Léonard Engel (*1987 in Mulhouse, France) is a choreographer, dancer, performer, and video artist based in Munich. After training at the ballet school of the Paris Opera, he danced with the Ballet Victor Ullate in Madrid and spent eight years with the Bavarian State Ballet, where he performed under the direction of Ivan Liška in classical works as well as in choreographies by William Forsythe, Pina Bausch, Russell Maliphant, and Aszure Barton, among others.
Since 2016 he has been working as a freelance artist, performing with Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Richard Siegal (Munich), Billinger and Schulz (Frankfurt), the theatre group Gintersdorfer/Klaßen (Berlin), Paula Rosolen (Frankfurt) and Laurent Chétouane (Berlin).
Engel choreographic work centers around a body that defies our control. His pieces explore the relationship between the intricate connections between the body, emotions, and their social implications. Recurring themes in his artistic research include masculinity, camouflage, transformation and abjection.
His choreographic works include the solo Pavane (2019), How to Get Rid of a Body. A Magic Manual (2019) and its accompanying video piece A Video Tutorial Series (2021), the group piece Parotia (2021), the children’s performance Wusch! Zak! Puf! How to Appear and Disappear (2023), Orchids (2024), and most recently Carcasse (2025).
His works have been presented at festivals such as Tanztage Berlin, Rodeo Festival Munich, Hybrid Festival Berlin, and Purple Festival. Production and residency partners have included PACT Zollverein (Essen), Tanzfabrik Berlin, HochX Theater (Munich), and Schwere Reiter (Munich).