First question…. 

Have you ever won a contest?

I haven’t really won a contest, but I’ve been to the final at the European Vision Contest for dance that used to exist.
And it was at the time in Stockholm, I was, I believe, 19 years old. And yeah, it was already a big honor to be in the finale, and it was a life transmission. So, my parents
and everybody here, the whole ballet school and dancers in the company could
see it. So, I was very exciting this moment to be on stage and dance live on TV
and knowing that this was transmitted live in Europe. So that was probably the
biggest event in terms of competition.

What was your first paid job?

My first job was my first engagement at the opera house in
Berlin, and I was 17 years old. I was not in full employment yet. It was an
apprenticeship. But for me, it was already a good amount of money, and I was
happy to get experience, especially on such an old and known opera house. So, it
was an honor to be there.

Now then that must be more or less the same moment when you

felt the energy of an applauding audience for the first time. What and how did you feel?

I think it was a lot before because as a little child or
well, when I was ten and eleven years old, I had already the chance because of
the professional ballet education that I enjoyed to be on stage at the State
Opera House here in Berlin. So as a little kid and a little mouse in the
Nutcracker, which is like the traditional ballet where children start to
experience being on stage. So that was amazing. And especially with all these
amazing dancers being on stage with all these fantastic soloists at the time. So,
it was just unbelievable to be tiny and then being on stage and your parents
watch, what an honor. Okay. Yeah, I think that was my first experience.

And then how does it differ to today? Because maybe now you will have a different perception when it comes to energy of applauding and appreciation.

I think now after so many years being on stage and having
gone through ups and downs, I think now it’s more about how I feel about the
performance. Sometimes there is applause, but then I don’t agree. You’re very self-critical as a professional dancer. 

Sometimes you should be, and you have to be to a
certain extent. But now it’s more if I agree, then I enjoy it. But if I don’t
agree, then there’s always this thing in the back of my mind where I think I
could have done a lot more. I could have been a lot better, or I wasn’t really
in it. That’s also something then we’re not really feeling the role. So there’s
a good day and a bad day, but it’s different, of course, than before. Before,
it was just pure joy and being there and big eyes and smile.

Do you know that immediately when you could have done better, or is it just when maybe you calm down, you lie in bed and then you go like . . . .

No, I know it right away.

But then what you do for self improvement for the next time, how do you push yourself?

I think it depends on what it is. But if it’s a technical issue, then I just need to work on this technical aspect, because dance, that is the difficulty in dance in this art form. That is very technical influence, that you must have the control of your body, not just your mind, but also your body. And I think that makes it very hard. And so if it’s a technical issue, then I just have to work on this movement pattern or the technique. But if it’s more of an emotional, let’s say, aspect, then there are other exercises or other ways to get into the role. 

Is there a ritual you do before the curtain opens?

I always was quite afraid of failure. I guess, that’s part
of every artist who goes on stage. But for some it’s more and for some it’s
less for me to build a bridge, to not let this fear hinder me. To do a good
performance, I start to find just ways to tell me, okay, let’s say this is my
last day on stage. What would I do? Or if this was my last day? So, if this was
the last show I ever did, would I be afraid to do it, or would I give
everything just give my best and my best last. That was always something that
worked for me. And usually when I stepped on stage, this fear was gone. It was
just quite before I was like the heart started to beat. Yeah, it was maybe a
normal fear, I guess. Not a fear of not sweating fear, but certainly that
you’re afraid it’s going to go today kind of mindful also to put yourself in
that situation.

So now tell us then, how important is it to meet your
personal goals within your artistic being?

I think, of course, personal goals. Every artist has them
and wants to reach them. I think I’ve learned that you can’t reach everything
that you like. Yes. If you say, I’d like to be a principal dancer at the Paris
Opera, some things are just not reachable. Maybe you can go for it. You can
strive for that. I think I would recommend everybody to go for your goals and
strive for what you want to achieve. But in the end, I think more important is
that you make yourself happy with what you do and that you enjoy what you do,
because then if you do enjoy it, I think also something will come out that is
authentic and that is actually then becoming art.

