Personen
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Education
I studied theatre, political science and education in Mainz and Vienna, performed in theatres myself and wrote and developed plays.
Elsewhere
For three seasons I worked at the Staatstheater Mainz as an assistant director and play director in the acting and children’s and youth theatre divisions. I was able to gain a lot of experience with youth club work both at Theater Mainz and in independent contexts.
JES! and me
Since the 2017/18 season, I have been supporting JES as a cultural mediator. In doing so, I lead, among other things, the “Club der Schaulustigen (Club of Onlookers)”.
I have been on maternity/parental leave since June 2021 and will return starting April 2023.
CONTACT
Amelie.barucha@jes-stuttgart.de
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Education
I came to Stuttgart when I was studying interior design at the FHT and stayed here – just not with interior design! Pretty soon I was happily dropping into the tides of the theatre seas….
Elsewhere
In addition to the waters of the Staatstheater Stuttgart, the current has also guided me further and further north, e.g. to the Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin.
JES! and me
I started at JES as an assistant sailor in the set department, but after immersing myself in other film and theatre worlds, I always enjoyed sailing back to JES and have been a permanent member of the colorful set crew since 2016.
CONTACT
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Angelina Berger is participating in the 2022/23 season in the production “Hier ist noch alles möglich (Everything is still possible here)”.
Felix Berner is the choreographer of the production “Leichte Turbulenzen” for people aged two and above in the 2022/23 season.
Anka Bernstetter is responsible for the stage and costumes of the production “Hier ist noch alles möglich” in the 2022/23 season.
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Hier ist noch alles möglich (Everything is still possible here)
Sebastian “Jupp” Bertels has been supporting the JES technical team since the 2022/23 season.
CONTACT
Education
For my international studies in Arts and Culture Management (B.A.) and General Management (M.A.), I was drawn to Karlsruhe and London from 2010–2016.
Elsewhere
During my studies, I completed various internships (including at the Akademie Schloss Solitude and Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe) and worked in marketing for an industrial company.
Following my studies, I worked as a junior sales manager in the publishing industry and as a marketing assistant for an advertising specialist. With the position at JES, I return to my roots in the cultural sector.
JES! and me
Since the 2021/22 season, I have been working as the Marketing, Organization and Administration Officer at JES. I have regularly participated in play clubs under the direction of Peter Galka, e.g. in the “Theater der Generationen”, since 2009.
CONTACT
Patricija Bronic will act in the production “Unbändig” starting in the 2022/23 season.
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Sebastian Brummer was born in 1982 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein and grew up in Göttingen. He completed his acting training at the Anton Bruckner University in Linz (Austria). He was employed at Stadttheater Bremerhaven for three years, where he appeared as an actor in more than 20 productions. He has also performed freelance at the Junge Theater Göttingen, Dschungel Wien, Theater Lüneburg and Staatstheater Karlsruhe, among others. From 2013 to 2017, he was a permanent ensemble member at Schnawwl.
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has been supporting the technical team at JES since the 2016/17 season.
CONTACT
Education
I trained as an event technician at Theater Heilbronn between 2007 and 2010.
Elsewhere
I was then employed at Junges Theater Bonn.
JES! And Me
Since March 2011 I have been working in the technical department of JES.
CONTACT
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JES! AND ME
Since the 2017/18 season, I have been working as the marketing, organization and administration officer at JES.
In 2018, I founded the AG Inklusion with my then colleagues Paul-Maurice Röwert, Amelie Barucha, Denise Hafermann and Anna-Lena Hitzfeld, to enable a more open theatre access for all people by calling into question and improving theater structures. I also run the “Club der Schaulustigen”, a club where young people interested in theater can discover Stuttgart’s cultural landscape together.
CONTACT
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Brigitte Dethier was and artistic director and director at the Junges Ensemble Stuttgart from 2002 to 2022 as well as artistic director of the festival “Bright view”. She has also been active in international associations and organizations for the promotion of professional children’s and youth theater for years, for example as the first chairwoman of the German ASSITEJ. In 2014, she was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of Baden-Württemberg for the foundation and successful work at JES.
In 2009, together with the Belgian choreographer Ives Thuwis-De Leeuw, she received the German Theatre Prize DER FAUST for her production “Noch 5 Minuten”. As a lecturer for acting, directing and theatre management she works at universities in Stuttgart, Hamburg and Munich.
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Franzy Deutscher is a fight choreographer for the production “Unbändig”.
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Daniel Dömölky is the music director for the production “Mentsvár / Zuflucht” in the 2022/23 season.
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Burkard Fink studied jazz and popular music with trumpet as his main subject at the Hanns-Eisler Conservatory in Berlin under Gerard Presencer and Jiggs Whigham. Since 2011 he has also been working as a tuba player and sound designer, especially for theatre productions. In his works, Burkhard Finckh builds a bridge between self-composed acoustic and contemporary electronic music. In addition to compositions for the American Sesame Street, he works as musical director for the “Theater in den Bergen”, the “Theaterkollektiv Raumzeit” and writes music for a wide variety of instrumentations.
He is currently studying film music at the Freiburg Conservatory with Cornelius Schwehr.
