CPPM OPEN CLASS: ROEL SWANENBERG AND ARJAN GEBRAAD (Belgia | Holland) • CPPM AUTUMN 2025 SEASON

Roel Swanenberg

Roel Swanenberg (1978) is a multidisciplinary artist, born in the Netherlands, living in Belgium. His practice bridges classical texts, contemporary performance, and pedagogical innovation. With over two decades of experience across the Flemish and Dutch theatre landscapes, his artistic and educational work reflects a deep engagement with embodied storytelling, poetic dramaturgy, site-specific work and audience interaction.

Swanenberg received his initial training in audiovisual arts at LUCA School of Arts in Genk, and later received a professional acting degree at the Maastricht Academy of Performing Arts (2005). He has since collaborated with leading companies such as Het Nationale Theater, Het Nieuwstedelijk, Het Zuidelijk Toneel, Theater Artemis, and Het Toneelhuis. His performance work spans a wide range, from classical adaptations (including Animal Farm and Ronja the Robber’s Daughter) to original productions developed through collective creation and interdisciplinary research. In 2008, Swanenberg co-founded the theatre company kinderenvandevilla with Wanda Eyckerman, producing critically acclaimed performances such as Alleen op de Wereld and Leeghoofd, the latter of which toured internationally. His recent solo work, Shall I…?, is a research-based performance exploring Shakespeare’s sonnets through the lens of contemporary media, music composition, and an autobiographical narrative.

Parallel to his artistic career, Swanenberg has developed a strong pedagogical practice. He is currently a lecturer at LUCA School of Arts (Genk), where he mentors BA and MA film students in artistic development and directing. Roel Swanenberg’s work – both on stage and in the studio and classrooms – integrates physical theatre, textual exploration, and improvisation, with a focus on artistic autonomy and cross-disciplinary collaboration. 

Arjan Gebraad

Arjan Gebraad (1979), Dutchie, works as a performer, director, teacher and mentor in several disciplines like theatre, dance and circus. Combining his different backgrounds as theorist and as practitioner, he specialises in physical theatre and site-specific art projects. After studying Cultural Sciences at the University of Tilburg, he studied directing at the Maastricht Academy of Performing Arts, graduating in 2005. After that, he studied with both SITI Company and Mary Overlie, worked on his practice focussing on training of ensembles and the personal development of performers.

This season he worked as a dramaturg for urban dance/hiphop projects, musicians and choreographers, created two short dance movies, coached students at several Bachelor programs, is a board member of a theatre collective that performs instant composition in movement and music for toddlers and their parents, works as a simulation actor for aggression and safety training, is a company member of a research group creating opera with modern music, works as Cowboy at Tilburg Cowboys (an artist collective developing social practise projects) and is the creative owner of The Windmill Collective. 

Next to that, he is a father of two and takes care of the household and still is convinced that multitasking is a conceptual lie. 

Collaboration: Roel Swanenberg & Arjan Gebraad

Arjan and Roel have collaborated on many occasions: making plays, shooting movies and co-teaching. They have trained extensively in Viewpoints, both with SITI Company and Mary Overlie. They are ambassadors of the Mary Overlie Legacy Project, sharing her work with practitioners across Europe. They share a professional connection rooted in a mutual interest in embodied storytelling, dramaturgical experimentation, and the intersection of classical and contemporary performance. Both trained within the Dutch and Flemish performing arts tradition, they bring complementary perspectives to the field: Swanenberg as a theatre maker and educator with a focus on audience interaction and poetic structure, and Gebraad as a director and researcher exploring performativity and hybrid forms. Their collaboration is shaped by an ongoing dialogue around training, creation, and the role of the performer as author. Their synergy exemplifies a long-time partnership: co-teaching modules, co-developing performance-based research, and mentoring emerging artists in methods that foreground embodied awareness, ensemble intelligence, and interdisciplinarity.