So, it’s not just about to look for fame or rank or a 
position, but rather to look into yourself as well and to be your authentic
self, to use your potential to the fullest. And then I think that should make
you yes, that should be really what makes you happy, to use your potential.

What is art to you?

Yeah, this is a good question because sometimes I’m asking
this myself, but I think in dance or in this specific artform “Ballet” the problem
in ballet is often that it starts very much with technique, with athletic
movement. That’s what you learn, and that’s what you strive for, jumping,
turning, all the men they jump, they turn and the woman on point, high legs
etc. But in the end, for me, this is not art yet any athlete does that. They do
their physical best. I think the combination of this aspect and then also your
inner authentic emotions that you bring to the role or to the piece or to the
steps that the choreographer gives you in dysfunction as a dancer.

Because usually a dancer doesn’t necessarily create the
steps themselves, but in that framework of the steps in that structure, how do
you phrase, for instance, a step you can make an arm like this. You can make it
like this. You can, I don’t know, have a little shift. That is your
responsibility as an artist to the movement quality, but also your emotional
availability within this structure. And I think then it becomes for me, art.

Now there are many other ways and many other art forms where
you could have different combinations or different ways of explaining what is
art for you, but that is it for me. And that is missing in dance often
nowadays, especially in ballet, there’s a lot of dancers which are very
athletic, but there is missing this emotional connection with the movement and
with the technique.

What should a dancer do to get to these emotions when they have that lack?

I think in my opinion, every dancer should at least once in
their career and preferably early on make an acting course or participate in an
acting course and work on how to approach a role, emotional availability during
exercises for that, because it is true that the technique is so overwhelming
sometimes that you have nothing left in your brain, no brain capacity left to
do something else. If you don’t rehearse that before, then it might be
difficult to do that on stage in a moment where it is stressful already.

How does dance differ to the art of acting?

I think that’s exactly what it is. It is very hard and
there’s a lot of technique in acting, for sure. So, it’s a pipe dream if you
think that an actor can just take it out of the pocket and act. This is not
true. And I was surprised that there’s so much technique involved. But I think
the difference is really this combination in a dancer that they still have to
have this physical control, which is a lot harder to achieve, I think for an
actor… because an actor kind of is trying to reproduce what we normally do in
life, maybe in certain extreme situations. Okay. But it is something
emotionally, what you’ve gone through already as a kid, you have gone through
the emotion of anger, fear, laughter, happiness, all of that. We always want to
relate to something. Right. And as a dancer, especially in ballet, but also
contemporary dance, it’s very sometimes unnatural.

What you have to do, you have to bring your body into shapes
that are not naturally to you, not the pedestrian on the street would never get
the idea to turn out the legs like this, put the legs up here, whatever. And
then on top of things, you need to act, or you need to be a personality or you
need to be a character on stage in addition to that. So, I think for me,
there’s an addition on top of that.

Well, talking about the character, is there like a dance or
role or character that you missed out playing?

Yeah, I have actually. And I’m sad about it because also it
won’t happen anymore since I’m past that age. But there’s a role called Onegin it’s
from this novel, Onegin, and I really love that character. I think I really fit
into this character very well. I think I could do it. I could dance it and play
it well. But it was always either I just left the company when they got this
piece, the production, or I came too late, and it was already finished. So,
yeah, what can I do? But yeah, it’s something that I always think I could have
done as well.

Circling back a little bit, according to your opinion, what
does it take to be a professional dancer? There are maybe lots of especially the younger folks. They are dancing as a hobby, and then they want to take
that step. What does it take to be a professional dancer?

