1961 - 1982

I was born in Switzerland. I grew up in a small town near Zürich, and rather early in my life, after graduating from Commercial School, decided to migrate to Australia. Hunger for life outside of the secure, regulated, and predictable life in Switzerland gave me inspiration to travel from Europe to Australia – it took me over a year. A story I am happy to share when I meet you.

Being exposed to other cultures, spoken and body languages, colors, fragrances, values, ethics, and lifestyles, was overwhelming at first, and required practicing an openness and resilience at the same time.

1982 – 2000

After my arrival in Australia, I continued living an unconventional life, traveling around the continent with my small daughter, deeply experiencing motherhood in an extraordinary landscape with abundant space, fauna and flora. The exploration and excitement of the new and unfamiliar enriched the tapestry of my life tremendously. Soon I felt at home, using familiarity to understand unfamiliar aspects of being a migrant.

With two small children, I settled in the tropical bush in North Queensland, enjoying my growing family, loving nature, acquiring practical skills, and continuing to live very simply while discovering a new physicality to cope with the lifestyle. As the children grew, so grew my curiosity in artistic expression, trying different art forms, and working as an event concept designer.

…then I met the dance!

2000 – 2010

The more I moved, the more I discovered about myself. I realized that my body is the only instrument I will use my entire life.

I dabbled in different movement practices, expanding the breadth of my dance journey. I practiced Acro-Balancing, Pilates, Silks, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, and Jazz Dance (yes, those were the days), but felt increasingly drawn to Dance and Movement Therapy (DMT) as it encompasses a few of my passions (somatics, dance, therapy, creative arts expression, and nature). In 2005, I completed my DMT training with IDTIA in Melbourne, Australia, supported and guided by Mary Builth.

…then I got to know some dance!

In 2005, I ran away with the circus working with fabrics and costumes, but was so intrigued by dance and movement, that I continued exploring dance in every European city I traveled to.

2010 – Present

In 2010, I had an accident while hiking in the Swiss mountains and had to have surgery on my knee having torn ligaments and menisci. For over a year, I could not walk normally, not to mention running, squatting, swivelling, spinning, or jumping.

…then I committed to the relationship with dance!

As a part of my rehabilitation, I started with Contact Improvisation and Improvisation – as you do – and it marked the beginning of my dance journey. To develop my ability to move again became incomparable to any materialistic pleasure. Three years after my accident, I started to study New Dance, Improvisation, and Performance at TIP in Germany and completely committed myself to professionally researching the infinite possibilities of dance, movement, and embodiment.

The last ten years involved extensive travels between Australia and Europe, slowly dissolving and replacing my sense of being at home in one particular location, with a constant longing instead.

Spending more time in Europe enabled me to satisfy my hunger to learn more about movement and dance, meeting the world of improvisation, and teaching me tools to enquire the relationship between inner and outer space. I have been fortunate to embrace further studies with various practitioners such as Julyen Hamilton, Andrew Morrish, Michael Schumacher, Rosalind Crisp, Lilo Stahl, Bernd Ka, Maya Carroll and many more.

To further my skills in understanding the body, movement and dance, and my interest in the inherent healing potentials of the language the body can offer, especially in regards to limitations, be it through an accident, disability or aging, brought me to learn from, work, and collaborate with practitioners and companies such as Edivaldo Ernesto, Louise LeCavalier, Tomislav English, Josef Frucek (mentorship in Fighting Monkey), Green Candle Dance Company, Olive Bieringa, Chris Lechner, Lucy Bennett, Bruno Caverna, Caroline Bowditch and many, many more.

Over the last few years I have been creating solo performances, I have danced in performances of other wonderful artists, and I have collaborated with and created performances for mature dancers. As a dance therapist, I have worked in respite centres, with individuals and ran group classes both in Europe and Australia.

Despite all the training (maybe because of it), my research continues, bringing forth more questions. To conclude this chapter and referring back to my accident, I would like to quote Nassim Nicholas Taleb on Anti-fragile: “Some things benefit from shocks, they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty. Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness; antifragile gets better. Wind extinguishes a candle and energizes fire.”