ESTHER DREESEN-SCHABACK graduated from the University of Hamburg in Modern German Literature and English Literature and Culture with a Master’s thesis on the theme of the danced message in John Neumeier's ballet Nijinsky. While still a student, her interest in the field of ballet dramaturgy found its expression in productions with Hamburg Ballet. She has also worked on Christian Spuck’s Sleepers Chamber at Stuttgart Ballet, the ballet Don Q with Egon Madsen and Eric Gauthier at Stuttgart Ballet and Leonce and Lena at Essen’s Aalto Theatre. In Hamburg, a close collaboration with choreographer Marco Goecke has begun. Together they have created Beautiful Freak (Hamburg Ballet), Viciouswishes, Orlando, and Dancer in the Dark (Stuttgart Ballet), Sonett (Leipzig Ballet), and Nijinski for Gauthier Dance Stuttgart. Since 2009 Dreesen-Schaback has been dramaturge of the Karlsruhe State Ballet. At the Hessian State Ballet, she has played an essential role in the productions of Aschenputtel, Kaspar Hauser, Winterreise, and Fake.