Jeele Johannsen
Jeele Johannsen, born in 1997 in a small town near Cologne, discovered his passion for theater, movement, and music early on. As a versatile artist, he has taken every opportunity to develop his skills in these fields.
As a singer-songwriter, Jeele has performed numerous concerts, showcasing his talents as a multi-instrumentalist. He proficiently plays over twelve instruments, including piano, clarinet, saxophone, guitar, ukulele, harmonica, drums/cajon, melodica, trumpet, accordion, flute, and the Jewish harp, often incorporating a loop station into his performances. Additionally, he has composed music for various dance, theater, and film productions.
Between 2013 and 2015, Jeele performed in three productions directed by theater students from the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch and the Universität der Künste in Berlin. During this period, he also discovered his passion for dance.
![Half body shot Jeele Johannsen](https://jeelejohannsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/DSC_2246.jpg)
In 2016, he co-created a piece with Paula Moré that was selected for the Tanztreffen der Jugend and presented at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. Parallel to this, he explored the expressiveness and theatricality of acrobatics, creating the circus performance “Turns” with acrobat Nina Blankenagel, which was filmed in Berlin and performed in Cologne.
Jeele’s exposure to Swiss stages came through a concert theater tour with the Deutsche Oper Berlin. After completing his high school education, he returned to Zurich in 2017 and joined the Circus Chnopf as a young artist. That same year, he enrolled in the Bachelor program at the Accademia Teatro Dimitri, where he trained his skills as an actor, acrobat, dancer, clown, mask performer, composer, and singer. He graduated in 2020 with his Bachelordegree in Physical Theatre.
![Headshot Jeele Johannsen](https://jeelejohannsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/DSC_2178.jpg)
Upon completing his studies, Jeele co-founded the theater association Les pARTs and the company Da-Per-Tous with Margot Prod’hom, producing the movement theater piece “Die Qual der Wahl!” (Trop de Choix pour Choisir!), which premiered in April 2021. He also conducted acrobatics workshops at the Accademia Teatro Dimitri and movement theater workshops at the University of Lausanne.
![On stage shot Jeele Johannsen](https://jeelejohannsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Z72_2564-682x1024.jpg)
In spring 2022, he contributed as assistant director, choreographer, and performer in “The Confessions of Felix Krull” at the Theater der Stadt Aalen. His Master’s thesis at the Zurich University of the Arts culminated in the successful movement theater piece “ERWACHEN,” based on Frank Wedekind’s “Spring Awakening,” marking the conclusion of his Master studies in Theater in March 2024.
In recent months, Jeele has co-created and played a music theater and circus production for young audiences at the Zurich Opera House, directed a solo theater piece played by Lennart Naether at the Theater am Hechtplatz, and was nominated for the Jungsegler award at the NordArt Festival with his own solo performance. Additionally, he was selected for the interdisciplinary Tandem project at the Kulturmarkt Zurich.
As an actor, director, musician and clown, Jeele continues to merge his expertise in theater, dance, circus, and music in various projects, demonstrating his multifaceted artistic abilities.