Sascha Flocken studied Political Science and Philosophy. From 2009 to 2013 he was an assistant director at the Freiburg Theatre. During this time, he produced his first own pieces. He has been working as a freelance director since 2013 and was artistic director of the 2014 Autumn Academy in Freiburg. At the Freiburg Theatre, he developed the series “The NSU Protocols” in the 2015/2016 season and staged the multi-generational project “Majority Society” with young refugees, senior citizens and the musician Bernadette La Hengst. His next project was “Silent Service” in 2018, a project with nurses in training in collaboration with the author Felix Schiller. His productions “Ich, Moby Dick” and “Die besten Beerdigungen der Welt” (Theater im Marienbad) were invited to Bright View Festival in 2018 and 2020. With the collective Bambi Bambule, he created “Penthesilea – Love is to die” in 2019, which was staged at the Theaterdiscounter Berlin and elsewhere. One of many novel adaptations in 2019 was the production of the novel 89/90 by Peter Richter at Theater Freiburg. He has a long-standing working relationship with the authors Tina Müller and Reihaneh Youzbashi Dizaji.
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Milan Gather was born in Aachen in 1993 and grew up in Dortmund. He developed his first theatre works in the director’s workshop at Schauspielhaus Bochum and in the independent scene in Leipzig. He interned and assisted at Centraltheater and Schauspiel Leipzig. He studied acting at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart from 2014 to 2018. During “acting studio” at the Stuttgart State Theatre, he worked with Kay Voges and Schorsch Kamerun, among others. From the 2018/19 to the 2022/23 season, Milan Gather was a permanent ensemble member at Junges Ensemble Stuttgart and worked with Brigitte Dethier, Sebastian Schwab, Paulina Neukampf, Hanneke Paauwe, cobratheater.cobra, Andreas Weinmann and Kjell Moberg.
This is also where Milan Gather first wrote for children’s and youth theatre: his first monologue play “Astronauten” (for ages 12 and up), which he performs himself, was invited to the Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, the KUSS Festival – Hessische Kinder- und Jugendtheaterwoche Marburg and the Heidelberger Stückemarkt in 2020, where it shared the youth play prize with the other two invited productions due to a cancellation because of the pandemic.
Together with actress Anna-Lena Hitzfeld he developed the free play “BRO*CALL” (ages 14 and up) and with theatre pedagogue Silke Wilhelm he developed the interactive walk “Der Anfang” (ages 7 and up) and is also involved in other formats.
His second play, “Oma Monika” (ages 7 and up) premiered in the 2021/22 season under his direction at JES and won the KUSS Prize of the Jugendtheaterwoche Marburg as well as the KinderStückePreis of the Mülheimer Theatertage. He has been working as a freelance author and director since the 2022/23 season.
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Education
Originally, I trained as a carpenter.
Elsewhere
After that I worked first as a stage technician at Nationaltheater Mannheim, then as a self-employed event technician and finally as deputy head of the studio technology department at the Nationaltheater (as an employee of the technical directorate from 2001 to 2007). My responsibilities included the management of the “Event Technology” department, technical management and event-technical supervision of performance operations in Studio Werkhaus as well as rehearsal operations at the Nationaltheater, as well as special events and guest performance tours and the production management in all four sections of the Nationaltheater.
I also took over the technical and spatial conception and supervision of the reconstruction and renovation of the rehearsal stage centre in Mannheim as well as the conception, planning and construction management for the reconstruction of the studio stage, including the complete stage, lighting, sound and building services of all foyers, dressing rooms, storage and prop/mask rooms. During my time at Nationaltheater Mannheim, I completed various further training courses: Master of Event Technology specialised in stage/studio as well as lighting, as an electrician for event technology and business economics of the trade.
From 2007 onwards I worked as a self-employed event technician, among others at the Schwetzingen Festival, at Moers Schlosstheater and at the Bayreuth Festival in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
JES! and me
Since the 2009/10 season he has been technical director of Junges Ensemble Stuttgart.
CONTACT
Antonia Griesbeck has been supporting the JES set as a permanent staff member since the 2021/2022 season.
CONTACT
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Denise Hafermann studied European Cultural History and History of Ideas and Applied Cultural Studies at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
During her studies, she was involved in the student council for humanities and social sciences, GeistSoz Theater and zoon politikon- Hochschulgruppe für politische Philosophie Karlsruhe. In addition, she completed directing and dramaturgy internships at the Theater Baden-Baden and Staatstheater Karlsruhe and was, among other things, assistant to the theatre labs and co-director of a lab in Karlsruhe in the folk theatre section under the direction of Beata Anna Schmutz as part of the federal volunteer programme for culture (FSJ Kultur).
In the 2017/2018 season, Denise Hafermann worked at the Volkstheater as an assistant director and staff member for the Volkstheater Festival.
Since the 2018/2019 season until 2022/23 she was assistant director at JES and made her directorial debut there with the production “Archiv der Körper”.
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Archiv der Körper (Archive of Bodies, Premiere)
Wir so: Welt retten (Premiere)
Die beste Geschichte (The best story) — En iyi hikâye (Premiere)
Denise Hasler was born in 1989 in Solothurn, Switzerland and studied acting at the Zurich University of the Arts. She works as a freelance actress and has worked with the Frei_raum collective in Bern and Theater Hora in Zurich, among others. She has acted in various performances and plays, including at Theater Luzern and with her own group auftrag:okapi for Schlachthaustheater Bern, co-developing and performing the play “Vo Aafang a” for children.
Since the 2016/2017 season, she has been performing at JES in the play “Unsere große Welt”.
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Lena Hinz was born in Haan in 1981 and grew up in Wuppertal. She studied stage and costume design at the “Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten Maastricht” (Netherlands) and at the National Academy of Arts Sofia (Bulgaria) from 2004 to 2008.
Following her studies, she worked as a prop designer at the RO Theatre in Rotterdam (Netherlands). At the same time, she set up several freelance dance and drama productions, including at the Theaterschool Amsterdam, the Frascati WG and the RO Theatre.