The motivation and the willpower to have the grid to really
go for your goals. And there’s always a bit of luck involved as well. But I will
say never mind if somebody tells you want to be a professional or you cannot
make it, I think if you really want to make it, you can go at least to a
certain point, you can make it. Maybe not to that point. Where you want to go,
but to a certain point, you can make it. I believe if you really want something
badly, then you can come at least close to your goals. Okay. For me, even when
I was a little kid, when I waited at the bus station, I still rehearsed some
jumps at the bus station. When I lived in New York, I saw people in the subway
training their steps. This is the energy you need. You need to really go 24
hours. It’s not just 1 hour a day. It’s a lifestyle, it’s not a job.

How do you rest and what do you do for self care?

Yeah, it’s a good question. And that’s underrated as well.
In dance, I think, of course, it also takes a professional environment to be
able to do that because otherwise it costs a lot of money to go to
physiotherapy and massage or whatever. So, if you’re in a professional
environment already, it’s easier because mostly then there is this on board in
the companies, they have a physical therapist or a massage therapist. But in
general, if I don’t have this and for a while in New York, I didn’t have this
because I was studying there. I would just self-massage my legs and take a lot
of baths. But also for my mind, I started to meditate. That was only later,
like since maybe ten years and do yoga and start to find ways to also destress
and decompensate.

But I think for dancers, this is more and more important
because it is a very stressful profession. And I think a lot of dancers would
benefit from doing that meditation or even Tai Chi or something that kind of
calms their mind down.

Also, maybe to activate some muscle groups that you normally don’t.

Yeah. Okay. This I forgot is true that to use Gyrotonic and
Pilates, which is a way of working different ways, different muscle groups and
go to the gym, swimming is great for your back. So, yeah, I think intuitively
you feel a little bit what you need, but I think to sit on the couch at home is
not the best relaxation that you can do.

Who were the three most influential persons in your life?

That’s a good question. It’s hard to say. But of course,
teachers, always, they have a strong influence on you. I would say first,

1.      
my grandmother, I really had a wonderful
relationship to her. And I don’t know, just this kindness and this empathy that
she had influenced me.

2.      
I think then teachers at the school, I wouldn’t
say there was one particular. Well, there was one really very strict one. He
was extremely strict. But I think one thing that stuck with me was that he
said, I’m pushing you so hard because I want you to have a good life. And I
realized, okay, it’s not just he is mean, but he actually wants us to succeed.
Maybe he could have had a couple of different approaches in terms of Pedagogic
approach, but he definitely had an influence on me that you have to have this
grit.

3.      
And then there was a dancer that I really
admired in the State Opera House, and he had this unbelievable continuity of
work that he was always good. Even if he had a bad show, it was still very
good. And that was, for me, also an example to see that this is also a big part
of this profession, to continuously be on top of things, to not drop the ball.
It was an example for me to see, okay, this is how you have to work to succeed,
not just to be a one day shining star and then you are ….

Which role did you enjoy most?

I think there were two. I’ve had to decide between they were
actually very classical roles, even though I danced a lot of other contemporary
things, which I loved as well. But they were so outstanding and hard that they
stuck with me.

1.      
So, it was this Sleeping Beauty in the
choreography from Rudolph Nuriev, which was a very famous dancer of this time.

2.      
And then I danced The Prince or the main part in
Swan Lake, also here at the opera house.

So, I think these two roles were for me the most, I guess
also because the music from Tchaikovsky is so beautiful, and it was just
unbelievable to do these two roles and to try to find also an interpretation of
these roles that is maybe a little bit different than from other dancers.

Did you ever put on some ridiculous costumes where you felt
like really uncomfortable?

Oh, yeah. You have a top three of them? Well, one was with
Ballet de Monte Carlo. They had a piece actually, also it’s called La Belle,
which is the French version of Sleeping Beauty at that company. And there I had
to be the King, but with a really weird costume that was like, I don’t know, I
was like fat. So it was really ridiculous but fun at the same time. I think I
just enjoyed being in this ridiculous costume. And the second one, yeah, there
was like, I think a Wolf or something. We had a mask like this. We were like,
really? So that was fun as well. Well, I think the third one was just like a
really odd color and a leotard, like full on leotard, and I think a really odd
color. And I felt like this looks so naked.

