About PEM
“From my first contact with PEM, I knew it was a gamechanging approach to acting – one that foregrounds the actor’s health and wellbeing without sacrificing rigor and expansion.”
– Blake Hackler, Actor, Chair & Head of Acting at SMU Dallas
Director of Yale University’s Summer Conservatory for Actors
The Perdekamp Emotional Method
PEM (the Perdekamp Emotional Method) was developed in the 1990s by Stephan Perdekamp in Germany as a groundbreaking approach for actors to access authentic emotions through structured physical movement rather than psychological recall.
Since 1994, PEM has been taught to over 10,000 students across 55 countries and 6 continents, including leading universities and drama institutions worldwide.
How it works: PEM accesses the six primary emotions (Aggression, Happiness, Grief, Lust, Fear, and Revulsion) through specific motor patterns that engage the nervous system directly—before thought, memory, or self-censorship can interfere.
Through structured physical exercises, artists release socio-cultural conditioning that inhibits emotional range and return to the body’s innate capacity for full expression.
Beyond emotional foundations, PEM teaches artists to attune to subconscious processes for character creation, authentic text work, and more. Many actors learn PEM‘s emotional foundations as a technique for their toolbox, as it integrates seamlessly with other methods.
Artists can also study PEM as a complete acting system. Perdekamp created a holistic approach that includes emotion, character, text, voice, improvisation, acrobatics, singing, and ensemble work—all built on the principle that the body knows what the mind obscures. Through sustained practice, artists become deeply sensitized to what it means to be human.
About Kalliso
Kalliso Australia Pty Ltd was created in late 2021 by PEM Founder Stephan Perdekamp and PEM Master Instructor Sarah Victoria to provide certified training and classes in the Perdekamp Emotional Method in Australia and worldwide, following it’s origination in Germany.
Our sister organisation PEM Center Hamburg is a not-for-profit organisation that runs state certified programs in Germany. The same core team who run PEM Center Hamburg also runs Kalliso.
PEM is trauma-informed, and has been taught not only to actors and performing artists but also to neurodivergent people, people with disabilites, to asylum seekers, unhoused people, and to youth offenders. Since PEM addresses emotion, which is fundamental to our humanity, it can be applied to all areas and for all kinds of people.
PEM has been reviewed and commended by psychologists and psychiatrists, and we work regularly with mental experts. Our work is also supported by Professor Tony Atwood, leading expert in autism and clinical psychologist.
Our Work - Australia
In Melbourne, we work at least once a year with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC), National Institute of Drama (NIDA), and CEO & Master Instructor Sarah Victoria is a board member of the National Executive Committee of the Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare (ASPAH).
In 2025, we launched an ongoing collaboration with Australian Performing Arts Conservatory (APAC) in Brisbane, who have incorporated PEM into their BFA curriculum.
We have worked with universities such as
• National Institute of Drama (NIDA)
• Victorian College of the Arts (VCA)
• Western Australian Academy of the Performing Arts (WAAPA)
• Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
as well as independent acting studios such as Film & TV Studio International in Melbourne.
Our Work - U.S.
Since our first U.S. Workshop Tour in 2024, we have worked with several universities:
• David Geffen School of Drama, Yale University
• Theater Dance and Performance Studies, Yale University
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of Caifornia, Irvine
• SMU Dallas
• University of Houston
The Actors Center New York invited
Sarah Victoria to hold a masterclass
with their actors in 2024.
More work to be announced
throughout 2025!
Our Work - Hamburg
Since 2016, the PEM Center Hamburg has been offering state-certified programs across Germany, with a mission to provide arts and emotional education based on the Perdekamp Emotional Method (PEM). As a state-registered non-profit, the Center is certified to deliver programs for the unemployed and, since 2023, has also been recognized as a provider in the field of child and youth welfare.
All certified programs are reviewed annually by the Hanseatische Zertifizierungsagentur (HAZ – Hanseatic Certification Agency), which evaluates the quality of teaching, the conduct of instructors, program outcomes, and administrative standards. As a certified provider, the PEM Center collaborates with multiple Hamburg State Departments, including those for Health, Youth, Employment, and Education.
Beyond our certified programming, PEM Center Hamburg actively develops community partnerships and outreach initiatives. We are an official member of the Hamburg Future Council and maintain longstanding cooperation with:
- The Protestant Church in Hamburg (with projects sometimes extending to Diocese level)
- The Central District of Hamburg
- The Council of Hamburg-Rothenburgsort (our local borough)
- AWO, the health and wellbeing branch of the German Labour Party
- ZAF (Hamburg State Center for Training and Further Education)
- The Central German Association for Speech Science and Speech Training e.V.
- Municipal Health Promotion Management in the district
We are also proud to work alongside numerous educational institutions, such as:
- HAW Hamburg (University of Applied Sciences – Health Care Department)
- University of Rostock
- University of Halle Saale
- Hamburg Institute for Vocational Training (HiBB)
- FOM – University of Economics & Management
- BBW Hamburg – Vocational Training Center
Since 2016, PEM workshops have been delivered at schools and youth centers throughout Hamburg. We also collaborate with ReBBz (Regional Education and Advisory Centers Hamburg), offering specialized courses for children dealing with challenges such as anxiety and anger management.
From 2015 to 2021, the PEM Center also operated the PEM Theater an den Elbrücken, presenting over 200 theatre and music performances each year.
Our engagement in the Hamburg-Rothenburgsort borough includes:
- Co-founding and leading the annual Rothenburgsorter Culture Week
- Ongoing cooperation with the Haus der Jugend (local borough youth center)
- Providing emotional and creative support programs for young male inmates at JVA Hamburg, the city’s juvenile detention center
- Holding a seat on the Hamburg-Rothenburgsort Borough Council, where our director has served as a board member since 2018
The PEM Center has also been involved in broader national and international dialogues on mental health and inclusion. In 2019, we presented PEM’s impact on individuals on the autistic spectrum at the Rotary International Convention. Our team has delivered more than 140 lectures at Rotary/Rotaract Clubs and other organizations, focusing on PEM’s benefits for individuals with autism and those experiencing substance use disorder (SUD).
In 2021, we initiated a pilot project supporting people with SUD. Its positive outcomes led to an upcoming research collaboration with the Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Suchtforschung (Centre for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research) at the University of Hamburg.
From certified education to social justice and community healing, PEM Center Hamburg continues to explore and expand the emotional and social potential of PEM in meaningful and lasting ways.
Find out more: https://pem-center.de/
Website photography by:
Cam Frontain
camfrontain.com
& Jan Potgieter
University of Johannesburg