Interview
Who are you and what do you do?
My older half-sister did ballet, so I wanted to be a ballerina and I was four when I started. I only remember the teacher screaming “Pas de Bourrée” and I didn’t want to go there anymore. I went to dance-theatre classes instead. The teacher was a clown and because I loved her a lot I decided to become a clown, too. I grew up in a very tiny village in Switzerland. In a village of eighty people the social pressure is very high. The teacher at school didn’t like me and the children bullied me. I went to 6 different schools. Meanwhile I played on open-air theatres..
When I was 14 I moved to a boarding school in Bern. There I found friends. We had a wild youth, squatting, demonstrating and talking about what we are going to change. I worked as a German teacher for refugees, doing fireshows in the streets and performing poems. I moved out of the boarding school and I lost the flat three months later hence “decided” to be homeless. But as it turned out, Switzerland is not a good place to not have a home, especially in winter.
And what did you do then?
So I went to France and I had an incredible time traveling. I was singing and dancing in the streets with street musicians I met. Then I came back because my father gave me a job as a director for a big theatrical-chorus project. Then I went to Morocco for a month. My first night was New Year and I went with friends to a gig they had in a city I didn't know. I had a fever but was too stoned to get it. This night I decided to live in a commune in the countryside. One day I remembered that I’m very privileged and I could just go and do study. I found the description of Folkwangs Physical Theatre course. I remember the sentence, that only highly selfmotivatet people can do it. That triggered me and I was afraid at the same time. Now I know there’s nothing that motivates me more.
Why do you do what you do?
Because I got impressed by performing artists. I love to get kidnapped to another world to get thoughts and emotions I never had before or just to be fascinated at physical skills.
When I decided to become a clown as a four years old, I had a second deep wish: To see the world out of stranger eyes. Playing different people is the best way to get there for me.
How do you work?
In teams, I need people thinking with me.
I have structures, storylines in my head which are very simple but a good base to improve it with more clever people.
In general terms I would say that I am definitely a goal oriented person. I like fast and clear decisions rather than endless deviations.
And last but not least:
I want to work with highly explosive content. Therefore it’s very important to always check: do we discriminate against anybody?