About me
Johanna Spies is a Berlin-based dancer, choreographer, and teacher of dance, yoga, and Pilates. After graduating from the Erika Klütz Schule (Hamburg) as a certified dance pedagogue, she moved to Leeds, England, to continue her training at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, where she graduated in 2022 with First Class Honours.
During her studies, Johanna collaborated with renowned choreographers and companies, including Akram Khan, Joseph Mercier, Phil Sanger, Excessive Human Collective, Thick & Tight Dance Theatre, and Vocab Dance Company. These experiences, together with her own artistic practice, have profoundly shaped her approach to choreography.
Her latest piece, "Was wir sagen, was wir meinen und was bleibt" ("What We Say, What We Mean, and What Remains"), premiered at Hamburger Sprechwerk in October 2025. Created for ELAN (Exit Like An Animal) and supported by the Erika Klütz School, this performance playfully invites the audience to critically examine the portrayal of gender roles on social media.
Johanna’s work has been shown at WHOLE Festival (2024, Berlin), ONE MORE NIGHT TO SHOW (2023, Madrid), Dance.Impro.Space (2023, Madrid), Hop’s & Bop’s (2022, England), and Flockfest (2022, England), reflecting an ongoing international presence.
In addition to her choreographic projects, Johanna regularly organizes workshops in Hamburg and Berlin, fostering experimentation and community-building. Since 2024, she has been a guest lecturer in Cunningham Technique at the Erika Klütz School, for BUDS at Kampnagel, and from spring 2026, she will also teach at CDSH in Hamburg.
As a certified Power Vinyasa Yoga teacher and, since 2025, a qualified Pilates instructor, Johanna’s approach to movement and creation is fundamentally holistic.
Since 2025, she has also served as a board member of the interdisciplinary arts festival Dialogia Festivaali in Finland, regularly planning and implementing projects across the country. Most recently, her work took her on tour through Lapland with a children's dance theatre piece, particularly in rural areas—a project supported by the Finnish Ministry of Culture.
Bachelor of Arts - Northern School of Contemporary Dance
2019 - 2022
Dance Education - Erika Klütz Schule Hamburg
2016 - 2019