Interact English
Learning Language through the Arts
Who We Are
We are an international team of English native speakers, professional language educators and artists, we call ourselves Teaching-Artists. Since 2009, we have been pioneering the role of the Teaching-Artist within the field of Language Education. Our programs bring the art forms and languages we’re passionate about into the classroom to inspire students about and through them.
Our approach incorporates a practical ‘learning-through-doing’ philosophy. We create classroom environments and programs where students are supported and challenged to communicate their creative ideas in English. We adhere to the idea that immersion is the most effective tool in language acquisition and experience has shown us that arts based programs are powerful motivators to get kids/teens speaking. We believe that the arts can make an authentic and dramatic contribution to language education.
Our team is an extraordinarily talented group of professional Teaching-Artists from a myriad of cultural and artistic backgrounds. Our teaching-artists will add a unique shot of energy and excitement to English lessons in your school.
Take a minute to get to know us.
Teaching Artists
Justin Beard
Justin Beard is the Co-Director of InterACT English, he is also a professional actor, theater maker and educator. Justin has worked with renowned theater companies including: Cirque Du Soleil, Theatre Fragile and Seattle Repertory Theater. Justin is currently pursuing an MA in the program Cultural Eduction in Schools at Philipps University Marburg. He holds a BFA (Hons) in Acting and Original Works from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington USA.
Mark Hansen
Mark Hansen is an artist and educator from New Zealand. He is also the Co-Director of InterACT English. Mark taught English as a second language in South Korea and in Spain. Mark has exhibited art, video and collaborative performances at exhibitions and film festivals throughout New Zealand, Germany, The Netherlands and Romania. He holds a Masters of Fine Arts degree in ‘Public Art and New Artistic Strategies’ from the Bauhaus-Universität in Weimar, Germany.
Lydia Baldwin
Lydia brings a wealth of songs, dances and storytelling to interactive theater projects in kindergartens and vacation camps, schools and dance halls. Trained early as a performer, Lydia then worked 11 years in technical theater and learned improvisational singing and body music in San Francisco, before studying Theater Education (MA) and Storytelling in Arts and Education (certified) at University of Arts Berlin. Since 2008, Lydia plays freelance in Berlin and greater Europe, at the crossroads of tradition and improvisation, German and English, singing and rhythm.
Michael Norton
Michael Norton is a director, performer and educator who has worked on projects in Europe and the United States. Originally from Chicago, Michael studied Theater and Performance at Interlochen Arts Academy and Emerson College in Boston. Michael has developed and taught theatrical education for Emerson College's Summer Drama Program, as well as courses educating children in Shakespeare in low-income communities in Michigan.
Sarah Lewis
Sarah Lewis is a performer, director, curator and educator based in Berlin. She has created and led a variety of different performing art projects in Boston, Berlin, NYC and the Dominican Republic working in an array of different cultural venues, from theaters to galleries, public spaces, schools and museums. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater from Emerson College, where her focus was on directing and producing, and graduated with a Masters in Arts from the “Art in Context” department at the University of Arts Berlin.
Katie Dunbar
Katie Dunbar is a professional Artist and Educator who is currently working in Berlin on a wide range of Art projects. She has a wealth of experience running International Summer Camps and working in schools in the United Kingdom and Germany including Berlin Brandenburg International School. Katie is an experienced project coordinator she specializes in community building with people of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities.
Zahra Banzi-Horn
Zahra Banzi was born in Madrid, Spain and raised in the United States. She received her BFA in Dance and Choreography from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 2010. Upon graduating, Zahra was invited to dance with Bouand Dance Co. in Portland OR and began her work as a teaching artist for the Oregon Ballet Theatre, Portland Dance Center, The Right Brain Initiative, and Young Audiences. Zahra is now living in Berlin where she is creating her own work, freelancing as a performer and continuing her teaching work at The Center, Paul Studios, and InterAct English.
Carrie Getman
Carrie Getman is a performer, writer, and educator based in Berlin. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, she worked with several NYC based theater companies and made appearances in film, television, and commercial productions. Since moving to Germany, she has worked professionally as an actor in Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf, Tübingen, and Vienna, and has been actively involved in designing and leading theater workshops for children.
Malachi Rempen
Malachi Rempen is an American/German filmmaker, illustrator, writer and teacher based in Berlin. He studied film directing and production at Chapman University in Orange, California, where his thesis film went on to win a Student Emmy and played at film festivals across the globe. Malachi has lived and worked as a filmmaker in Mexico, France, Morocco, Italy, the Congo and now Germany, where he founded his own production company and now enjoys passing on his knowledge to the next generation of artists.
Heather Purcell
Heather Purcell works within the mediums of video, live drawing performances and puppetry. She is currently doing a Masters in Art at The Universität der Künste Berlin. She organizes bi-monthly workshops in video and performance dealing with themes of gender in Berlin. She has recently given live drawing talks, in the University of Paderborn and Gelegenheiten Berlin.