From 2009 to 2011 she was an assistant set designer at Junges Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. She has been working as a freelance stage and costume designer throughout Germany since 2011, including at Junges Ensemble Stuttgart, Junges Schauspielhaus Hamburg, Moks Theater Bremen and Grips Theater Berlin.
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Anna-Lena Hitzfeld was born in Tübingen. After graduating from high school, she trained as a multiplier at the independent theatre Tempus fugit, where she worked as a freelancer before and during her studies.
Before studying acting at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, she studied art history and philosophy at the University of Leipzig and interned at Spinnwerk Leipzig and in theatre education at TdjW. During her acting studies she performed at the Oldenburg State Theatre.
From the 2017/18 to 2022/23 season, she was a permanent ensemble member at JES and worked with Brigitte Dethier, Kjell Moberg, Nurkan Erpulat and Hannah Biedermann, among others.
At Junges Ensemble Stuttgart she developed and realised various projects, including “Quadratmeter Abenteuer”, an interactive performance for children ages 6 and up (in collaboration with Pauri Röwert), “infectious tears – ein Abend über Tränenflüßigkeit” (in collaboration with Wolfram Stöckl) and the installation FRANZKLUBS, a play club with stories by Franz Kafka (in collaboration with Sezin Onay).
The free play BRO*CALL (ages 14 and up), by and with Milan Gather and Anna-Lena Hitzfeld, celebrated its digital premiere in April 2021.
In the 2021/22 season, she also developed a staged reading of the book “Elke” (Christian Duda) together with Sebastian Brummer and Christian Schönfelder.
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Anne Hoelk is responsible for stage and costumes in the production “Aus der Kurve fliegen” in the 2022/23 season.
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Daphna Horowitz was born in Würzburg in 1997 and grew up in Düsseldorf. During her childhood and youth she spent a lot of time at Junges Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf. She was active in the youth club as well as in the improvisation theatre club of Theatersportler*innen. After graduating from high school, she completed a year of voluntary service at Walder Theatertage Solingen and at the same time assisted at the children’s club of Junges Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf. In 2016, she began her studies in cultural studies and aesthetic practice with the subjects of theatre and media at the University of Hildesheim. There she was part of the student initiative for researching theatre pedagogy (PROBE:BÜHNE Hildesheim), in which she regularly designed workshops for and with her fellow students that playfully tested theatre pedagogical work. One of her student projects was the feminist performance “reclaiming hysteria”, in which she dealt with female rage in a collective. In addition, Daphna worked as a freelance theatre pedagogue in various projects of Junges Staatstheater Braunschweig and Cluster e.V. Hildesheim.
In the 2021/22 season, Daphna Horowitz was a permanent theatre pedagogue at Junges Ensemble Stuttgart. Here she worked, among other things, in the kindergarten language support project and was responsible as a leader for various clubs. In addition, she accompanied the production “Oma Monika – was war?”.
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Öğünç Kardelen grew up in Izmir, Turkey. After studying opera singing at Dokuz Eylül University, he came to Germany in 2002 and completed his second degree in singing with Prof. Langshaw and postgraduate studies in vocal pedagogy at Musikhochschule Köln. Kardelen works as a composer, stage musician and performer at various theatres throughout Germany, including Comedia in Cologne, Staatstheater Mainz, Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern, Deutsches Theater Göttingen and Junges Nationaltheater Mannheim. He writes and sings songs in his mother tongue for his indie-folk band “Kent Coda”. He is behind the music for the productions “Die beste Geschichte” and “Oma Monika - was war?”.
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Oma Monika (Grandma Monika) (Premiere)
Die beste Geschichte (The best story) — En iyi hikâye (Premiere)
Yeşim Nela Keim Schaub is the director of “Warum das Kind in der Polenta kocht” in the 2022/23 season.
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works in the technical team at JES. He has been deputy technical director since the 2019/2020 season.
CONTACT
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Sebastian Kempf was born in Munich in 1995. He studied acting in Stuttgart at the University of Music and Performing Arts from 2015 to 2019. In 2018, he performed in Philipp Rosendahl’s “Schöne Neue Welt” at Schauspiel Stuttgart and in Kjell Moberg’s production of “bis zum letzten Tanz” at the Wilhelma Theatre. In the 2018/2019 season he was an ensemble member at the Nationaltheater Mannheim and performed as a regular guest from 2019/2020. Since 2019 he has been working primarily as a freelance actor for film and television and as a voice actor (including Tatort, the Netflix series “Biohackers”, the feature film “Oskar’s Dress”, etc.).
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Marthe Labes is responsible for staging and costumes for the production “Warum das Kind in der Polenta kocht” in the 2022/23 season.
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Leah Lichtwitz was born in Wolfenbüttel. After graduating from high school, she studied fashion design at FH Bielefeld and began assisting in various theatres at the same time. Her diploma in 2005 was followed by further freelance assistantships and three years as a permanent costume assistant at Staatstheater Stuttgart. Since 2009 she has been working as a freelance costume and set designer at Staatstheater Stuttgart, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Theater Baden-Baden and Theater Plauen-Zwickau, as well as for various film and advertising productions.
Further information available here: www.leahlichtwitz.com
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Die beste Geschichte (The best story) — En iyi hikâye (Premiere)
Education
I completed my Bachelor’s degree at the Zurich University of the Arts. In summer 2019, I completed my Master's degree in Performance Studies at the University of Hamburg.
Elsewhere
After my first permanent engagement at JES, I was drawn to the independent scene and to the stage again and again myself as a performer. My projects intersect at the interface between performative experiments, especially for young audiences, and mediation work between theatre and real life. These projects have taken me to Gessnerallee Zurich, Kampnagel in Hamburg, Schlachthaustheater Bern, Schauspielhaus Hamburg and Junges Theater Konstanz, among others.
