At Kalliso, we are dedicated to maintaining the quality, efficacy and safety of the original PEM pedagogy developed by Stephan Perdekamp in the 1990s.
All Certified PEM Teachers:
• Must complete a comprehensive program and pass the certification process
• Meet bi-annual quality and safety support checks
• Be certified directly by PEM Founder Stephan Perdekamp & Master Teacher Sarah Victoria
Stephan Perdekamp is a multi-talented artist known for his work as a director, actor, scriptwriter, and producer in Germany and Austria. He has authored 36 stage plays and has a strong focus on exploring physio-psychological and physio-social processes in his work. Perdekamp delves beneath the surface of culture to critique underlying pressures, taboos, and unspoken rules. His keen awareness of energetic processes within human bodies led to the development of his method, the Perdekamp Emotional Method (PEM).
In addition to his theatrical pursuits, Perdekamp has directed operas, movies, and theatre productions, and has worked as an actor and voice-over artist. Over the years, he has founded theatre companies and acting schools across the German speaking countries, as well as launching programs that offer business coaching in emotional communication. He is currently the director of the PEM Center Hamburg, which provides a variety of emotional health and acting programs, as well as functioning as an independent theatre.
Sarah Victoria is an actress, PEM Master Instructor and CEO of Kalliso and PEM International. She became a certified PEM Instructor and wrote her master’s thesis about PEM in 2004, and has trained directly with Stephan Perdekamp for over 20 years.
As Master Instructor, Sarah has held masterclasses at drama universities globally. She has taught at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, SMU – Southern Methodist University, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, the Australian Performing Arts Conservatory in Brisbane, the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth, Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, the National School of Drama in Delhi, the University of Johannesburg, Babes-Bolyai-University in Romania and many more.
Sarah is on the board of directors of the PEM Center Hamburg as well as an actor in the PEM Ensemble Hamburg and the PEM International Ensemble.
As Head of PEM International she has been leading workshops in the US, UK, South Africa, India, New Zealand, Japan, Russia and Europe. She is currently based in Brisbane, Australia and travels to the United States regularly.
Sarah has also taught PEM for wellbeing purposes to people in prisons, asylum seekers, neurodivergent people, and for those with PTSD, anxiety, alexithymia, panic attacks and more.
The only instructors worldwide who are certified to teach PEM are listed on this page. If someone claiming to teach PEM is not listed here, we cannot guarantee the safety, quality, or accuracy of their teaching, nor can we confirm that it reflects the original PEM method.
When you learn PEM from a certified instructor, you can trust that you’re receiving authentic, accurate training in a safe and supportive environment.
Enna Blake
Australia
PEM Certified Instructor
Lincoln Barros
Australia
PEM Teacher-in-Training
Bio Coming Soon
Sean Dennehy
Australia
PEM Teacher-in-Training
Read more
Kristina Heuer
Germany
PEM Master Instructor
Co-Developer of PEM Voice
Read more
Özlem Winkler-Özkan
Germany
PEM Certified Instructor
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Inka Butz
Germany
PEM Certified Instructor
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Stefanie Bentsch
Germany
PEM Certified Instructor
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Omar Shafiuzzaman
PEM Teacher-in-Training
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Allison Pistorius
PEM Teacher-in-Training
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Nicole Cowans
PEM Teacher-in-Training
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Blake Hackler
PEM Instructor
Chair and Head of Acting at SMU
Blake Hackler is a two-time Fulbright Scholar and has appeared in productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theatres throughout the country as well as in TV and film. He is currently Chair and Head of Acting at Southern Methodist University and is the director of Yale University’s Summer Conservatory for Actors. He was a 2023 Lunt-Fontanne Fellow and is a proud member of the Brierley Resident Acting Company at the Dallas Theatre Center. Education: MFA, Yale School of Drama.
Hackler has directed for nationally and internationally. In Dallas he’s worked at Theatre Three, Trinity Shakespeare, Second Thought Theatre and the Undermain. His recent production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf was hailed as a “theatrical achievement of the highest order” and his production of The Flick won the Dallas Theater Critics’ Best of 2015.
