Kathlyn Pope
Kathlyn Pope, born in Belfast, was trained as a dancer at the Bush Davies Ballet School and the Royal Ballet School in London. Immediately after graduating, she was engaged by Gert Reinholm at the Ballet of the Deutsche Oper. Here, she danced for over two decades in the entire repertoire, especially numerous solo roles by significant choreographers such as Karol Armitage, George Balanchine, Ray Barra, Maurice Béjart, Christopher Bruce, Michael Clark, Nacho Duato, Molissa Fenley, William Forsythe, Ronald Hynd, Kurt Jooss, Jiří Kylián, Rudolf Nureyev, Valery Panov, Roland Petit, Angelin Preljocaj, Peter Schaufuss, and Meg Stuart. From 2004 to 2013, she continued her career at the Staatsballett Berlin as a dancer and later as a character soloist. Throughout her stage career, she also dedicated herself to choreography, including for events (e.g., BMW, Dresdner Bank, and the advertising spot Swan Lake for LOEWE), but especially for the choreography workshop format Shut up and dance!. Her creations were premiered at the Berghain club (Gelbfrucht on Velvet Underground) and at the Komische Oper Berlin (Space Control Area).
Kathlyn Pope's special interest has always been the idea of introducing a broader audience, children, and young people to the world of dance. Her initiative for education formats resulted in numerous projects that she conceived alongside her career as a dancer and partly choreographed with partner schools: Einsteins Träume, Grenz_los, or Dance Track for the IAAF 2009 Athletics World Championships at the Brandenburg Gate. Her production of the fairy tale ballet Sleeping Beauty was part of the Staatsballett's repertoire from 2007 to 2013 because she succeeded in introducing even the youngest children to a ballet performance. In 2009, she also completed her studies at the University of Munich as a «Project Manager for Dance Art in Schools,» and in 2010, she received her diploma as a dance teacher from the Royal Academy of Dance London with distinction to teach classical dance using this methodology.
Based on this foundation, she worked as a teacher and choreographer, also at Tanz ist KLASSE!, the education program of the Staatsballett Berlin, founded in 2007. In 2012, she directed Romeo & Juliet for the Lions Club Wannsee charity gala at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with 105 youths from five Berlin schools, with the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin under the direction of Steven Sloane and the participation of Fritzi Haberland and Jörg Löw. In 2013, Parade & Potpourri for GESOBAU AG, 2016 Bona nox with the Chamber Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin in the Tischlerei.
Additionally, she is regularly engaged as a freelance choreographer and/or movement coach: in 2009 for Karsten Wiegand's Faust production at the Berlin State Opera, in 2017 for Tobias Kratzer's Zoroastre at the Komische Oper Berlin, in 2015 for Todd Fletcher's musical Turbulence at the ATZE Musiktheater Berlin, and Fletcher's Hoch Hinaus (2017 at the Leipzig Werk II, PluralArts International). In 2022, she directed and choreographed Geschwinde ihr wirbelnden Winde, a Bach project for the Children's Opera House and the Opera Studio of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. In 2023, she choreographed the song and chanson project réBelles! le concert at the Berlin St. Elisabeth Church and led the revival of her Sleeping Beauty (co-produced by the Berlin City Ballet at the Berlin Theater am Pfefferberg). Her wealth of experience as a dancer and performer in all genres, from classical ballet to experimental dance forms, informs her work as a choreographer and dance teacher. Additionally, she is active as a juror, mentor, master class instructor, and individual coach.