JES! and me
After completing my bachelor's degree, I was permanently employed as a theatre educator at the JES from 2012-2015. From the 2022/23 season, I will return to the theatre as theatre educator, dramaturge and deputy artistic director.
CONTACT
fredericlilje@jes-stuttgart.de
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Die Bademattenrepublik (Bath Mat Republic)
Mentsvár / Sanctuary (Premiere)
Ly Tuan was born in Germany and works as a dancer and movement director. He graduated in Physical Theatre (University of Surrey) in 2009. He worked with New International Encounter (NIE), Moonfool and director Kasia Zaremba-Byrne, with whom he toured trough Portugal, Poland, the Czech Republic and the UK. In 2013, Tuan decided to pursue an MA in Contemporary Dance and studied at London Contemporary Dance School. As a dancer, Tuan has performed in works by Gary Clarke, Darren Ellis, Rui Xu, Rosie Whitney-Fish, Sebastian Abarbanell and René Alejandro Huari Mateus, among others. He works as a guest dancer at Theater der Klänge in Düsseldorf and Theater Traverse in Luxembourg. As a director and choreographer, Tuan works on projects at Paines Plough, Oval House Theatre, Tanzfabrik Berlin, Kampnagel Hamburg and The Place London. He has taught and given workshops for The Point Eastleigh, Hoxton Hall, National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, St Mary’s University and the University of Surrey. Tuan has been dancing for Maresa Von Stockert’s Tilted Productions since September 2014.
“Unsere große Welt” is Tuan’s first production as director of movement at JES.
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After four years of acting training at the AdK Ulm, Prisca Maier worked at the MoKS, the children’s and youth theatre at Bremer Theater, for seven years. She also worked in Hamburg, Berlin, Mannheim and St. Gallen, mainly as an actress for young audiences. Furthermore, she worked in other functions and areas at German-speaking theatres, be it as a theatre pedagogue, director or dramaturge, e.g. at the St. Gallen Theatre, where she was responsible for the children’s and young people's theatre section and, among other things, directed “The Tightrope Dancer” by Mike Kenny for a young audience. She was an ensemble member at JES since its founding in 2004 until the 2016/2017 season.
She also worked freelance for five years: as a theatre pedagogue, especially in language support at Stuttgart KITAS and in further education, but also as a speaker/actor at various family concerts by the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra and the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra of Constance. She has been the director of the Böblingen Music and Art School since March 2017.
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Education
I was born in Stuttgart in 1973. After graduating from high school, I attended the Università per Stranieri in Perugia and Siena/Italy for one year. Afterwards I studied German and Italian at the University of Mannheim.
Elsewhere
During my studies I completed an internship in the marketing department of the Nationaltheater Mannheim, accompanied two productions at the opera as assistant director and guided groups of visitors behind the scenes for years.
From the 2000/01 season onwards, I worked as an assistant for 3 years, and later as a member of staff in the marketing department at Nationaltheater Mannheim, focusing on “School and Theatre”.
For the 2003/04 season, I moved to the newly founded Junges Ensemble Stuttgart for 5 years and took over both press and public relations for the house as well as the management of the artistic operations office and scheduling.
During my 3-year parental leave with my first daughter, I founded the day-care centre “Kinderland Pusteblume” in Stuttgart-Feuerbach with 60 places for children from 6 months to six years of age together with other mothers.
From August 2011 to August 2022, I was employed as a public relations and environmental communication assistant at Yves Rocher GmbH.
JES! AND ME
After 14 years, I am back at Junges Ensemble Stuttgart and have been working in the artistic operations office since the 2022/23 season. I am responsible for schedule coordination in the scheduling department.
CONTACT
Lola Merz Robinson has been a permanent ensemble member at JES since the 2022/23 season.
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Carolin Mittler studied stage design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and designed her first sets for the Theater der Jugend in Munich after graduating. From 1989 to 1991 she was under steady employment as a stage designer at the Württembergische Landesbühne Esslingen and has been working freelance since 1991. Her work has taken her to the Staatstheater Stuttgart, Schauspiel Bonn, Theater Ingolstadt, Staatsschauspiel Dresden, Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Theater Oberhausen, Staatstheater Darmstadt, Theater Erlangen, SchauBurg München, Staatstheater Mainz and Staatsheater Kassel. For the production “Diese Mauer fasst sich selbst zusammen und der Stern hat gesprochen, der Stern hat auch was gesagt” at HLMT she received the Nachspielpreis of the Heidelberger Stückemarkt in 2019. In addition, Carolin Mittler was nominated for the theatre prize DER FAUST for the stage and costume design of the same production. In addition, the prize for a special artistic achievement of the Hessian Theatre Days 2019 went to Carolin Mittler for the stage and costumes of “Maria Stuart / Ulrike Maria Stuart”.
At JES, she designed the set for “Die erstaunlichen Abenteuer der Maulina Schmitt” and “Oma Monika – was war”.
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Education
I was born in Wuppertal in 2003 and grew up in Stuttgart. I graduated from high school in Stuttgart in spring 2021.
JES! And Me
JES has been a part of my life since I was eight years old. As a child and teenager, I participated in numerous play clubs and was part of the productions “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.” from 2017 to 2019 and “Identity” from 2019 to 2020.
In autumn 2021, I did my first assistant directing at JES for the production “Archive der Körper” and have been permanently engaged as an assistant director since the 2022/23 season, starting with the production “Hier ist noch alles möglich”.
