Photo: Sophie Malmberg dancer choreographer teacher for dance & ashtanga yoga
Senefelderstraße 18 D- 10437 Berlin curriculum vitae I was born 1981 in Hannover (GER). I have been based in Berlin since 2004 and have been working with Jens van Daele, Eszter Gàl, Sasha Waltz & Guests, Trisha Brown at Documenta12, AlexB, Mans Erlandson, Pipaluk Supernova/Half Machine Copenhagen, Cie. Salon Sauvage, Maren Witte, Nir De Volff/TotalBrutal and Margrèt-Sara Gudjonsdóttir/Panicproductions. I regularly have been involved in artistic collaborations with Sophie Malmberg, Annika Nilsson, Gerbes & Brandstätter/S-h-i-f-t-s, Vidal Bini, Caroline Allaire and other artists. I have been teaching Improvisation & Composition, Contemporary Technique Classes as well as Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga since 2005. Amongst other places, I have been teaching at Ponderosa Dance Festival, Tanzfabrik Berlin, Meg Stuart & Damaged Goods, Ekszena Zagreb, Ashtanga Studio Berlin and will be teaching in Denmark, Copenhagen at Dansens Hus in November 2010. I have been creating own works since 2006 which have been performed nationally and internationally such as the piece Festland together with Palina Krause; the work scrawling with Kathryn Rave; the solo Tief.Schwarz. ; the short movies Stolzenhagen Princes together with the visual artists Sophie Malmberg and Annika Nilsson; and DISHEVELLED with Sonja Pregrad and the musician Neven Krajačić. I studied Modern and Contemporary Dance at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Danceacademy Arnhem (NL) 2000 2004. I have done my Ashtanga Yoga Teachers Trainings with Andrea Lutz, Nancy Gilgoff and Manju Jois in Berlin (GER) and have also been teaching with them in classes and workshops. I have been regularly teaching Yoga at the Ashtanga Studio Berlin since 2005.
teaching dance Vision In my classes I put emphasis on developing the students courage and trust as well as high technical skills as a base of artistic maturity. I am interested in working with methods that allow the students to move on from where they stand as individuals and within a group; Methods that support them to fully incorporate their strengths and weaknesses so that they can confront their limits and widen them in order to reach, stimulate and unfold their potentials and creativity. The students are encouraged to bravely and playfully explore the different layers we can approach as dancers and performers (form, emotion, imagination, etc.), to use them and to reach out for the emergence of poetry in movement and performance and in my eyes, poetry has many different manifestations. Structure of the Contemporary Technique Class We will begin the class with awakening our body structures, its senses and creativity while connecting to our breath and movement through focusing on the principles of movement. We will then explore the principles and the terminology that is being used within improvisational structures and scores. That will allow us to develop technical skills and tools for real time creation while applying the body s intelligence naturally. The vocabulary we will approach is: falling, sliding, rolling, folding and unfolding, spiraling, floor work as well as upside-down material, jumps, etc. Applying those kinesthetic principles we will also dance sequences of choreographed movement that challenge our memory and enrich our vocabulary through guiding the body into new paths. The classes may also include partner work: dancing in duos, trios and bigger groups experiencing and enjoying supportive and more wild and risky ways of dancing together.
teaching ashtanga yoga Ashtanga Yoga is a powerful system that makes one flexible, strong and healthy on both physical and mental levels. The sequences of postures (Asanas) of this yoga form are intelligently designed to detoxify the body, align the muscular and skeletal system and purify the nervous system. Ashtanga Yoga uses a unique method of coordinating movement and breath, known as Vinyasa. The Vinyasa determines the way the component postures are linked together, and, when combined with energetic muscular locks called Bandhas, the resulting practice is very powerful. To deepen the practice even further and to bring the mind under control, the eyes focus on specific points depending on the Asana. Ashtanga Yoga can become a dynamic meditation and a tool for self-transformation. I am teaching Ashtanga Yoga in its traditional way: Mysore-Style classes. In this teaching system each student is being taught the series of Ashtanga Yoga step by step individually, but within a group class setting. This enables the teacher to guide each student safely through the practice and to be responsive to everyone s individual issues and learning tempo. Depending on the group, however, it can make sense to begin with led classes and then slowly build up the Mysore-Style classes. Information and corrections that support the practitioner and make the intense but soft practice safe are communicated verbally, often also through hands-on-adjustments. Ashtanga Yoga is a practice for everyone who enjoys it, no matter which age. Also for dancers and actors it can be a beautiful, highly valuable practice to learn. It increases an awareness that, in my eyes, is very necessary for those professions. It also helps to understand more about how to deal with the demands of the profession, ones limits and how to prevent injuries and keep the health up.
workshops classes company trainings In an intensive dance workshop and also in longer periods and/or possibly more spread times of working with a group we will begin with a warm up or a technique class. In the second part, we dive more deeply into the different elements of my teaching: exploring approaches to and principles of movement; Partner work; Improvisation and composition and how to perform them. A dance workshop can be 2, 3 or 5 days long, lasting 3 5 hours each. Longer and maybe more spread periods of working together with a group can have different time frames according to the wishes and the schedules. A yoga workshop allows me to take the students deeper into the different basic elements of Ashtanga Yoga, especially the understanding of the Asanas (postures), breathing and Bandha work (muscular, energetic locks ). It also offers the opportunity to get a better idea of what this form of yoga is all about in practice and theory. For a Yoga Workshop it makes sense to work between 1 and 5 days, with sessions of 2 3 hours each. A regular Ashtanga Yoga Mysore class lasts about 1,5 hours. Within the company trainings, may it be dance classes or Yoga classes, i put emphasis on preparing and opening up the body and mind for the rehearsals. The workshops and classes can be taught in English or German.