About Me - Bio & C.V

Bio

I have been involved in dance and drama since my early teens, I now create my own artistic work alongside being an active practitioner of Hip Hop culture. I currently live and work in Berlin as a freelance artist, my work varies from commercial performances to grass roots self-devised projects.

My work also includes teaching hip hop story telling projects for young people, using basic introductions to hip hop elements. Through basic poetry and dance the idea is to convey themes and issues that are relevant to whoever is participating in the act of expressing their story in a theatrical environment, this understanding of applied knowledge is gained in the projects that include rehearsals & a final performance. The work should gear people into the professionalism of performance & what it takes to gain a high level of respect in your chosen field. I wish to highlight through my teaching practice that hip hop doesn't just belong on the streets as much as traditional theatre practice belongs on a theatrical stage, that is to say the two may cross paths & are indeed inherently linked & needn't be mutually exclusive.
I travel with my crew Just4funk, they are a dance team from Devon in the south-west of England who compete and perform shows both nationally and internationally, some of my former students have now gone on to join us and work at a high level.
I also write my own poetry & plays and have given live readings of my work. I have written, devised and performed my own original works in the U.K and more recently here in Berlin with my new two man theatre company 'Gräy Matters'.
My relationship with other contributing art forms are enhanced and supported by my understanding and knowledge of hip hop culture, and can be blended, mixed and united along side a relationship of unified communications for live or static performance.

Education and Training

2004-2007

St.Mary’s College, University of Surrey, Twickenham

B.A. (2.1) Physical Theatre with Drama.

2002-2003

Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Leeds

Foundation Degree - Dance Performance.

1999-2002

Exeter College, Exeter

BTEC First Diploma in Performing Arts

BTEC National Diploma in Drama and A Level Dance.

Work Experience
2019

EVENTS ORGANISER AND HOST
I Have been working for English Books Berlin and Pequod Books organising events and readings. The work includes outreach community projects, event promotion, setting up and preparing that each event runs smoothly. I connect with the guest artists, introduce their work and run front of house dealing with audience and refreshments.

2018
ACTOR
I played the role of Duck (Puck) in a new work called 'MDMA' written by Sarah Milligan in collaboration with the Rosebrook Theatre Collective, performed Wedding, Berlin.
The piece was inspired by William Shakespeare's 'Romeo & Juliet' and set in modern-day England.

PERFORMER, DIRECTOR & WRITER
I have been working on a piece called 'Rats' which I wrote and the process has been ongoing with my theatre company 'Gräy Matters'.
I also play a role alongside Thomas (co-founder/performer) and an American actress Lauren Miller. We are due to perform the work in February at 'Pequod Books' in Berlin as part of a continuing bookshop theatre tour around the city.

TEACHER
Since the beginning of the year I have started a new acting class at 'The Center' here in Berlin. It is an outside schools session on Saturday's with bi-lingual children to help enhance and train their performance skills for acting on stage. I have introduced my own writing to them with a children's play called 'Castle Mystery' that they are rehearsing in order to be performed in the summer.
https://www.thecenter-berlin.de/

2017

TEACHER
I have been working for Berlin based teaching company 'Oskar Lernt English' using my skills in theatre and Hip Hop as a way of helping young people overcome confident hurdles with language and build new skills to open up their potential talents.
www.oskar-lernt-englisch.de

TEACHER

I have been working as a freelance teacher for the international language school 'Berlitz' as part of ongoing summer work at there English learning summer camps. Duties include testing and teaching children to improve their written, reading and speaking skills, as well as this I have been helping with general supervision, leading activities and running Hip Hop musical theatre lessons with an emphasis on performance using poetry and dance.

http://www.berlitz.com/

TEACHER
I was working as a freelance teacher for the Berlin based company InterACT, teaching children of many different ages in various schools around Germany and inside Berlin. I was using Hip Hop, dance and theatre as a way of helping them improve there English language skills.
http://interactenglish.de/en/teaching-artists/

2016

DANCER
Performed a solo break dance show in front of 9,000 live spectators at the Berlin Volleyball Championship's 2015/16. (On-going gig).

TEACHER

I was in Brandenburg the surrounding countryside of Berlin teaching an organisation called the Language Farm. This is an organisation that teaches children English in a creative way. I used Hip Hop story telling and my module was based on a kinaesthetic learning style of understanding the English language that allowed my students to perform and rehearse using dance and poetic techniques I had taught them. Through devising they then went on to use an historical and cultural context that was relevant and engaging, giving them a structure and context so they could perform a meaningful and important story.
http://www.languagefarm.net/

PERFORMER & WRITER
I founded the theatre company 'Gräy Matters' formed and consisting of myself and one other Berlin based actor. We performed our debut show 'Lost delivery' at a small bookshop venue in Neukölln, Berlin, called Pequod Books. This work was written, devised and performed by us alone.
We plan to create new film and theatre performances over the coming years.
https://www.facebook.com/drtgk/?fref=ts

2015

ACTOR
New web series launched called 'You Me We'. I played the satirical version of a wannabe reality T.V star prepared to do anything to get famous.
Please watch here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpoq07qr70s

PERFORMER

Worked as a guest speaker doing a stand up comedy show and a Hip Hop presentation at a local community event night called 'Hip Hop meets Poetry'.
https://www.facebook.com/PoetrymeetsHipHop/likes

DANCER/JUDGE
Swap break dance battle, an event held in Potsdam, Germany.
https://www.facebook.com/SwampOpenAir/

DANCER

Performed a solo dance show at 'Berliner Hoffest' (2015/16). An event to celebrate the cultural and artistic excellence of Berlin.
http://www.berlin-partner.de/hauptstadt-marketing/berlin-partner-veranstaltungen/berliner-hoffest/

PERFORMER/CREATOR
As a former member and founder of the theatre company THEATER GROUP BERLIN. We were a mixture of artists of various ages and different backgrounds blending new mediums, dance, visuals art, music etc. We used styles and ideas taken from all over as inspiration to create new work. Our self-devised production was called 'Under the Gun' and debuted in Berlin.
https://www.facebook.com/Theatregroupberlin/?fref=ts

2014

ACTOR/DANCER
Performing in a music video for punk/funk artist Cristi Calugareanu. Delict Royal 'Iris Ultra Chute' - https://youtu.be/l0dCgikDvss

DANCER

Break dancing in a music video for the German Hip Hop artist Leander Krawinkel.
'Du bist der weihnachtsmann' - https://youtu.be/mU9AOUpMjEA

ACTOR/DANCER

I was working as a performer/collaborator on a theatre show called 'Shame' touring England and Scotland. As well as being an integral part of the performance my other work also included loading and unloading equipment, setting up our stage production, communicating with venue managers, promotion and marketing, etc.

We were performing in small theatre venues around the U.K as well as larger venues in places like London, Liverpool, Birmingham, etc. We also finished the tour at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, were we performed for three weeks mostly receiving four and five star reviews. All information can be found on the website below, plus promo footage, tour information, etc.

www.berkavitch.com

2013

PROOFREADER

Freelance editing and proofreading project for the artist Manami Nagahari.

www.manami-n.com

LEAD ACTOR

Short film set in Berlin: ‘The Third Dimension’

Film Director/Producer: Matias Belbin, Tel. 0157 89124882

SOLO PERFORMANCE - ‘BE BEAST WITHIN’

Theater kapelle, Berlin.

I wrote, choreographed and performed my own solo physical theatre

performance. Programmed as part of the 'Out of Berlin' theatre festival.