CONTACT
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Mentsvár / Sanctuary (Premiere)
Warum das Kind in der Polenta kocht
Hier ist noch alles möglich (Everything is still possible here)
Archiv der Körper (Archive of Bodies, Premiere)
Hier ist noch alles möglich (Everything is still possible here)
Hier ist noch alles möglich (Everything is still possible here)
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Education
I was born in Goslar in 1988. After graduating from high school, I studied performing arts and German language and literature at the Leibniz University in Hanover and attended seminars at the Braunschweig University of Fine Arts and the University of Hildesheim.
Elsewhere
From the beginning of my studies I took part in various projects of the youth section of Schauspiel Hannover. Among others, I acted in productions by the director Nurkan Erpulat, Marco Štorman and the theatre and performance collective “andcompany&Co”. I interned in theatre pedagogy under the direction of Barbara Kantel and developed my own theatre performances together with people of different backgrounds within the transcultural, intergenerational theatre group “Türkisch-Deutsches-Theater” (TDT) of the Theaterhaus Hildesheim. Both during and after my studies, I worked as a freelance theatre pedagogue and led theatre projects with children and young people at Junges Schauspiel Hannover, in youth centres, child and youth counselling centres and associations for intercultural communication, migration and refugee work.
JES! And ME
Since the 2016/2017 season, I have been working permanently as a theatre pedagogue at Junges Ensemble Stuttgart. Here I work, among other things, in the day-care centre language support project and am responsible for the clubs “Club Kültür” and “Queertown”.
CONTACT
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Archiv der Körper (Archive of Bodies, Premiere)
Die Bademattenrepublik (Bath Mat Republic)
Die beste Geschichte (The best story) — En iyi hikâye (Premiere)
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David Pagan, born in 1979 on the border between Scotland and England, studied acting/music in London and has been living in Germany since 2008. He first worked as a performer and musical director for NIE theatre. He currently performs and composes mainly in theatres in Germany and Europe for young audiences.
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Education
After graduating from school and a year of various internships, I was an assistant director at JES from 2004 to 2007, after which I studied acting direction at Theaterakademie Hamburg. In 2018 I completed further education in theatre and music management at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich.
Elsewhere
I have been working as a freelance director in theatre for young audiences since 2010. In addition to JES, I have directed at Staatstheater Mainz, GRIPS Theater Berlin, moks junges theatre Bremen, jungen LTT Tübingen, and at Schauburg Munich, among others. Since 2010 I have also been working as a translator of theatre texts from English into German. Since summer 2019, I have been a member of the board of trustees of the Landesverband der Kunstschulen Baden-Württemberg (State Association of Art Schools Baden-Württemberg).
JES! And ME
As a freelance director, I have staged “Die besten Beerdigungen der Welt”, “Die Abenteuer des starken Wanja”, “Unsere große Welt”, “Die Bademattenrepublik” and “Unbändig” at JES. From 2014 to 2022 I was also one of the organisational and production managers of Bright View. I have been the artistic director of JES since the 2022/23 season.
CONTACT
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Die Bademattenrepublik (Bath Mat Republic)
Unsere große Welt (Our big world)
Sibel Polat was born in 1986 in Mersin, Turkey and studied acting at Arturo Acting School in Cologne from 2006 to 2010. At the same time, she attended a four-year film workshop, as well as a clown seminar in 2009. From 2011–2013, Sibel Polat was an ensemble member at Junges Theater Heidelberg at Zwinger 3. She has been working as a freelance actress in Cologne since 2014. She acts in the Comedia Theater in “Tigermilch” and “Taksi to Istanbul” among other productions. At the Bauturm Theatre she can be seen in the production “Der Chinese” (director: Rüdiger Pape).
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Wir so: Welt retten (Premiere)
Die beste Geschichte (The best story) — En iyi hikâye (Premiere)
Lisa Pottstock is responsible for music in the production “Warum das Kind in der Polenta kocht” in the 2022/23 season.
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Larissa Probst is a theatre pedagogue and head of the performative advisory service “Agentur für Kinderarbeit (Children’s Agency for Work)” in the 2022/23 season.
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Oma Monika (Grandma Monika) (Premiere)
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Thilo Reffert studied medicine for several semesters before founding a theatre group, studying theatre studies and modern German literature and working as a dramaturge and theatre teacher. Reffert began writing plays in 2001. His plays have been performed at Theater der Altmark Stendal, Saarländisches Staatstheater and the Ohnsorg Theatre, among others. The classroom play “Flasche leer (Empty Bottle)” was especially popular.
At the same time, Reffert works for radio as a radio playwright, and wrote, among other things, a crime series about the lovable chaotic Tom Felski. He was the author of the radio version of Tatort for MDR from 2009 to 2019. In 2010 he was awarded the most important German radio play prize, Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden.
In 2010, his first children's book Nina und Paul was published. The radio play version of “Nina und Paul” (production: Deutschlandradio Kultur) was awarded the German Children’s Radio Play Prize. The children’s book “Australien, ich komme (Australia, here I come)”, published in 2012, was named Book of the Month for June 2012 by the German Academy for Children’s and Youth Literature. His classroom drama Nina und Paul was awarded the Mülheimer KinderStückePreis in 2013. He lives as a freelance author on the outskirts of Berlin.
For JES he wrote the play “Wir so: Welt retten” as a commissioned work.
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Education
I was born in 1966. Before I completed my training as an actor at the Spielstatt Ulm (1989 to 1993), I gained my first theatre experience at the theatre in the Altstadthof in my hometown of Nuremberg.
