Rachel is joint Pedagogical Director of the DTAP and ADP programs and a regular facilitator on both programs. She has been teaching at arthaus since 2018.

Rachel is an award winning British performer, teacher, academic and director. After falling in love with third theatre and Odin Teatret at the age of eleven, Rachel embraced the potential and autonomy of devised performance. Her teachers include Frankie Armstrong, Marcello Magni, Venice Manley, Linda Wise & Enrique Pardo (Roy Hart Theatre), Philippe Gaulier, Kathryn Hunter and Roberta Carreri (Odin Teatret). She also trained with renowned Bulgarian singer Kalinka Vulcheva (soloist with Les Mysteres de Voix Bulgares).

Rachel is the co-founder (with her partner and long-term Blue Man, Kuba Pierzchalski) of Cosmino Productions and has a repertoire of original performances spanning three decades. Rachel has also performed alongside Kathryn Hunter in 'Yerma' at the Arcola Theatre, London and was an actor with internationally acclaimed Polish company, Teatr Biuro Podróży. Her PhD research into Shamanic dimensions within contemporary theatre practice saw her collaborate on a series of workshops with 'Way of Wyrd' and 'Way of the Actor' author, Brian Bates. Rachel is also a trained Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Hypnotherapist which informs both her teaching and devising practice.

She is the founder of Beinthework (Berlin International Theatre Workshops) which has hosted work by internationally renowned theatre practitioners in Berlin since 2009. Rachel has always placed student experience at the very centre of her teaching, facilitating events such as the student led Open Wide International Theatre Festival and the Weekend Workshop Programme both held at Bretton Hall, University of Leeds. Rachel has directed for Greenwich Theatre, East 15 Acting School, Northampton and Leeds Universities and was director in residence for Salzburg Landestheater, Austria. Rachel has held posts at Manchester Metropolitan and Leeds Universities, Rose Bruford College and was External Examiner on the Physical Theatre & Acting BA at East 15 Acting School, UK.

Rachel is relieved that after so many years of making and teaching theatre, it is still the greatest thrill imaginable.

www.cosmino.org www.heartburnwomen.com underthestarryafghansky.com

Kelley is joint Pedagogical Director of the DTAP and ADP programs as well as Head of Admissions. She is a facilitator on both programs and has been teaching at LISPA/arthaus since 2005.

She is a facilitator, performer, art-maker and collaborator, interested in cross-disciplinary and multi-modal approaches.

As an actor she has performed with a number of US-based theatre companies, devising experimental work, whilst working professionally as an arts-in-education activist. She has an MFA in Actor Created Physical Theatre from Naropa University (USA), completed in partnership with LISPA, and a Certificate of Advanced Post Graduate Studies (Expressive Arts in Education) from the European Graduate School (Switzerland). She has taught with the LISPA/arthaus team since 2005. Kelley is also a visual artist, working primarily in acrylic, ink and watercolour. She has a deep interest in the development of sustainable creative practice, and the act of 'making' as a way of shaping the self and the world.

Valentina is Director of Movement Studies on the DTAP and ADP programs.

She is a freelance dancer, choreographer and certified Alexander Technique teacher and is the founder of UNFOLD method which forms the movement foundation in both full-time programs at arthaus. In 2019 she began training UNFOLD teachers.

She graduated in dance from the Folkwang University in Essen, Germany, at that time under the direction of Pina Bausch. With over 20 years of experience as a dancer and movement teacher, Valentina has been actively researching the integration of mechanics and poetry of the body. Her work has a strong focus on the body support system, spatial and energetic awareness, intense physicality and utmost sensitivity. Further pedagogical activity includes the University Centre for Dance HZT Berlin, Acting Department at the University of the Arts Berlin (UDK) and Hochschule für Schauspielkunst “Ernst Busch”. She also provides training to companies such as Sasha Waltz & Guest and Colette Sadler.

Valentina has been creating works since an early age individually or collectively with dancers, theatre directors and video artists such as: Familie Flöz, Uli M. Schüppel and Julie Beauvais, among others.

www.unfoldmethod.com

Maria Eugenia teaches on the DTAP and ADP programs.

María's journey to theatre began to manifest at the age of 22 when she worked as hospital clown in Buenos Aires. This early spark led her deeper into clown technique and thus deeper into theatre itself. She studied clown with different teachers such as Julia Muzio, Jorge Costa, Gabriel Paez and Lucia Snitcofsky and studied for two years at the EMAD: Metropolitan School of Dramatic Arts (Buenos Aires) specializing herself in “Acting for Open Spaces”.

Inspired by meeting mask-maker Alfredo Iriarte, Maria began her research into the different masks and techniques of mask making, and the pedagogies by Marcelo Savignone and Lecoq. For nearly two years she lived in Bali, carving masks in wood and eventually forming part of a collaboration with her teacher, mentor and friend, I Made Sudirga, entering into the Balinese beliefs and conceptions of the world, and reshaping herself as person and artist. When she returned to Argentina, she created workshops, which brought together Balinese masks and conceptions with occidental theatre.

