Ms. Wiedenhofer, you won the gold medal in Swedish massage at the World Massage Championships in Copenhagen.

Congratulations!

How did that happen?

Eva Maria Magel

Senior cultural editor of the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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I didn't go there with the idea of ​​scooping a prize.

I had heard about the world cup and my therapist who trained me to be a masseuse said I was good and should go there.

How is the atmosphere there?

It's incredibly exciting.

An unbelievable number of people came to the sports university in Copenhagen, 420 participants from 46 nations alone, including the online competition.

They massaged digitally?

Yes, and the jury evaluated it digitally.

Last year the whole World Cup was digital because of Corona, this time both were possible.

It was very impressive.

The final took place in a huge congress hall.

They competed in two categories.

Which were they?

In addition to the Swedish massage, there is also a wellness relax massage.

There are six categories in total, which is quite a lot.

They are evaluated in parallel in many rooms.

The participants massage each other, in every third round you just watch, so you can always see what the other people are doing and what the jury is looking for.

Sunbeds were provided, but many brought their own.

You have to bring everything else with you anyway, towels, oil, decorations.

How important is all this for a successful massage?

You know it yourself: When you enter a room, you look around to see what energy it has or how it is decorated.

Some colleagues have fans, scented candles, light therapy - there are very spiritual massages.

I will not do that.

I'm focused on the medical approaches.

But good oil is very important.

What is Swedish massage?

This is an intensive sports massage, also known as a "deep tissue" massage.

It's about going deep into the fascia.

This is important for people who move around a lot, or people who have had a herniated disc or had surgery when the tissue is stuck together.

The massage works with strength and pressure, it can also hurt a bit.

But it's very helpful.

Unfortunately, I was a point or two behind winning the wellness relaxation massage, the classic full-body massage.

I have to be honest, I'm not so much the flow type as the sport type.

But you have to compete in two categories.

I combined the wellness massage with dance and kept dancing in between.

You are known as a dancer, including as a member of the Frankfurt company Hennermanns Horde.

How did you come to your second job as a masseuse?

I've always loved massages.

I did it when I was studying at the dance department at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts and also in productions where I danced.

That was very effective.

And then a massage therapist I'm friends with said I had talent and should deepen it.

In addition to your main job, in which you also have a lot to do?

I am also a trained sauna master, personal trainer and yoga teacher.

If something interests me, I want to do it right.

So don't just massage like that, but know what I'm doing.

That's why I did training and certificates: in intensive sports, wellness relaxation, hot stone, pregnancy and singing bowl massage.

These are very intensive courses.

How many hours did you invest in the training?

To get the certificate, I massaged all day for a week.

And learned theory.

It helped that I had massaged so much before and had learned anatomy in the dance department.

Others first had to work out where which tendons or muscles are located.

In the practical part you massage each other and learn the techniques while doing it.

Since when have you been working as a masseuse alongside your work as a dancer and choreographer?

Since 2019. Once a week I massage the dancers of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company, I visit them and bring all my things with me, I also work in the dance department of the University of Music and Performing Arts.

I massage private clients who are not dancers and find me through my website

katha.care

at my home or in a room in a practice.

Does that complement your main job?

Yes, even very well, and I'm happy to be able to give something to the dancers.

The healing effect is great.

And the dancers are particularly happy.

The combination of being an active dancer and knowing exactly what's going on, for example when a dancer comes and says he did a lot of lifts today, complements each other perfectly.

In addition, I can keep this job flexible.

When I'm involved in a production as a dancer or choreographer, I'm not available as a masseuse at that time.

Where can you currently be seen dancing?

We tour with Hennermanns Horde with all the pieces from our repertoire, and I also dance with the La Trottier Dance Collective, which is based in Mannheim.

And we from Hennermanns Horde are currently at the Albert Schweitzer School in Offenbach with the “Artful” program.

A senior class is now having its premiere there.