Elsewhere
Afterwards I worke at Schnawwl, the children’s and youth theatre at the Nationaltheater Mannheim (1993 to 1996), and at Junges Theater Zürich (1996/97). From 1998 to 2004 I worked at the Children’s and Youth Theatre of the Landestheater Tübingen.
JES! and me
I became part of Junges Ensemble Stuttgart in 2004.
wirkt mit bei
Die beste Geschichte (The best story) — En iyi hikâye (Premiere)
Ritter ohne Furcht und Adel (UA)
Unsere große Welt (Our big world)
Wir so: Welt retten (Premiere)
Hier ist noch alles möglich (Everything is still possible here)
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Education
I was born on August 5th 1998 in Königsfeld in the Black Forest and spent my childhood and youth there. After graduating from high school, I began vocational training in theatre education at Theater Tempus fugit in Lörrach. There, I led various theatre groups, organised my own projects and performed a lot of forum theatre at schools. Following my training, I began studying acting at the Zurich University of the Arts at the end of 2018. I attended courses on various acting techniques, was able to gain a lot of experience in the field of collective work and performance, and graduated in the summer of 2022.
Elsewhere
I spent the 21/22 season in Chemnitz, where I appeared in several productions at the municipal theatre as a member of the acting studio. I worked there with Matthias Huber and Nicolas Charaux, among others.
JES! And me
I have been a permanent ensemble member of Junges Ensemble Stuttgart since September 2022.
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Theresa Scheitzenhammer is responsible for stage and costumes in the production “Wir so: Welt retten”.
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Martha Schmalz supported the organisation of the Bright View festival in 2021 and 2022 and is assistant director of the production “Aus der Kurve fliegen” in the 2022/23 season.
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Education
I was born in Switzerland in 1996 and gained my first stage experience as a singer in the band EVEN YOU. I toured with EVEN YOU for four years. After a year of musical training in Lucerne, I moved to Munich to study acting at the August Everding Theatre Academy.
Elsewhere
In the 2021/2022 season, I performed in the play “Stolz und Vorurteil (or so)” at the Staatstheater Nuremberg for a year and was on stage in Munich with the production "RAGE".
JES! AND ME
I have now been a permanent ensemble member at Junges Ensemble Stuttgart since September 2022.
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Adrian Schmidt shoots image films, recordings, teasers and trailers for JES. He has also worked in the productions “Bro*Call” and “Corpus Delicti”.
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Education
I studied stage and costume design at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design in
London.
Elsewhere
From 1997 to 2002 I worked as an assistant stage designer for various stages in Cologne, Staatstheater Stuttgart and Thalia Theater Hamburg, where I was able to work with directors such as Michael Thalheimer, Stephan Kimmig and Leander Haussmann.
In the Hanseatic city I got to know the director Jorinde Dröse, with whom I created numerous productions as a stage and costume designer from 2002 onwards at theatres such as Schauspiel Bochum, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Schauspiel Leipzig and Volkstheater München.
I have also developed many stage and costume designs with the directors Sabine Harbeke, Klaus Hemmerle, Alexander Schilling and Hüseyin Michael Circipi at Theater Heilbronn, Landestheater Innsbruck and Theater Ingolstadt, among others.
JES! And ME
I came to JES in 2018 as a set designer, much to the delight of my sons with whom I live here in Stuttgart.
CONTACT
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Education
I was born in Darmstadt in 1967 and grew up in Wolfenbüttel near Braunschweig. After a traineeship, several years as a sports editor at Goslarsche Zeitung and a trip around the world, I studied dramaturgy at adk Ulm.
Elsewhere
After that I worked as a dramaturge and partly as a theatre pedagogue at the children's and youth theatres in Heidelberg (zwinger3) and Mannheim (Schnawwl) as well as at the Schauspiel of the Nationaltheater Mannheim and in the festival management of Internationale Schillertage. In addition to working for JES, I work as a lecturer (including at the Stuttgart Drama School), as a curator and as an author. Recent premieres include “Artus!” at the open-air theatre in Altusried, “Auf Ötzis Spuren” at Theater des Kindes in Linz and “Das Ministerium der Einsamkeit” at Theater an der Rott in Eggenfelden.
JES! And Me
Since 2006 I have been dramaturge at Junges Ensemble Stuttgart and was the artistic director of the international festival Bright View with Brigitte Dethier until 2022. I was also the managing director of the Baden-Württemberg Youth Theatre Prize for JES for ten years and one of three spokespersons for the working group of children’s and youth theatres in Baden-Württemberg for five years.
CONTACT
Christian.schoenfelder@jes-stuttgart.de
wirkt mit bei
Ritter ohne Furcht und Adel (UA)
Oma Monika (Grandma Monika) (Premiere)
Hier ist noch alles möglich (Everything is still possible here)
Die Bademattenrepublik (Bath Mat Republic)
Unsere große Welt (Our big world)
Astronauten (Astronauts, Premiere)
Hier ist noch alles möglich (Everything is still possible here)
Hier ist noch alles möglich (Everything is still possible here)
Education
In training as a hand weaver.
Elsewhere
I have been drawn to theatre since I was a child. My first internship in 2008/2009 was at the set department of JES. Since then I have worked there as a temp over and over again.
At Staatstheater Stuttgart I interned as a costume and set designer with Christian Tschirner and Corinna Harfouch, among others. I also worked there as a production assistant on the international theatre project “Orient Express”.
At the Film Academy in Ludwigsburg, I was allowed to immerse myself in the world of film as a set designer. I also worked in the costume department at Altes Schauspielhaus and the Palladium. In addition, I started a carpentry apprenticeship and studied expressive dance for a year.
