Work isn\u2019t every\u00adthing in life, and a hobby is part of the work-life balance. For former Pharmpur employee Benjamin Koenigs, that\u2019s dancing. In this interview, he talks about how he made it from amateur to profes\u00adsional and how Pharmpur supports him and his partner.<\/p>\n
Intro\u00adduction
\nI am Benjamin Koenigs, I am 33 years old and I come from K\u00f6nigs\u00adbrunn. I studied in Augsburg and got my Master\u2019s degree in Business Adminis\u00adtration there. After that I immediately started at Pharmpur and stayed there for two years. I am currently working at PCI in Augsburg. My wife and I have been profes\u00adsional dancers for four years now, never stopping to work full time.<\/p>\n
What was your position at Pharmpur?
\nI was respon\u00adsible for data management and control.<\/p>\n
How did you get into dancing?
\nConsidering my fairly successful career, I actually got into it relatively late. Like many other students, I attended my first dance class at the Augsburg ADTV dance school \u201cTrautz und Salmen\u201d at the age of 15, together with my partner Ana Koenigs and my friends. I continued with the youth perfor\u00admance course, in which I teach today together with the owner of the school. I then joined the dancing club TSG Bayern and changed to the so-called D-class. There, where the technical level is much higher, I encoun\u00adtered the first challenges.<\/p>\n
That sounds quite strenuous
\nAt that time it wasn\u2019t so much about being successful, we just wanted to try it out and the training wasn\u2019t the problem.<\/p>\n
What was next?
\nYou dance your way through: Each defeated couple equals one point, and you get place\u00adments as a result.<\/p>\n
Do you still dance with the same partner today?
\nYes, I do, and it\u2019s not common. We have been dancing together since 2009, while most other dancers often change partners. The good thing about us is that we have been a couple for a long time (laughs).<\/p>\n
How has the pandemic affected your dancing?
\nDuring the first lockdown, the dance school was completely closed. When the second one came, we were at least able to practice, although not in groups. We were allowed to take private lessons, but we didn\u2019t have a chance because all the tourna\u00adments, workshops and so on were canceled. So we kept practicing and hoped that things would get back to normal.<\/p>\n
How does dancing fit into your daily routine?
\nIt depends on the training: Once you reach a certain level, it\u2019s not enough to just dance in the dance hall. We do fitness training and yoga. We try to go to dance school three times a week if work allows. Group workouts are once a week. We try to include a private lesson in our program every two or three weeks. We usually work out once a week, either at the gym, yoga, jogging, or volleyball. We regularly work out four or five days a week.<\/p>\n
That sounds like a lot of training!
\nFull-time dancers work out even more, four to five hours a day six days a week, I think.<\/p>\n
How did the sponsorship come about?<\/p>\n
It was and is a very, very great thing for us. Dance is unfort\u00adu\u00adnately still a niche and is hardly considered a sport. Thanks to shows like \u201cLet\u2019s Dance,\u201d dancing has become more popular, but that doesn\u2019t apply to ballroom dancing. That\u2019s not a bad thing at all, we both really enjoy watching \u201cLet\u2019s Dance\u201d\u2026. but when it comes to mid-level perfor\u00admances, it\u2019s very difficult to get extra money. You have to remember that at the latest from S class (the highest amateur class, editor\u2019s note), if you want to get ahead, you have to dance at tourna\u00adments. That means you have to spend on travel, hotels, private lessons, etc. It\u2019s not a cheap sport, even clothes and shoes are relatively expensive. I knew that Dr. Menz is very involved and passionate about sports, and that Pharmpur supports both the AEV (the Augsburg Panthers \u2013 an ice hockey team in the German ice hockey league) and the K\u00f6nigs\u00adbrunner Pinguine\u201d on a regional level. I have never made a secret of my passion and it was important for me to share it with my employer. Dr. Menz supported me from day one and was always interested in knowing about the results of the tournaments.<\/p>\n
It goes without saying that you get some funding from dance associa\u00adtions or dance schools, especially as you move up in your career. Usually you get amounts in the range of 100 \u2013 150 euros, which is great, but for compa\u00adrison, a tournament dress costs at least 1,500 euros. You can easily under\u00adstand how quickly the money disap\u00adpears. Fortu\u00adnately, we never had any problems from an economic point of view, because we both work and we didn\u2019t overdo it with the tournaments.<\/p>\n
In 2018, Pharmpur decided to support us. That was great because that sponsorship allowed us to do some great things that we couldn\u2019t afford before. The biggest was the flight to Miami for the 2019 World Champi\u00adon\u00adships, which would not have been possible without Pharmpur.<\/p>\n
Did the sponsorship continue after you left the company?
\nYes, it was not limited to the time I was employed by Pharmpur. We only \u201cput it on hold\u201d last year when the pandemic changed priorities. But that was perfectly fine, and wouldn\u2019t have made any sense at all because we haven\u2019t been able to parti\u00adcipate in a tournament since January 2020. It sounds really strange to say that you haven\u2019t attended a tournament in almost a year and a half: Before the pandemic, there was one almost every weekend \u2013 especially in the regional class. But now the sponsorship has been extended again.<\/p>\n
Are there still tourna\u00adments planned this year?
\nThat depends on the country. In Russia it was possible to parti\u00adcipate in dance tourna\u00adments since January, but for us it was not possible to come to the country. Now it is possible to get a sports visa, but I have to be honest: We would not feel safe there at the moment. As for Europe, all the tourna\u00adments have been postponed, and we hope that soon we will be able to dance regularly at the big compe\u00adti\u00adtions again. We are cautiously optimistic.<\/p>\n
Profile
\nBenjamin Koenigs (n\u00e9e Schuler), 33, lives in K\u00f6nigsbrunn.
\nHe studied in Augsburg (Master of Business Administration)
\nHe started his profes\u00adsional career at Pharmpur, K\u00f6nigsbrunn
\nAfter two years he changed to PCI, Augsburg
\nParallel to his work he has been a profes\u00adsional dancer for two years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Work isn\u2019t every\u00adthing in life, and a hobby is part of the work-life balance. For former Pharmpur employee Benjamin Koenigs, that\u2019s dancing. In this interview, he talks about how he made it from amateur to profes\u00adsional and how Pharmpur supports him and his partner. Intro\u00adduction I am Benjamin Koenigs, I am 33 years old and \u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":1698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[23,25,24],"yoast_head":"\n