Dr. Ursula Neuerburg Denzer

Biography

Ursula Neuerburg-Denzer is a teacher, theatre practitioner, and scholar who has studied movement and acting in Cologne, Berlin, and New York City. She holds an MA in Performance Studies from New York University and a PhD in Emotion Theories in Acting from Freie University Berlin, where she was supervised by Erika Fischer-Lichte. In the 1980s, she engaged with physical theatre in Berlin and co-founded Richard Schechner's East Coast Artists in the 1990s. Neuerburg-Denzer has directed and acted in various venues in Berlin and New York, including La Mama, WOW Cafe, PS 122, Theatre New City, and at festivals such as Nada's Obie-winning Faust and the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival. Since 1996, she has been a full-time teacher of acting, directing, and theatre history and theory. Before moving to Montreal in 2006, she taught at the University of California Santa Cruz, Swarthmore College, and Ramapo College in New Jersey. Her research and teaching interests focus on emotion studies for performers and the connection between historical performance styles and contemporary practices. Neuerburg-Denzer regularly presents at national and international conferences and publishes works related to affect and emotion. She is a certified rasaboxes teacher and participates in unique actor training methods. In her spare time, she volunteers with the Bread & Puppet Theatre, where she is involved in various activities. Her artistic interests include exploring extreme human states expressed on stage, particularly in collaboration with Indigenous playwrights and issues related to housing.

Research Interests