JES! And Me
I have been supporting JES set as a permanent staff member since the 2021/2022 season and live in Stuttgart with my husband and our three children.
CONTACT
Beatrix Simkó is the choreographer for “Mentsvár / Refuge” in the 2022/23 season.
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Education
I am originally from the Czech Republic and successfully completed my apprenticeship there as a men’s tailor.
Elsewhere
Thirty years ago I moved to Stuttgart. I worked as a seamstress in a photo studio and in the fashion shop Beate Mössinger for nineteen years.
JES! And ME
I came to JES via director Klaus Hemmerle. I made my first costumes at JES for his production of “Nach Schwaben Kinder”. Ever since then I have been working regularly at JES and am responsible for the realisation of numerous costume designs by the set designers. I live in Stuttgart with my husband.
Education
I was born in 1973 and studied theatre in Munich. I then completed a PhD in Mainz with a guest residency at the University of Texas/Austin, which I completed in 2002/03 with distinction and the university prize for the best dissertation.
Elsewhere
During my studies I worked as a guest director and freelance assistant director at numerous theatres (e.g. Grillo-Theater Essen, Staatsoper München, Oper Zürich) and festivals (e.g. at the young singers’ festival Opera in the Ozarks in Arkansas/USA). During my doctoral degree I was involved in several conferences in the field of PR and organisation and was also the managing director of Projekt Geist & Wirtschaft e.V. in Mainz.
In the 2002/03 season, I was assistant to the press department and personal assistant to the artistic director at Staatstheater Mainz. From 2003 to 2006 I was a fundraiser at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, where I was responsible for sponsoring of the four-part theatre and was involved in the organisation of various festivals, such as Internationale Schillertage.
JES! And Me
Since the 2006/07 season, I have been head of administration and organisation at Junges Ensemble Stuttgart. Since 2008, I have been a regular lecturer in the programme for further education in theatre and orchestra management at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, and since 2020, I have been a lecturer on contract law at Schauspielschule Stuttgart / Hochschule für Musik & Darstellende Kunst.
Marie-Christin Sommer studied songwriting and singing at the Pop Academy in Mannheim. By then, she had already been on the road with numerous band projects throughout Germany since the age of 14. She is a freelance artist, musician, producer, performer and leader of the artist collective Meerkatzenblau. She has been writing songs, composing music, writing poems and short stories for 15 years. In 2013, she took on the musical direction for Dürrenmatt’s “The Visit” for the first time for a free theatre ensemble in Berlin. This was followed by collaborations with HMTM Hannover, Nationaltheater Mannheim and independent theatre collectives.
Since 2014, she has been on the road with her solo project MORI. Between 2016 and 2018, she received several awards in songwriting and composition for this project before receiving the YouTube Early Career Support Scholarship in spring of 2018. In the summer of 2018, she founded the Musikkulturverein MKB e.V. for which she is the chairperson.
wirkt mit bei
Archiv der Körper (Archive of Bodies, Premiere)
Limo zum Frühstück (Lemonade for breakfast)
Hier ist noch alles möglich (Everything is still possible here)
Hannah Juliane Steenbeck is a dancer in the production “Aus der Kurve fliegen”.
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Stefan Stiller is a dancer in the production “Aus der Kurve fliegen”.
has been working in the technical department at JES since the 2014/15 season.
CONACT
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Education
I was born in Bamberg in 1994. I began studying Theatre Studies, Philosophy and General and Comparative Literature at the Free University of Berlin in 2015, followed by Dramaturgy at the August Everding Theatre Academy.
Elsewhere
At the theatre in Bamberg, I worked as an assistant in theatre education during my school years and was on stage as an extra and in the youth club. Afterwards, I interned at Deutsches Theater Berlin, Deutsche Oper and Landestheater Coburg, among others. In addition to my work at the theatre, I have worked at several festivals – especially as in guest relations – for example at the 33rd Bavarian Theatre Days, the 32nd International Short Film Festival interfilm Berlin, several editions of the Bamberg Short Film Festival and at UWE – das Festival.
From 2020 onwards, I provided dramaturgical advice to several productions in the independent scene and, from the 20/21 season onwards, worked in the dramaturgy department of Theater Niedersachsen.
JES! AND ME
I am brand new at JES and will be working here as a dramaturge from the season 22/23 onward.
CONTACT
alina.tammaro@jes-stuttgart.de
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Angélica Topfstedt has been supporting the theatre pedagogy department since the 2022/23 season.
CONTACT
angelica.topfstedt@jes-stuttgart.de
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Christin Vahl is responsible for stage and costumes in the production “Leichte Turbulenzen” in the 2022/23 season.
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Lin Verleger is a professional dancer whose dance style is a mixture of breakdance and contemporary dance. The participation in and performance of several workshops, trainings and breakdance battles in the context of international cooperations and engagements allowed him to unite these different aspects in his dance style. France, Spain, Italy, Mauritius, Poland, England and many other countries have been settings for his artistic work. As part of the crew “Reckless”, he won the German Breakdance Championships and represented Germany in the “Battle of the Year” in Montpellier, France, the following year.
Since 2010, Lin Verleger has been concentrating his work on dance theatre in particular. He has danced for Regina Advento (Pina Bausch Ensemble), La Macana, Susanne Linke and Morgan Nardi, among others.
In addition to his work as a dancer, he choreographed several pieces himself. With the piece “Stüttgerhofweg 15” he won the prize for staging, movement and design in 2015. He also choreographed a breakdance show with students and professionals for the “WDR Vivaldi Experiment”, which was shown live on television together with the “WDR Funkhausorchester”. In addition to his artistic activities, he is studying sports science with a focus on dance at the German Sport University Cologne.
