BIOGRAPHY
Clara Maria Oniceag started dancing when she was nine and a half years old with contemporary dance in her home town, Bucharest, Romania. Even though she would had never imagined herself dancing, after seeing a YouTube video of a contemporary dance piece, she fell in love and knew that this was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Two years later, she started taking ballet classes in “Liceul de Coregrafie Floria Capsali” in Bucharest, where she completed her school dance education, later on joining taZ in August 2023.
- Stage name: Clara Maria Oniceag
- Date of birth: 19 May 2008
- Eye colour: Brown
- Hair colour: Brown
- Height (in cm): 165
- Languages: Romanian, English, French (beginner)
CONTACT
- oniceag.clara@gmail.com
- https://www.instagram.com/clara_oniceag
DANCE EXPERIENCE
2026
- taZ Curtain Up, Opernhaus Zürich
2025
- Assistant of Shahar Binyamini
- Solo and duet in ‘’Bolero X’’ by Shahar Binyamini in Bunkamura ORCHARD HALL Stars Gala, Tokyo, Japan
- Orsolina28 Student Sharing Sharon Eyal
- Orsolina28 Student Sharing Ohad Naharin, GagaLab
Festival dei Due mondi di Spoleto, House of Dance / ZHdK / taZ
- “Bolero X”, solo girl, choreography by Shahar Binyamini
taZ Curtain Up, Opernhaus Zürich
- ‘’Bolero X’, main duet, choreography by Shahar Binyamini
- ‘’Simply Bach’’, solo girl, choreography by Altea Nuñez
- “Défilé”, choreography by Àkos Sebestyén
Bregenzer Frühling 2025, House of Dance / ZHdK / taZ
- “Bolero X”, solo girl, choreography by Shahar Binyamini
2024
- NDT Summer Intensive Open Night, choreography by Anne Jung
taZ Curtain Up, Opernhaus Zürich
- ‘’A Folk Tale’’ choreography by August Bournonville, coached by Dinna Bjørn
- ‘’Only the Window’’ choreography by Ihsan Rustem
2023
- Stars of today meet the stars of tomorrow, Tel Aviv Opera House
- ‘’OCD Love’’ choreography by Sharon Eyal
- ‘’Dancing with an audience’’ choreography by Ohad Naharin
YAGP Nervi Gala,
- ‘’Rossini Cards’’ choreography by Mauro Bigonzetti
VARIATIONS AND COMPETITIONS / AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
2026
- Winner Grad Pro 2026 Wix Choreographic Award
- Finalist YCA-Young Creation Award Prix de Lausanne with my piece “Duck Lake”
2023
- YAGP Paris 1st place Junior Contemporary, 1st place Small Ensemble,1st place Large Ensemble
2022
- International Online Dance Competition Contemporary Winner
FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING INSTITUTIONS
- 2023-2026 Tanz Akademie Zürich (taZ), Federal Certificate of Proficiency in Classical Dance, Direction: Jason Beechey
- 2023-2026 Allgemeine Berufsschule Zürich
- 2019-2023 Liceul de coregrafie ‘’Floria Capsali’’ Bucharest, Romania
Q&A WITH CLARA MARIA ONICEAG
What does dance mean to you?
- Dance is everything to me, it’s what I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last thing that comes in my mind when I close my eyes at night. It is a part of me, it means freedom, delicacy, vulnerability, passion, it is my air and the force that unites people. I believe that that’s the most amazing thing about dance, it doesn’t matter what age, race, nationality you are, when you dance you’re all the same, you’re dancers and you speak the same language. It has the power to heal souls and I believe that dance is everything, from the movement of a leaf taken by the wind to moving on your favourite song. It’s love for movement, and that’s when it becomes art.
What memory will you take with you from your time at ZHdK?
- The most precious memory stays in the people that I came across and became a part of my life, the connections I created with my classmates, my teachers and the tutors . They are the ones from whom I learnt the biggest lessons and that helped me grow as a person and as an artist. I shared tears and laughters with them, I was able to be at my most vulnerable, sincere and open and what we all created will always stay with me.
Which work or choreographer particularly inspires you, and why?
- As I started with contemporary dance, my heart never got detached from it, it always got me fully. What I love most is improvising, that’s when I feel most free, vulnerable and creative, that’s when my imagination extends and has no limits, and I’m not just a dancer anymore, respecting strict rules and steps, but I become more than that, an actor, having to create new scenarios nonstop, and most importantly, I can really reach the human side of myself, the raw part of each of us, that gets forgotten often times. I love researching the limits of my body and extend them, knowing that we are limitless.