to g ather, i nspire, a ffect (in) n ew york

Hi, welcome at my personal website! I hope this ‘digital portfolio’ can give you insights in what I do and whether our paths could connect somehow.

Being a curious and energetic person, as a fulltime freelancer, and without any doubt also in the spirit of the age, my ‘profession’ concerns a broad range of activities. “I create concepts for inspiring encounters (like talkshows, events and workshops), which I often perform, coach and host too” would be my vague but most suitable elevator-pitch.

However, over the last years – and perhaps over my whole but brief life – certain themes and interests start to stand out to which most of my choices and acts seem related.

These would be:

g athering > There is a basic instinct in me that always wants to bring people together. Especially people from different backgrounds, who would usually not meet. This not only comes into picture at private parties, but all projects I initiated over the last year where based on the idea of gathering people (artists, scientists, citizens) and get them connected.

i mprovisation > If I had to sacrifice my life for one philosophy, it would be the optimistic life approach of improvisation: by accepting what’s given and building upon it, by saying Yes to someone else offer and giving something back, by learning to follow your own impulses and building on relationships of trust, we could enjoy a highly creative, cooperative and spontaneous life style. Besides, practicing improvisation encourages the best (and hardest) of its philosophy: don’t try to control, just (re)act. Amen.

a nalysis > I was a philosophical child. “Could it be that we are just particles of a rabbit’s hair, and we are only the smallest bit of an enormous universe, and just no one realizes that”, I wondered as a 7-year old  while playing chess with my dad. My dad was proud. He didn’t know that a few years later I would suspect him for being a well-trained actor, scripting my life. Since then I have always been particulary interested in patterns in human behaviour. During both my Bachelor (BA) as my Master (MA) I designed an interdisciplinairy program of philosophy, cultural theory and performance studies to keep on connecting and questioning the force and meaning of daily life. Although graduated, I still continue wondering, reading and writing.

n ew york > I am sure I was not the only 21year old who woke up with the clear conviction: I have to go to New York. Although never been there, I felt it would inspire me. I can advise everyone with such an intuition to just follow it. The next day I googled some theaters, the next month I got accepted to do an internship at the All Stars Project in NYC – an idealistic and unique organisation that promotes and practices theater as developmental tool. Except their influence on my beliefs, I got attached to New York. I find my inspiration by the improvisation courses I follow there and my study of the daily behavior and backgrounds of her citizens.

My name is gian, and this website is designed to inform you about: