Leocadie Company

Leocadie Company is an emerging contemporary dance company based in Zurich, Switzerland, founded by choreographer Léa Schneider.

Its name pays tribute to Léocadie, a foremother of the founder and granddaughter of an Algonquin First Nations chief in 1850s Canada – a courageous woman who lived in the shadows, at the origin of a lineage of women shaped by mixed heritage, displacement, and the quiet transmission of legacies.

Drawing on this figure, the company creates work centered on the memories and cultures that inhabit the body, exploring individual and collective histories and the place of women within these narratives. Rooted in contemporary dance and enriched by influences from hip-hop, club styles, and theatre, each piece grows from the encounter between performers: their life experiences, identities, and physical languages nourish the movement with sensitivity and authenticity, converging into a shared and distinctive choreographic signature – one where harmony and individuality coexist.

Premiere

Daring to be Ourselves

Date & Time: Thursday 5, Friday 6, and Saturday 7 November 2026, at 20:30
Venue: TOJO Theater, Reitschule Bern
Duration: 55 min

Sit up straight. Smile. Belong.

Who are we once we stop playing a role?

Daring to Be Ourselves is the first creation by Leocadie Company, a contemporary dance piece shaped by influences from theatre and hip-hop styles. Performed by four dancers, the work draws on their personal experiences to explore the themes of vulnerability and authenticity.

We learn the roles before we can name them. From childhood we’re handed a script: how to sit, how to smile, how to be seen and approved of. In Western societies built on appearance, this pressure lands heavily on women’s bodies.
The piece opens inside that script.

Four women take their places around a table, like subjects in an experiment. A pulsing industrial score sets the pace. The choreography becomes protocol: every gesture imposed, every accent deliberate, every breath accounted for. The demands multiply. They contradict each other. They arrive faster than the body can answer. Control gives way to urgency, and what looked like composure becomes an act of sheer endurance.

Then, the structure cracks. The bodies loosen and the performers shed what they were asked to be and move into something rawer, freer, and unmistakably their own. What began as control ends as release – underneath the mask, vulnerability might be the strength all along.

Cast & Crew

Choreography & concept: Léa Schneider
Dancer: Mariana Morales-Tomaz, Angie Sabé, Ambre Curiant, Léa Schneider
Original music: Jaag – Jean-Alexis Aaron Grigri
Technical direction & lighting: Marin Valentin Wolf
A Leocadie Company production, supported by GVB Kulturstiftung, the Burgergemeinde Bern and L’Auditorium Seynod.

Reserve your ticket and pay cash at the door

Léa is a Swiss-French choreographer and dancer based in Zurich. Versatile in her approach to movement, she trained first in jazz dance at the Conservatoire d’Annecy, then in contemporary dance at CFPA Geneva. She went on to complete the Bachelor’s programme at Tanzwerk101 in Zurich, in contemporary and hip-hop dance, graduating in February 2024. Since then, she has worked freelance as a dancer and choreographer on various projects in France and Switzerland, and also teaches contemporary and modern dance. Her movement world is rooted in contemporary dance and floorwork, nourished by street and club style influences, with theatrical elements. Grounded and intense, her dancing is carried by a strong stage presence, precise accents, and controlled isolations. In January 2026, she founded Leocadie Company in Zurich and is currently developing her new creation *Daring to be Ourselves*.

Mariana is a dancer from Geneva. She began her training at the Conservatoire populaire de Genève in the pre-professional track, before joining CFP Arts, where she obtained an artistic baccalaureate along with a CFC as a performing dancer, specialising in contemporary dance, with distinction. She went on to complete an internship with the Bahia Folk Ballet in Brazil, then joined the Bachelor’s programme in hip-hop and contemporary dance in Zurich, graduating in 2024. For over five years, Mariana has taught dance in various Swiss cities and collaborated with international choreographers. Curious and open to interdisciplinary exchange, she develops video projects bringing together fashion, music, image, and dance alongside other Swiss artists. A versatile dancer, she has explored many styles throughout her training. Today, she focuses mainly on contemporary dance, heels, waacking, and house.

Ambre is a versatile dancer based in Paris. Initially trained in contemporary and classical dance at a private school in Saint-Étienne, where she took part in numerous competitions across France, she went on to train at AID in Paris, then obtained her EAT diploma in contemporary dance as an independent candidate. Self-taught, she later specialised in hip-hop and heels in Spain for nearly five years, considerably broadening her physical vocabulary. This past season, she was working as a dancer at La Folie Douce in Val d’Isère (France). The diversity of her background and her great adaptability are reflected in a singular, assertive style.

Angie is a dancer based in Geneva. She started dancing at a very young age and trained for over ten years at a private school in France in classical, modern jazz, and contemporary dance. A graduate of the Besançon Conservatory in classical dance, she then joined the Area Jeune Ballet in Geneva, where she deepened her research in contemporary dance, exploring floorwork and improvisation. She refined a more personal physical language, nourished by multiple influences, notably hip-hop. She now works with local companies and develops her own artistic projects. Alongside this, Angie teaches classical, modern jazz, and contemporary dance. Her dancing is guided by musicality, fluidity, and feeling. She places emotion and sincerity of movement at the centre of her work, favouring authenticity and personal expression over technical performance alone.

Contact

Artistic director and choreographer : Léa Schneider

Website: schneiderlea.com

E-Mail: contact@schneiderlea.com

Tel: +41765776951

Instagram: @kaegov

Leocadie Company

E-Mail: info@leocadiecompany.com

Instagram: @leocadiecompany