Stephan Brinkmann received his dance training at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. He also studied theater, sociology and German literature at the University of Cologne and completed additional studies in dance pedagogy at the Folkwang University. With a dissertation on memory forms in dance, he received his doctorate from the University of Hamburg. After his training in Essen he became a dancer and choreographer at the Folkwang Tanzstudio for two years before becoming a member of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch in 1995. Since 2001, his teaching of contemporary dance has taken him to numerous national and international institutions. Since 2018 he is the director of the Institute for Contemporary Dance at Folkwang University of the Arts.
