Litza Bixler is a choreographer, filmmaker, artist and writer who has produced work on stage, on screen, in galleries and on mountains. Litza has an extensive background in dance theatre and British / European contemporary dance. She has directed and produced numerous dance films and dance theatre pieces, and written several dance-driven screenplays.  As a dance filmmaker and writer, Litza creates absurd, visceral worlds populated by no-nonsense detectives, fallen angels, cowgirls, lonely aliens, talking birds, witches and water-sucking ghosts. She also explores liminal spaces, thresholds and metaphorical journeys in her work.

Litza is also a film choreography specialist with 28 years of experience in the film and entertainment industries. She has created dance sequences, movement and action for some of the most iconic scenes in film, as well as for music videos, television and commercials. She has choreographed across a variety of styles and genres from ballet, commercial fusion, Lindy Hop, Salsa and Tango – to fight sequences, animation and puppetry. She directed the zombie movement for the cult hit film ‘Shaun of the Dead‘, and continued her collaboration with director Edgar Wright on the films ‘Scott Pilgrim vs the World‘ and ‘The World’s End‘. Her choreography is often absurd and humorous, and she deliberately plays with artifice and performative masks to reveal deeper human truths.

Current projects include a short dance film set in the rough and tumble world of politics, a genre-bending musical mini-series, a podcast about the upcoming 2024 US presidential election, a research project about authenticity in performance, a dance film adaptation of Metropolis and two docu-series exploring anticapitalism, deliberative democracy, sortition, and unconditional basic income. She is also shopping a dance-horror film, an animated adventure film, and a folk-horror TV series. Her work explores what happens when worlds collapse – socially, politically, environmentally, and psychologically – with a focus on complex, nuanced characters.

Screenwriting awards include: I.S.A. fellowship for her screenplay “The City of Clouds”, this screenplay was also a Semi-finalist in Creative Screenwriting Animation  and New Voices in Animation competitions, and her screenplays “Blood, Water, Dust” and “Safety in Numbers” have been shortlisted in multiple competitions including Writer’s Lab UK (2021 finalist) Blue Cat, Screen Craft, Nashville, Capital Films Hot 100 and I.S.A Table-Read London.

Litza is a member of BAFTA and a founding member of the American Choreographer’s Guild (2023) and is currently working with choreographers in the UK to unionise their work through the British Entertainment, Cinema & Television Union (BECTU). She is a dual national (US & UK) who has worked all over the world and traveled extensively.

She also has a Masters Degree in Dance Anthropology / choreography and is trained in somatic techniques, hypnotherapy, counseling and coachingFor her public speaking, workshops, mentoring, academic publications and courses, CLICK HERE.

For a full list of credits, please download her CV.

 

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REVIEWS

The Festival, takes on the myths – mud – of Glastonbury, and though no characters cross over from The Inbetweeners universe, the film works as a kind of spiritual sequel, [particularly] when the boys perform an inspired, Magic Mike-esque striptease to David Guetta and Akon’s 2009 track Sexy Chick.

The Festival Review, The Observer, 2018

…one of [Man Up’s] most memorable sequences finds the duo on the dance floor, conducting an argument about Pegg’s failed marriage in the midst of an impressively choreographed dance-off to Duran Duran’s “The Reflex.”  “It was just this idea that Tess had, that we all have a dance routine somewhere that we learned unconsciously as youngsters in the discos,” Pegg says, “and that Jack and Nancy, whilst they’re arguing, find this odd synchronization, which kind of hints at the fact that they are very much in tune with each other”

Interview with Simon Pegg & Lake Bell, Flavorwire, 2015

First off (and this is important) cynics need not apply. I say this because Walking on Sunshine approaches its remit with a delightful lack of pretense and seriousness…It’s shameless and hilarious in equal measure…featuring great dance sequences and choreography.

Walking on Sunshine Review, Entertainment Focus, 2014

(Frost’s) on-screen relationship with charming Rashida Jones is warm and easy, while his rivalry with the engagingly sleazy Chris O’Dowd (and especially their ‘dance-off’ battle in the office car-park) is one of the high points of the film.

Cuban Fury Review, Screen Daily, 2014

…there is one stand-out sequence involving a brilliantly choreographed dance-off in a car park that is worth the price of admission.

Cuban Fury Review, View London, 2014

…where a dozen other Bridget Jones imitators have failed, Simon Pegg and Lake Bell really hit it off. They’re fine partners in quick-witted repartee and goofy dance steps, yet both sympathetically fallible underneath

Man Up Review, The Guardian, 2014

The choreographer from the past few movies returns as well. Litza Bixler. She is wonderful and The World’s End is easily her crowning achievement… The World’s End can be summed up by the choreography and cinematography.

The World’s End Review, IHOG, 2013

This gleefully warm-hearted summer delight is silly, sentimental & sexy-the song & dance sequences are joyous and the Italian setting sheer perfection…

Review, Walking on Sunshine, The Mirror, 2014

TESTIMONIALS

Litza is one of the most original voices in choreography today: inspired and inspiring. Litza’s work effortlessly combines beauty and strength with storytelling.

Ronaldo Vasconcellos
Producer (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim, Hot Fuzz, In Bruges)

As Choreographic Producer on Cuban Fury, Litza supervised all the choreography throughout the film and helped the Director to transform salsa routines into cinematic set pieces. Litza provided the Director, Editor and DOP with all the information they needed to make the most of each routine. As Lead Choreographer on the Car Park Dance, Litza blew us away with her ability to combine dance with comedy and characterful story telling. The dance fight is a hugely memorable comic routine and one of the most popular scenes in Cuban Fury and we have Litza to thank for that.

James Biddle
Producer (Cuban Fury, The World’s End)

Litza has the best taste in screenplays and is more spot on than any one I’ve worked with in the past. She’s a damn good writer, a brilliant collaborator and the most stunning choreographer if you’re ever in that market. And did I forget to mention, a total pleasure to be around.

Dan Ireland
Producer / Director (Jolene, Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, Twister)