LAKE Studios Berlin is an artist-run dance center — here is an overview of the team:

MARCELA GIESCHE

Marcela Giesche (1983 – Mainz, Germany): Marcela graduated in 2006 with a BFA in Dance from Ohio State University and Codarts, Rotterdam. She has since been a freelance dancer and choreographer working with diverse dance companies and directors across Europe such as Neuer Tanz (VA Wölfl), Thomas Ostermeier, and Deja Donne, amongst others. Some of her own work includes “Sacre” (premiered at HAU, Berlin), “left I – right I” (w. Sonya Levin), “Selfportrait 24”, and “exFolia” (w. Andy Moor/Yannis Kyriakides). She continues her research of movement and choreographic forms through her creation, performance, and teaching practices in Berlin and internationally. She also founded and is the artistic director of the dance research and residency venue LAKE Studios Berlin, where she has collaborated with Marlon Barrios Solano and Mark Coniglio to facilitate a dance-technology residency program. 

Mark Grunow

Mark’s work moves between graphic, interior and product design. Simplicity and reduced function define his projects, underlined by craftsmanship, methodology and a pure aesthetic. His carpentry ‘Gesellenstück’ with folded paper structures, was honored with ‘Die Gute Form’ at the federal level in 2015. In 2018 he graduated from the Akademie für Gestaltung Münster where two works were nominated for DesignTalente NRW.  Mark is a 2020 German Design Award Nominee. At LAKE, Mark designs and builds functional and aesthetic working, living and performance spaces, and creates images, concepts and interiors, as well as stage sets and props.   

MARIA KOUSI

Maria studied Greek Philology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Modern Greek Literature & Culture (MFA) at Freie Universität Berlin. From 2012-2020 she was active in theater-acting workshops (with Michael Sionas, Simos Kakalas, Dimitris Kataleifos etc) and theatre movement research (with Maria Pisiou, Vicky Angelidou). In Greece, she has worked as a teacher, entertainer for kids and was part of many theatre groups. Maria was founding member of the theatre team Judith that ran an artistic space in the center of Thessaloniki (2016-2019). Since 2020, she is a member of LAKE Studios Berlin, providing studio & production support.

OLGA RAMIREZ OFERIL

Olga is a dancer/performer and production manager/financial supervisor. She studied Classical Philology in Barcelona and worked as a high school teacher before turning to dance full-time. As a dancer, she has performed on stage with Grupo Oito, with the solo “Federlicht” by Caroline Alves and with “fragil” by Clébio Oliveira/Theater o.N., among others. Since moving to Berlin in 2011, she has worked at various dance and theater festivals and since 2015 as an ensemble member and in the production department at Theater o. N. Since 2014 she has completed extensive further training in cultural management and financial processing and has supervised projects by artists such as Grupo Oito, Katharina Kummer, Claudia Hill, Jared Gradinger, inback company, and others. She has been working with LAKE Studios in this area since 2019.  

JESSY TUDDENHAM

Jessy is a dancer, writer and performer with over twenty years’ experience performing in Europe and the Americas. She is the host of Landscaping, a recurring broadcast of contemplative fiction, on Cashmere Radio Berlin. She also performs regularly – and forces people to dance, awkwardly –  in her solo series, ‘Standing Up’. In 2020, Jessy was awarded a 2 month long LAKE Reconnect Residency where she developed a solo work for stage and radio. In 2022 she returned as an ON DISPLAY Resident. Since 2021, Jessy provides production support and editorial strategy for LAKE Studios Berlin. 

www.jessytuddenham.com