In summer 2019 she completed the two-year postgraduate training at arthaus.berlin in performing arts, devising theatre, and embodied dramaturgy, following this with additional credits in 2022 to gain the MA Devised Theatre and Performance.

www.mariaeugeniablanco.com

Jelle teaches on the DTAP and ADP programs at arthaus.

Originally from Belgium, Jelle is a performer, director choreographer and teacher. Jelle studied Social and Cultural Work, after which he headed to the 'Fontys Academie voor Theater Tilburg, where he trained in directing and theater education. He has a BA in Theater from Fontys Hogeschool voor de Kunsten (The Netherlands) and an MA in Devised Theatre and Performance from the Rose-Bruford College in London and arthaus.berlin.

Over the years, he has taught a wide range of classes, covering subjects such as acting, expressive skills, public speaking, voice work, movement analyses and dramaturgy. In his own creations and performances, he explores the authenticity of his surroundings and natural human behaviour, offering up a poetic mirror to society.


www.jelledewit.com

Patrick teaches on the DTAP and ADP programs as well as being Administrative Manager at arthaus.

He is a multi-instrumentalist with over 30 years of experience both performing and writing in many different styles of music. He has a Masters degree in Jazz Performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and sang for seven years with the London Vocal Project, performing with them at London's best jazz clubs as well as at the Royal Festival Hall and the Barbican.

Since 2008 Patrick has been encouraging and assisting theatre students at arthaus.berlin / LISPA to playfully explore and expand the musical possibilities available to them, individually and in the group, through mindful listening, rhythm games and improvisation. Recently he graduated as a certified teacher of the UNFOLD Method of movement and awareness. He also composes electronic and acoustic music, with a particular interest in the layering of patterns, additive and subtractive process music, free improvisation and instant composition.

www.patricksoul.com

Paul teaches on the DTAP and ADP programs.

He is a director, performer, and generative artist based in Berlin. His artistic work is informed by a fusion of international influences and an ongoing performance-based inquiry into the mysterious nature of life, death, and human interdependence.

Paul earned his MFA in theater directing as a Fulbright program grantee at the Lithuanian Music and Theatre Academy under the mentorship of Jonas Vaitkus. He has collaborated with various theaters in the United States and Europe, including the National Drama Theatre of Lithuania, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theater (Seattle), On the Boards (Seattle), and La MaMa E.T.C. (NYC). He has performed in productions that have appeared at the Munich Biennale, the Wien Festwochen, and the Under the Radar Festival.

As an educator, Paul's pedagogical work focuses on clarity, specificity, intuition, and courage. He has taught for over 20 years, with a particular focus on Meyerhold's Biomechanics technique, alongside courses in scene study, devised theater, and interdisciplinary art. During this time, he has been fortunate to work with students at the Lithuanian Music and Theater Academy, the Iceland Academy of the Arts, Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle), and Freehold Studio Lab Theatre (Seattle).

Paul's most recent performance work, an original solo performance titled “I Love That For You”, premiered in Berlin in the fall of 2023 and is set for upcoming performances in the U.S. this winter.


www.paulbudraitis.com

Elif teaches on the DTAP and ADP programs.

She was born in Istanbul and raised in Vienna, graduated in theatre, film and media studies at the University of Vienna in 2011. From 2011-2013 she completed her post-graduate studies in Advanced Devised Theatre and Performance at the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA). She also holds an MA degree in Dramaturgy and Theatre Criticism from the Istanbul State University. After moving to Istanbul, she was involved in the founding of the first Physical Theatre and Comedy School in Istanbul, taught at the Istanbul University State Conservatory, worked as an actress in various productions (such as Almancī/Doyçlender by Emre Akal, directed by Aslī Kīşlal) and adapted the novel Gizli Emir by Melih Cevdet Anday for the stage, which she also directed.

Since 2019 she has lived in Berlin and worked as an assistant dramaturg and dramaturg at the Volksbühne Berlin for two seasons until 2021. There she was also part of the artistic directions department and had the opportunity to work with directors such as Susanne Kennedy, Claudia Bauer, Lucia Bihler and Pīnar Karabulut.

Since summer 2021 she has been working as a freelance dramaturg, movement director and physical theatre facilitator. At her last production "Les Pas Perdus/ Kayīp Adīmlar" by Denise Bonal she was responsible for the dramaturgy, movement direction and adaptation for a Turkish audience. The play directed by Zeynep Özden premiered at Alan Kadīköy in Istanbul in November 2023 and was a permanent part of the programme. Elif has an ongoing artistic collaboration with Zeynep Özden and they have been granted a residency in Istanbul by Tarabya Cultural Academy and the Alliance Foundation for 2024/2025.