Peculiar Man is
Jan Möllmer
Jan was born and raised in Wuppertal. He discovered his passion for dance when he participated in the youth project “Kontakthof – with Teenagers” by Pina Bausch.
After completing his dance training at the Folkwang University of the Arts, he became a member of the Folkwang Tanzstudio. Since 2013, Jan has repeatedly worked as a guest dancer at the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch and was part of 6 productions touring in more than 10 countries. In 2019, he worked as a choreographic assistant for Reinhild Hoffmann at Theater Bonn. Between 2020 and 2022, he was part of the international touring ensemble of Dimitris Papaioannou’s piece “Transverse Orientation,” performing in over 30 cities worldwide.
As a choreographer, Jan develops his own projects with artists in North Rhine-Westphalia and abroad. In 2022, he was an Associated Artist at Tanz Station – Barmer Bahnhof. For his artistic work, he received the Förderpreis of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in the category of Dance/Theatre.
Tsai-Wei Tien
Tsai-Wei Tien, born in Taiwan, studied dance at the Taipei National University of the Arts before continuing her studies at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen with a DAAD scholarship. After joining the ensemble of the Folkwang Tanzstudio, she worked with renowned choreographers such as Emanuel Gat, Johannes Wieland, David Hernandez, and Henrietta Horn.
In August 2015, Tien became a permanent member of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. Since then, she has performed in more than 20 productions by Pina Bausch as well as in works by Dimitris Papaioannou, Richard Siegal, François Chaignaud & Cecilia Bengolea. At the same time, she is active in freelance projects both in North Rhine-Westphalia and internationally. The exchange with artists and institutions from her home country Taiwan is particularly important to her. Her works have been awarded multiple times at dance festivals.
Peculiar Man was founded in 2017 and creates and presents works by Germany-based dancers and choreographers Jan Möllmer and Tsai-Wei Tien.
Guided by the belief that art can fundamentally change an individual’s life—and thereby shift the world, even if just a little—they strive to create works shaped by a deep curiosity about the human experience and a strong trust in their own aesthetic intuition.
They tell stories through movement, forging genuine and powerful connections to inspire people and challenge their perspectives on what life can be. Peculiar Mans mindset: to aim high, take risks, explore both the unfamiliar and the familiar, and avoid compromise in order to create and share meaningful experiences—within communities and with creative partners alike.
Depending on each project’s needs, Jan and Tsai-Wei collaborate in different constellations, fluidly exchanging roles in artistic direction, choreography, and dramaturgy. Their work is rooted in Wuppertal and North Rhine-Westphalia, but they also tour internationally and develop collaborations with artistic institutions, theaters, and universities around the world.
The duo often builds strong ties to Tsai-Wei’s homeland, Taiwan. There, they have choreographed for the circus company FOCASA Circus, the dance collective Les Petites Choses Production, and the Taiwan National University of the Arts.
Peculiar Man and their works have received several awards at festivals and competitions, including the SoloDuo Festival in Cologne, the contact.energy Festival in Erfurt, and the Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition in China. They have also been nominated multiple times for Taiwan’s Taishin Arts Award.
The diversity of Peculiar Man’s artistic output is fueled by collaborations with artists from the fields of theater, dance, music, photography, and film. The encounters that emerge from these collaborations form a connecting thread throughout their work—bringing to life their central artistic desire:
to create from the inspiration of everyday life, and to tell stories that speak about people and about life itself.