What was the biggest challenge you had with a specific role? Maybe you couldn’t identify yourself really something like that?

Yeah, I guess with all the rules, because the thing is I had
the feeling what was lacking a little bit in my coaching often was that there
was not much support in terms of what the role should be. There was a lot of
support about technique, but not really so much about interpretation. So, this
is something that you have to come up with yourself. And it happens a lot with
dancers that the choreographer and the ballet Masters, they believe, yes, he
should find this out himself, but oftentimes there is no time or so that’s why
it is a work that you have to often do yourself.

And so, for instance, with Swan Lake or with Sleeping
Beauty, there was a moment, I think, that was in Sleeping Beauty. There’s a seven-minute-long variation which is like long as hell for a dancer to be alone on stage and to jump, to turn, to balance. I mean, in the end, your calves, you don’t feel your
legs anymore. There it was just like, what can I do to not think about my legs
so much and to really actually be in the role. 

And there was actually a very
helpful advice from my director at the time here in Berlin, Mikhail is his
name. And he said, when you turn around, you’re very tired. But when you turn
around to the audience, when you face the audience again, imagine there’s a big
camera just zooming into your eyes on a big screen.. So my eyes were raiding. I
looked far. I had this feeling of looking where my future is. This character is
looking for his future in this variation, basically.

And on his solo, you can also call it a solo. And that took
me completely away from the technical aspect and from the knowledge that I have
to do it again because it’s kind of the second beginning and you start again,
and you actually just want to go off stage. That’s how tired you are. But, yes,
that was basically, for me, an interesting moment where I realized that with
other aspects and other thought processes, you can just make it easier.

Did you ever experience, like, missing passion, you know, when you have such a long career, you must have want to give up sometimes?

Yeah, I had this actually several times. And that was mostly
when I was not happy with where I was or what I danced. And maybe I felt a
little bit undervalued as well. That makes it very difficult and to keep the
passion and to keep the motivation. And I think in that time, you have to
change something to make it happen again. That’s why I oftentimes change
companies to kind of get a new input, new ideas, maybe new environment as well.

When I went to Australia, for instance, that was not because
the company was so amazing at the time, but I love the director. He was a great
teacher. And then just to be in this environment in a completely different
country with flora and fauna look so different that you feel like you’re in a
movie. So that was really very inspiring for me. And I had some amazing years.
I don’t know, it started to really inspire me, and I was very motivated to give
my best there.

Do you have, like some advice for the next generation? Maybe there’s something that they could have done before? Because I have the feeling sometimes, well, we all do. 

I think the dancers as well. But you just get used
too much to your environment and then you start to just repeat everything and
you got a little bit stuck.

Yeah. I think, stay curious and believe in yourself. Perseverance,
to not forget what your actual goals were and are. I think if you get
comfortable, that’s usually not the best sign. And priorities, are of course,
changing during your career. So, if you’re a parent and you have kids, then, of
course, maybe the kids or your Parenthood becomes more important than your
career. And that is a priority. That is absolutely great to have this. If it’s
a conscious change, then I think it’s very good.

But I would say go for your goals. Use your potential to the
fullest. And that’s the only way really, to make yourself happy in this
profession because it has a lot of challenges, and you get injured and then
you’re down. I think if it’s not wrong to consider help, to go to a counselor,
to ask for help is important, I would definitely advise that.

Now you just mentioned also that you worked in so many different countries. How do they differ, like in terms of colleagues, payments, audience?

Yeah, they do differ. And sometimes it’s really a different
feeling to dance in one place than in another. Audiences are different. In some
cities or opera houses or countries, dance is much more appreciated than
somewhere else. For instance, in Australia, people are kind of very outdoorsy.
They like sports. They like Australian rules football and all of that. And so,
dance….  It’s rare that a man would go to a ballet show. Probably his girlfriend has to pull him in, but then they love it.That’s different.

