ABOUT ME
a lifelong
exploration
For more than two decades, my work has centred around one enduring question:
How do we become more fully ourselves?
That question has led me through literature, theatre, movement, teaching, performance and, ultimately, into the world of somatic bodywork & human resilience.
My own journey
I began my academic path studying German Literature, English and Linguistics, completing a Master's degree at the University of Freiburg. My research explored the relationship between creativity, human potential and the inner conflicts that can prevent us from expressing who we truly are.
This curiosity later brought me to London, where I studied Physical Theatre at the East 15 Acting School. There, I experienced firsthand how the body communicates long before words - and how movement, presence and embodied awareness can reveal aspects of ourselves that thinking alone cannot reach.
For many years, I worked as internationally renowned performer, and still as artistic director, teacher and mentor under my stage name, Marlene von Steenvag.
I founded the Berlin Burlesque Academy and the Berlin Burlesque Festival, guiding thousands of students and artists in discovering authentic expression, confidence and presence through movement.
Again and again, I witnessed how the way we move reflects the way we experience ourselves. Beneath posture, breath and expression often lived stories that had never been spoken.
Although the stage is the visible part of this journey, my deeper interest was never performance itself.
It was transformation.
I began my academic path studying German Literature, English and Linguistics, completing a Master's degree at the University of Freiburg.
This curiosity later brought me to London, where I studied Physical Theatre at the East 15 Acting School.
For many years, I worked as internationally renowned performer, and still as artistic director, teacher and mentor under my stage name, Marlene von Steenvag.
I founded the Berlin Burlesque Academy and the Berlin Burlesque Festival, guiding thousands of students and artists in discovering authentic expression, confidence and presence through movement.
My deeper interest was always transformation.
Today, *Healing in Grace* brings together these seemingly different worlds
The precision of theatre.
The intelligence of movement.
The sensitivity of touch.
The understanding of human stories.
And a deep respect for the wisdom each body already carries.