply admire, and it reminds me to stay true to my own aesthetic instincts."

Q: FMKF Archives 2021-2025 pulls together all the tracks Oleg Solovey wrote for your choreographies between 2021 and 2025. It seems like the album wasn't planned from the start and you had been working together for four years before these pieces came together as an album. What kept you coming back to work with Oleg for so long? Something important he understood about movement?

A: FMKF Archives 2021–2025 is a reimagined selection of scores, outtakes, and sketches Oleg created for my work and the FMKF collective between 2021 and 2025. It wasn't planned from the outset: it emerged organically through years of collaboration across performances, films, and commercial projects. What kept me coming back is his musical knowledge and his ability to move effortlessly across genres and emotional registers. My choreographic language constantly shifts, so I need a collaborator who welcomes unpredictability and evolves with new ideas. He translates my choreographic thinking into sound, it never just accompanies the movement, it resonates with it and often reveals new emotional dimensions. There's a rare freedom and trust in our process, which is why it has kept evolving so naturally.