Student profiles

Lisa Maria Bowler

Lisa came to London in 2005 to study for an MA Arts Administration and Cultural Policy at Goldsmiths. Previously she had trained as a classical ballet dancer in her home city of Munich, and afterwards studied for a BA in Drama at Loughborough University. Both London and Goldsmiths proved an inspiration and a challenge: the place to be, with an almost overwhelmingly busy cultural calendar that meant having to decide between three or more things to see every night.

The MA enabled her to complete a four-month internship in the Programming team of Sadler’s Wells Theatre, where she fell in love – not only with the theatre itself, but to the artists and dance companies performing there. Tanztheater Wupperal with Pina Bausch’s devastatingly emotional ballets, Rosas with its minimalist but no less emotionally infused works, and the madness of The Forsythe Company, among many others. After graduating, Lisa worked at Sadler’s for five years, first in the Development Department running the membership scheme and organising fundraising galas, and then as Programming Co-ordinator, the main point of contact for visiting international companies and responsible for all logistics concerning the artistic programme.

With so much practical knowledge and the wealth of performances she has witnessed, Lisa is now moving on to develop a career as a dramaturg – a role that has fascinated her since school in its combination of theory, academic writing, and artistic practice. She is currently working on a research project that looks at the idea of public space in theatre architecture and dance – a theme already touched on in her MA dissertation at Goldsmiths.