As a teacher, Hackler currently holds faculty positions at Yale University and SMU. He has also taught at New Bulgarian University, Roosevelt University, AMDA, the National Theatre Workshop for the Handicapped, and through the Kennedy Center as an Artist in Residence. He has given master classes at numerous institutions including Brown University/Trinity MFA, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, the National Conservatory of Music and the National Theatre and Film Institute in Sofia, Bulgaria. He also served as acting coach for comedian Lisa Lampanelli.
Tina Benko
United States
PEM Teacher-in-Training
Tina Benko is an Emmy award-winning actress who performs regularly on Broadway and in major screen productions. Ms. Benko recently performed in Branden Jacobs Jenkins 2024 Tony Award winning play Appropriate on Broadway. Other recent credits include the premieres of David Ives’ Pamela Palmer at Williamstown, Emily Mann’s adaptation of The Pianist at George Street Playhouse and Claudia Rankin’s Help at The Shed. Broadway credits include: The Rose Tattoo, The Crucible, Macbeth, The Cherry Orchard, Top Girls, and Not About Nightingales. Off Broadway includes: Sarah Ruhl’s Becky Nurse of Salem at Lincoln Center, SpindleShuttleNeedle at Clubbed Thumb, Scenes From a Marriage and The Little Foxes both directed by Ivo Van Hove for NY Theatre Workshop, Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day,Rajiv Joseph’s Describe The Night, Julie Taymor’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Theatre For A New Audience, Elfriede Jellinek’s Jackie (Lucille Lortel nom) and Daniel Fish’s Who Left This Fork Here at Baryshnikov Arts, as well as the international tour of Toni Morrison’s play Desdemona directed by Peter Sellars.
Film and TV credits include: Elsbeth, And Just like That, The Betrayers, Worldbuilding, The Rehearsal ( Emmy/best supporting actress/ digital series),Kaleidoscope, Mother May I Have a Kidney, Nobody Wants to Shoot a Woman, Mapplethorpe, Life After You, The Sound of Silence, Can You Ever Forgive Me, The Scottish Play, Fair Market Value, Turn: Washington Spies, Monsterland, The Other Two, FBI, Raising Kanan, Nobody Wants to Shoot a Woman. Ms. Benko has performed with Improvisational troupes Improbable, Theatresports, and Madcap, She is in the MCU and has taught at CMU, LIU, HB Studios, Fordham University, Columbia University, and OnCamJam in New York City.
Cynthia Bassham
United States
PEM Teacher-in-Training
Cynthia Bassham has been teaching for over thirty-five years and has been a professor of voice, speech, and acting at the University of California, Irvine since 2005. She is also the Director of Certification for Fitzmaurice Voicework®. Cynthia has taught and coached at several other institutions, including American Conservatory Theater, Stanford University, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She also teaches privately—mainly in the Greater Los Angeles area and online. Cynthia is also a professional actor with extensive credits, including originating the role of “C” in the world premiere of Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women directed by the author. Cynthia is a proud member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and VASTA.
MFA American Conservatory Theatre
BA University of Washington
Master Teacher in Fitzmaurice Voicework ® and certified in Seven Pillars Acting ®.
Constance Ejuma
United States
PEM Teacher-in-Training
Constance Ejuma is an award-winning actress, producer, and digital media executive. She starred in Ben & Ara, earning an African Movie Academy Award in 2016 as producer, and won a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2019 for her stunt work in Black Panther. Her TV credits include FBI: Most Wanted, Seal Team, The Good Doctor, and Scorpion, along with appearances in music videos for Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez.
Constance is promoting her short film Till Death on the international festival circuit and developing the art-house feature Eucharia with artist Zina Saro-Wiwa. She also serves as VP of Content Performance & Analytics at Penske Media Corporation. Constance has been studying PEM since 2024.