And, if you’re in Zurich, in Switzerland, if you dance
there, you get a lot more money than if you dance somewhere in Zwickau or in
another company. So, yeah, there are lots of differences. That’s why I think
you should inform yourself and go there where conditions are good, where you
appreciate it as an artist, because that makes you also strive or create
something there where you are. And then to kind of make a wave, you know, set a
trend.

Do you have some favorite city or country where you like to
perform where you think like all of these aspects, they fit just well.

I mean, now I don’t really perform anymore so much. But when
I did, I actually really loved the touring, the traveling, and of course, in
Zurich when I was there, the audience is amazing. They love dance. It’s a very
cultured audience. Financially it’s amazing. So that is the place, which is an
amazing place. But also you have Paris. If you can perform at the Paris Opera,
that is a highlight. So, there are a couple of different places which is really
for dancers.

But I’m talking from my perspective, of course, from a
different perspective, people would say something completely different right
now.

Talking about fair pay in the industry. I think this is a

topic that needs to be tackled somehow because I hear that a lot, especially in the dance or in the performing world, we are kind of underpaid. In your
opinion, how much should a dancer earn?

Well, I was usually quite lucky to be always in a usually
very good contract. So, I cannot complain about this so much. But I see that a
lot of dancers, especially in smaller houses or smaller opera houses, let’s say
we talk about places like Zwickau where I worked as a ballet master the pay was
very low for the dancers and they were wonderful dancers. And so of course art
is a luxury, but it’s a luxury that we need as a society. So, it’s important to
value that in terms of financial value. And I don’t have the right solution
because of course a city or a country needs to tackle all these issues that
they have. But in general, I think the dancers are underpaid. If you compare
how short the career is, because it can be very short, how long they study.

If you want to be a professional, you usually have to start
with ten, at least that’s already late. So, with ten you have to start. So, you
have to put all your life into it. Maybe don’t really have a childhood in that
sense, what normal youngsters have. And so, if you consider this and then if
you see a soccer player, then it feels really like, oh my God, we work more
than these guys or at least as much. But it has to do with popularity, of
course.

I always find it mind baffling, like for example, lawyers

are getting paid well. They studied for seven years or eight years, doctors eight to ten years. The same what every dancer is doing, right.  And it’s just a fraction.

Yes, this is true. I think we must find other ways. I think
because dancers are so young that they don’t stick together oftentimes, there
is lacking a bit of a Union feeling. In the US they have it a bit more. But I
think here it should be more developed that there is a Union, the rights the
dancers have, the payments they should have. I think this is also coming. I see
changes there already.

Then also the freelance scene must be also considered
because there are a lot of freelance artists around. They’re very good. But for
instance, what does a freelancer, when they’re injured, what do they do? So,
this is also a question where I ask myself, are they starving at the time?
Because when they’re injured, they cannot work, they cannot even go to the Jobcenter
because they’re not working, they cannot work, they’re not eligible to get this
money so, there are lots of things that have to be, I think considered and
changed.

What’s the most underrated job in the entire entertainment

industry?

I don’t know if it’s the most underrated job, but I think
the stage technicians, they have a really tough job and they have to be there
at all times before, in the morning before the rehearsal starts and in the
evening after the show until sometimes 01:00 or 02:00 and they have to lift
heavy stuff and all of that, I think it’s a really tough job to do and usually
they’re not really seen and nobody thinks about them, so I think that’s one of
the most underrated jobs in the entertainment industry worldwide because they
are needed everywhere if it’s a concert, if it’s opera, whatever, it’s a
musical, they’re always there, they need to be there and without them nothing
works.

Tell us about the moment in your specific case now when you first realize you want to become an actor.

