Annabel Koele is a performer and creator based in Amsterdam, moving at the intersection of

Dance, Dutch Mime, and Physical Theatre.

Annabel Koele (1996) creates physical performances that mirror the shifting dynamics of our time, driven by her desire to question and construct reality. Her creative practice, inspired by Surrealism and abstract imagery, emerges from the body’s relationship to space, sound, and perception, with a focus on transformation, states of being, and the surreal within the everyday.

After graduating from Codarts University in Rotterdam in 2017, Annabel performed in various projects across Europe before continuing her exploration of physical performance at the Mime School in Amsterdam. By merging both disciplines, she currently creates physical work that shifts between bodily sculptures and dance performance. Within her physical language she researches unexpected and absurd imagery that unfolds into layered, poetic reflections on identity and presence. Combining her interest in spatial composition with a strong sense of musicality and timing, she aims to challenge our common perception of time, space, and the human body as we know it.

Annabel is part of the Aerowaves Artist Twenty26, selected with her solo creation and performance MAGNITUDE.
In 2024, Annabel received the Top Naeff Prize, recognising outstanding artistic promise at the Academy of Theatre and Dance (AHK), and she got nominated for the Piket Art Prize in Category Dance, 2025. Her recent solo and duet creations include MAGNITUDE (2024) which toured nationally with support of Via Rudolphi, CUMULUS (2026) Even When I’m Dreaming, I Hear Sounds (2025), Ceci n’est pas une Annabel (2022), While Strolling (2021), Loos (2021), and KOSMOS (2019).

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Together with Donna Braber she founded TRACE COLLECTIVE in 2020. TRACE creates tragicomic physical theater for stage, site-specific performance, and film – for the youngest and older audiences.