Enna Blake
Australia
PEM Certified Instructor
Enna Blake is an actor, musician, and Certified PEM Instructor based in Melbourne, Australia. Since 2019, she has trained with PEM Master Instructor Sarah Victoria and PEM Founder Stephan Perdekamp and became certified to teach PEM in September 2022. Enna has assisted in teaching PEM workshops at NIDA and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, and has held in-person workshops in various cities.
As an actor, Enna has played supporting and lead roles in independent short and feature films such as ‘Land of Honey’ (2019) and ‘The Library Boys (2022) which won Comedy Vanguard Feature at Austin Film Festival. She has also starred in music videos such as ‘Loose Ends’ by Illy ft G Flip (2020) and released her own EP ‘Under Dusk’ with singer/songwriter Harrison Storm in 2022. Enna is currently a proud member of the Melbourne PEM Production Group and teaches PEM at Melbourne Actors Guild, and to actors internationally online.
Sean Dennehy
Australia
PEM Teacher-in-Training
Sean Dennehy is an actor, director, producer and educator with over three decades of experience across theatre, film, television, opera, circus and higher education. He is Head of Acting at the Australian Performing Arts Conservatory (APAC), leading conservatory-style training that bridges academic and industry practice.
As Artistic Director of Dennehy Productions, Sean has collaborated with Opera Queensland, Metro Arts, and Wilde Applause, and produced works from Robin Hood the Musical to Rockarena Circus in Australia, Taiwan and the UK. Executive Producer of Short+Sweet Queensland and now developing First Flight Festival, Sean’s career is defined by versatility and impact, equally at home in the rehearsal room, on stage, on screen, or in the classroom. Through his leadership at APAC, his professional practice, and his role as a mentor, he continues to shape the future of performing arts in Australia.
Kristina Heuer
Germany
PEM Master Instructor
Co-Developer of PEM Voice
Kristina Heuer is a composer, singer and musician, and PEM Master Instructor. From 2007 on, she was trained directly by Stephan Perdekamp in PEM as well as in Performing Arts, becoming a certified PEM instructor in 2009 and was appointed PEM Master Instructor in 2018. Since 2008, she has been the musical director of PEM productions and theatre plays in Austria and Germany. From 2009 to 2016 she developed PEM Voice together with Stephan.
She is Head of the International PEM Breath and Voice Work, Singing, and Music Department, and trains future PEM musicians, singers and PEM instructors. Kristina is a founding member and on the board of directors of the PEM Center Hamburg. Since 2018, she has been Deputy Methodological and Artistic Director of the PEM Center Hamburg / PEM Theater an den Elbbrücken.
Since 2020, Kristina has been responsible for methodological quality assurance at the PEM Center Hamburg, including for all nationally certified training programs in Germany according to AZAV.
Since 2009, Kristina has been teaching artists and non-artists at the PEM Center Hamburg, as well as online classes for artists from the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, England, France, China, Japan, South Africa, and many more.
She has held masterclasses and workshops in London (UK), Toi Whakaari – New Zealand Drama School (NZ), and HFMT Hamburg (GER), among others.
In 2017 and 2021, she held a masterclass at the worldwide association of voice and speech trainers (VASTA) in the field of university arts education, introducing the innovative vocal technique “PEM Voice” to her colleagues.
Inka Butz
Germany
PEM Certified Instructor
Inka Butz is an actress and PEM instructor based in Hamburg, Germany.
While studying human medicine, she began her training as both an actress and PEM instructor at the at the PEM Center – Kunst und Kulturzentrum für emotionale Bildung e.V. in Hamburg. She has been a member of the PEM Theater an den Elbbrücken ensemble for 10 years.
Her teaching experience includes international theater festivals in Romania, the Rostock University of Music and Theatre, the Central German Association for Speech Science and Speech Training, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, and The Lion King musical in Hamburg.
Inka teaches health promotion courses and provides continuing education for artists in German-speaking countries and internationally. She also teaches PEM in diverse contexts — including prisons, refugee communities, with individuals on the autism spectrum or with ADHD, as well as with people living with PTSD, substance use disorder, anxiety, depression, and other challenges.
In Hamburg, she works in municipal health promotion.