I knew that already before I wanted to be a dancer, actually
when I was a kid, before I went to the ballet school, I saw a movie about, I
think it was Winnetou and I thought I want to do this. So I thought this is
something I want to do but then dance came because my mother thought it would
be a nice thing to be at the ballet school and so this kind of happened and
then I went into this and I enjoyed it because it combines both art forms in a
way, to a certain extent, but there was always something in the back of my mind
that I thought I really would like to do that.

Actually when I was in Australia, I was injured for a while
and then I started to really go into it and start to do courses, I went to take
classes and I did an audition there as well they have a fantastic acting school
in Sydney, so that was the first step into this direction.

Now, talking about your acting career, is there something
that you like playing the most, like drama, funny action?

I would love to play an agent or something or a police guy,
I think that would be something that I’d love to do. Because of my features, I
think because I have this thing, I think, yeah, I don’t know, I just would
enjoy that, and sometimes I find myself, like just doing it myself in my living
room or something, playing something, so I think I would enjoy that, but I
think I also would love to be more on stage as an actor, not just in front of
the camera, but maybe on stage. Because when we worked on certain roles in New
York at this acting education that I did there, I really enjoyed that as well.
And it kind of gave me the same kick as if I would be on stage as a dancer.
Feeling in my heart, I don’t know. Also, the focus the focus has to be so
strong that it’s like a meditation as a dancer as well as an actor, because
otherwise you lose the lines or you’re out of the character. So, it is a bit of
a meditation, I would say.

Is there like a specific movie where you would like to see yourself ?

No, I couldn’t really say anything now specific, but I think
something like this with a secret agent, something in this kind of even
something that’s connected to my history, maybe with GDR, with East Berlin,
something like that, that would be really cool because I could really take from
my story basically from my own experience. But I couldn’t really say now like
this. Maybe it’s not done yet.

I heard Daniel Craig is not going to be James Bond anymore.

Well, I mean, I wouldn’t mind if they call me. It’s
definitely time to have a new one.

Now talking about the dance master class that you are doing now at the Palucca School, do you want to run us through what is that exactly?

A master of the arts. I study, to be a dance teacher, but
really to have this pedagogic knowledge. So, it’s a pedagogic study and also
dance medicine is part of this study, which is still undervalued, and a lot of
teachers and coaches don’t have that knowledge. And I think it’s more and more
important to have this knowledge about dance medicine and about changing ways,
how to teach dance and ballet. Also, because ballet used to be taught mainly in
a very strict autocratic form, that there was the teacher and the little
student had to do whatever the teacher says and that was it. And you weren’t
allowed to ask questions and sometimes keys were flying if you didn’t
straighten your knees. So that’s how I experienced it.

But I think there are other ways that are much more humane
but also help you to be a professional dancer. And they open much more your
creative mind as well. They give more freedom, and they enable you to be more
autonomous in your work. And often this is a problem with answers that have
been taught autocratic, that when they are left alone in this professional
world, that they don’t know how to do things because there’s nobody with the
whip to bring them into shape, so they have to do it themselves, and then they
fall into this gap before they take themselves out again.

I think it’s an important thing that teachers and the
teachers of the future, that they start to really have a profound education,
and it shouldn’t be as it used to be, that just because you were a good dancer,
you must be a good teacher. That’s not true at all. Sometimes the dancer that
wasn’t very good has a lot of talent to be a great teacher.

What other subjects are there in the Palucca School?

Well, it’s very broad and very layered. What I like also
that we got taught things that I wouldn’t have thought that we will have. So,
for instance, improvisation, for a classical ballet teacher, it’s not really
that you will ever teach that, but it’s very good to have this idea that also
the teachers in this program or the future teachers, the participants, they
need to improvise. They need to go through all this motion, even with 45 or
whatever, you have to still move there and do contact improv and all these
kinds of things, which I never did in my life before, which is super
interesting for me also to finally do this.

