Artistic Director, PACT Zollverein Essen (D) Since 2002, artistic director and co-founder of PACT Zollverein, Essen, an advanced production center for the performing arts. PACT’s program consolidates international productions and events, focusing on contemporary dance and performance with a residency program and various exchange platforms and symposium formats which bring artists, academics and students from diverse artistic disciplines into dialogue with scientists, architects, philosophers and experts from fields of natural sciences and technology. He studied romance philology and history, trained as a boat builder and studied and obtained a diploma in dance in Cologne and Essen. He has worked internationally as a dancer, performer, director and choreographer and lecturer, worked with architects, urban planners, fine artists, composers in film productions, opera, and theater.