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Laura-Sophie Warachewicz was born in Duisburg and gained her first stage experience at Junges Theater Leverkusen before beginning her acting studies at Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart in 2016. As part of her training, she acted as Mrs. Mirador in “Das Leben auf der Praca Roosevelt” at Wilhelma Theater and in several roles in “Rage” at Staatstheater Stuttgart, where she also made a guest appearance in “Ein Sommernachtstraum im Cyber-Valley”, a project by Schorsch Kamerun.
She has been acting at the JES since the 2019/20 season following her finals in 2020 as part of the “Schauspielstudio Stuttgart” in the production “Wir so: Welt retten” as well as a freelance actress in “Corpus Delicti” since 2021.
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Andreas Weinmann was born in Stuttgart in 1993 and graduated from Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium in 2013, where he gained his first theatre experience. From 2005 to 2009 he acted in various clubs at Junges Ensemble Stuttgart and also took part in the ensemble production “9 Leben” there. He gained further stage experience during the youth club production “Exeunt Omnes – Abgang alle” at the Staatstheater Stuttgart. In the 2013/14 season, he completed a voluntary social year in culture at Junges Theater Heidelberg. His production “Social Network” was created during this time. In the 2014/15 season, he worked as an assistant director for the Christmas fairy tale “The Wizard of OZ” and as a youth club leader and assistant production manager for Heidelberg Stückemarkt, among other things. From 2015 to 2017, he was a permanent assistant director at Junges Theater Heidelberg. During this time, he directed, among other productions, the two classroom plays “Zigeuner-Boxer” by Rike Reiniger and the world premiere of “M.I.L.F. (Marvin is like a frog)” by Daniel Ratthei. He has been studying directing at the University of Music and Performing Arts Frankfurt am Main since autumn of 2017. As part of his studies, he developed the productions “Anatol” by Arthur Schnitzler, as well as “Leonce and Lena” by Georg Büchner, among others.
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Education
I was born in Waldkirch near Freiburg in 1987. In 2012, I completed my studies at the Institute for Theatre Pedagogy in Lingen (Ems) and then worked in a research project on “Speech Therapy and Theatre Pedagogy” at the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences. From 2013 to 2015 I studied at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen/Nuremberg in the Master's programme Theatre Pedagogy.
Elsewhere
Between my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, I gave theatre pedagogy seminars in the speech therapy degree programme at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences. During this time I gained freelance work experience in theatre projects with vocational school students from Münster, as an assistant director at Theater Pfütze in Nuremberg, in experiential and circus education and language support projects for children (Theater Sprach-Camp / Oberhausen, DeutschSommer / Frankfurt).
JES! And me
I have been working as a theatre pedagogue at JES since the 2015/2016 season. I am particularly interested in early childhood cultural education, the participation of children and young people in and around JES and the encounters of people from diverse walks of life. For some years now, I have been the contact person for the Kita-Abo project, which offers language support for pre-school children. In the 2022/23 season, I am responsible for “Die JESPhilosophinnen” and lead the inclusive play club “Die Träumerinnen”.
CONTACT
Silke.wilhelm@jes-stuttgart.de
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Ritter ohne Furcht und Adel (UA)
Hier ist noch alles möglich (Everything is still possible here)
Anne Wittmiß works as a freelance director and theatre pedagogue.
As an assistant director at Junges Ensemble Stuttgart from 2015 to 2018, she accompanied productions by Hannah Biedermann, Nurkan Erpulat, Brigitte Dethier, Kristo Šagor and Grete Pagan, among others. During this time, she also created her first production NINA UND PAUL, which was shown at the Baden-Württembergische Theatertage in 2019. After her time as an assistant, she realised, among others, the multilingual and language-philosophical play DIE BESTE GESCHICHTE – EN IYI HIKÂYE at the Junges Ensemble Stuttgart, the free production MEER LÖFFEL! for children aged 6 months and older, as well as WUTSCHWEIGER at Theater Baden-Baden.
Because of her teaching degree and her traineeship in theatre contexts, Anne Wittmiß is always seeking contact with the audience, mediates between art and spectators and creates participatory approaches to theatre. She was employed as a theatre pedagogue at the Mecklenburg State Theatre from 2018 to 2020, where she most recently staged MÄDCHEN WIE DIE with the Theatre Youth Club and developed a live radio play project with pupils with visual impairments.
www.annewittmiss.de
wirkt mit bei
Die beste Geschichte (The best story) — En iyi hikâye (Premiere)
Education
I was born in Dresden in 1998 completed my voluntary service at Landesbühnen Sachsen in theatre education after my Abitur. I then studied for a Bachelor’s degree in Cultural Studies and Aesthetic Practice at the University of Hildesheim, majoring in theatre, and spent a year studying at the Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático drama school in Málaga (Spain).
Elsewhere
During my school and university years I discovered my love for being on and behind the stage, led several theatre clubs and workshops, and assisted in various theatre and dance projects, e.g. at Staatsschauspiel Dresden, Staatstheater Braunschweig and Compagnie Fredeweß in Hanover. I also developed my own dance performances and gave classes in ballet basics, contemporary dance and dance improvisation.
JES! And ME
In the 2022/23 season I will start at JES as a theatre and dance teacher. Among other things, I am part of the Kita language development project and lead the multigenerational dance workshop “Tell Me Your Story – Without Actually Telling Me Your Story” in the autumn holidays, as well as the weekly play club “Das gehört sich so (nicht)!”.
CONTACT
nathaly.wuttke@jes-stuttgart.de
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