So I danced all these things, but I didn’t have this
knowledge. It would have been great to have it before, but yeah, so it’s good
to have all these things. And like I said, dance medicine is very important.
This is something, this knowledge, anatomy, dance medicine, how to use your
feet, or what is all the connection from down to up. This is important.

And there’s music, notes, rhythm, working with pianists, all
of that. So, yeah, I think it’s quite layered and rich and interesting.

Now, circling back a little bit, talking about the dance
education that every student has to go through and taking like evolution of everything in mind. Is there something or are there subjects that actuall
should be added to the dance education?

Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think what I just said, dance
medicine should be already taught before. It shouldn’t be taught like when
you’re 40 and your dance career is over. It should be taught when you’re 12 or 13
to start already to get the students the knowledge. That’s why I shouldn’t
pronate or hyper pronate. I shouldn’t roll over with my foot because then my
meniscus suffers in ten years. So, this is something that I definitely would
take on board. There are also new ways of working on the side versus Pilates
that is kind of incorporated already.

There’s a workout that I enjoy very much. It’s called Gyrotonic
that’s I think for dancers very valuable because there’s a lot of spiraling,
which is in dance very important. I think there should be more emphasis on
musicality that it used to be that in Russia, every dance student had to play the
piano. So that is kind of lost, here in Germany at least. That could be
something interesting if the time is there. I mean, it’s also always a bit of
time. Or to have at least once in a while a workshop and playing an instrument,
to do that. And I think another thing that I would take on board in
professional education is, for instance, to have a school counselor or someone
students can go to and talk about their problems because it is a tough education,
and it is a tough job afterall.

So I already get used to this as a student that this is okay
to ask for help and to get the help. I think that is still underrated and not
enough done.

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

I think Perseverance, to stick to what you set out for, to
believe in yourself, even though it might be hard, because there will be better
times if you’re in a hole that you must dig yourself out, but to believe in
yourself. I think Perseverance, that is the best advice in this profession
because there will be moments where you will want to give up or where you don’t
see the light at the end of the tunnel. And I promise you there is one.

Your life as a performer. What are you happy for?

I’m happy for the luck that I had to be able to dance with
so many wonderful companies, to work with fantastic teachers. That is not
evident to have this. And oftentimes I had the choice even to go where I
wanted. I auditioned and I got the job. Nowadays maybe I wouldn’t have so much
luck anymore because the competition is fierce. Also, amongst men, with women,
it’s even harder, even though I feel like I could have done more. But I
appreciate that I had all these experiences, and some were hard as well because
I went to New York, I gave up everything and went for this dream of being an
actor.

And that was difficult because I had quite a status as a
dancer and I did this all my life. And to stop this and then to go there and be
a freelance dancer, it was a jump in the cold water. But I’m still grateful for
the people that I met there and even for the difficult times that I had,
because they made me what I am now. And now I can feel what other people maybe
feel, which I didn’t feel before because it was quite going well. It’s also
important to see how the person feels when it’s not going so well.

What are you doing now? Are you working on something? Are there any shows coming up?

Well, I mean, there is something a very new thing which I
haven’t told you yet. And this is just happened recently that I got a
professorship at the Folkwang University in Essen. Which is the biggest arts
University in Germany. And there I’m a professor for classical dance. That just
happened recently, even though this application is going for a year and a half
already. But I didn’t even think about it anymore, or at least I thought, no,
it’s not going to happen. So, this came through and now I just started there. I
just kind of settled in Essen. I’m now going here back and forth from Essen to
Berlin because my son lives here. And the great thing is they have quite a lot
of semester holidays, which is because it’s a University. So, I have still time
also to work on acting projects and do other things and work also as an artist
and not just as a teacher, but I appreciate both. Yeah, that’s the newest thing. 

That’s amazing. Now, one of our signatures closing questions is, if you have the chance to put anything you want on a giant Billboard, what would that be?

I would say, use your potential and believe in yourself.

Thank you very much Jens Weber.