My origin and upbringing in brief

I grew up in a family of four with one older brother on the mainland in Denmark. Since I was seven I wanted to be an actress. I never told anyone until I dropped out of Gymnasium (College)  – since I wouldn’t need the degree in order to audition for The National Acting Schools! My parents encouraged me and supported me in pursuing my dream. So at the age of 17, I moved from my hometown to Copenhagen in order to do so. It was five years of intense dance training, acting lessons and being a member of both a theatre and a dance company, while making a living waiting tables at a café. Each spring I would audition for The National Acting Schools. I skipped a year in order to explore the back stage work as a stage manager assistant and later as a director’s assistant. In 1990 I was one of six students accepted at The Acting School by Aarhus Theatre. After finishing my four years of training, I worked as a full time actress for 15 years up until moving to the US in 2009.

My education and work experience in details

Acting School 1990 -1994

In the four years of acting school I received what I believe to be the best acting training in the world and was supported financially by the educational system of Denmark ... I had arrived in Heaven!

We were able to focus intensely on the craft, only six students in one class and having a great drama mentor as well as an exquisite staff of teachers and not the least an awesome chemistry among us. We were known as The Golden Team in the acting circles of Denmark!

Resume

Cast-member of Aarhus Theatre 1994 - 1999.

The year before I was done with school, I was offered a job at Aarhus Theatre. The Artistic Director had closely followed my progress and wanted me in the ensemble. I worked with them for five years, having the time of my life, and making the most of the opportunity to apply all the wonderful skills and tools that had been afforded me. I was gifted with playing two leads - plus one supporting role - each year. Since I was in my late twenties and early thirties I still could play the ingénue roles - without really being one - as well as the more juicy roles on the smaller stages! Aarhus Theatre is the second largest theatre in Denmark with a big classical stage (650 seats), a modern adjustable stage (450 seats), two smaller stages (100 seats each) and an intimate cabaret stage. Working in an ensemble taught me the beauty of teamwork and how each individual involved in a production is very important. I love all the different phases of this process and I feel that a mini-universe is being created from jump each time. To this day I am very grateful for having had this profound, multi-faceted learning experience before I chose to leave my “safe nest” and pursue a freelance career in Copenhagen. Resume

Freelance Years in Copenhagen 1999 - 2010

Since I always had been interested in the director’s point of view, I volunteered as a director’s assistant for Kim Bjarke at Edison, Betty Nansen Teatret, – one of the major theatres in Copenhagen. We did a Swedish play by Lars

Norén. It was very fulfilling since I was coaching the actors in their long monologues as well as converting names and places into Danish. Shortly thereafter, I was hired by the same theatre to play Natasha in a newly written play based on Chekov's Three Sisters in which the sisters have grown old and are reminiscing about their youth. The three “Dame Judi Denchs” of Denmark played the sisters, one of whom was my early teacher and mentor Ghita Noerby. After this production, Ghita recommended that I play Regina in her next production of Ibsen’s Ghosts, a re-run at The Royal Danish Theatre. I was brought on board at the last minute and I had only three rehearsals to get up to speed – but somehow it all came together. We even got to perform it at The Ibsen Festival at The National Theatre in Oslo, Norway! So in some mysterious way, during these two first years in Copenhagen, I was privileged to work with all of the great “dinosaurs” of the Danish acting community! It was a lot of fun, but after a few years of dealing with “the fame factor” and the hype I chose to work with smaller theatres that were more focused on enthusiasm and ensemble spirit.  

Resume

Adding coaching to my career 2005

After a little over a decade in professional stage acting, I got the urge to do something besides acting, – my experience of playing roles was to be shared in a more direct way than by me being on stage. I became a Life Coach at Manning Inspire in 2007 and was self-employed from 2006 till 2009 doing 1 on 1 sessions as well as giving talks and workshops.

Auditions/Presentations    Energy Awareness

TV Show 2006-2007

During this period I also had the opportunity to work on an improvisational TV-comedy-show, which added a quality of lightheartedness to the “serious-and-well-prepared-actress” that I had been for many years. I was a cast member of all three seasons of the show and enjoyed the intense rhythm of this work alongside with exploring this new field of coaching others in stepping in to their power.

Acting pics    Energy Awareness     Resume

Energy work 1990 - 2011

During all these years operating in a lot of ego energy, I also did a lot of inner work, which was very nurturing, expanding, and appropriate – I always was attracted to ‘walking my talk’! I had great opportunities to explore the inner realms and do consciousness work on my long stays in Mount Shasta, California, where my partner since 2003 was based. The vortex energy and serene surroundings in deed supports this kind of work. I have taking a few healing modalities and explored energy work through yoga and conscious dance over the years in this community. Studying the four bodies, – the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual, is something I enjoy combining with my stage experience.

Auditions/Presentations  Energy Awareness

Currently

Since 2009 I have lived with my husband in California, but even so I was hired for a part at Nørrebro Teater, Copenhagen, Denmark in 2009. Besides acting in the play, I also coached the young lead who was only experienced in movie acting. It was a great success and I was hired for the rerun in 2010. I still live in Northern California from where I do Transformational Life Coaching and Energy Awareness work both in person and over Skype. Energy Awareness

Mette Kolding

Mt. Shasta, March 2011