Makka Kleist (born 1951) is a Greenlandic actress. After training to be a schoolteacher, she was inspired to become an actress and received training at the Tuukkaq Teater in western

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

. As she was unable to find work in Denmark, she moved to Canada where she appeared in the TV series ''Daughter of the Country'' (1986). Back in Greenland, she met the theatre director Svenn Syrin who persuaded her to move to

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

in Norway where she appeared mainly at the youth theatre. In 2004, the couple moved to Greenland where Kleist became the leader of the amateur drama group Silamiut. From 2007 to 2016, she ran the newly established Greenlandic Drama School. In 2011, Kleist was awarded the Sermitsiaq Culture Prize.

Early life and education

Born in

Qullissat Qullissat (old spelling: ''Qutdligssat'')''Nuussuaq'', Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992 is a former settlement in the Qeqertalik municipality, located on the north-east coast of Disko Island on the west coast of Greenland. It was a coal mining town ...

on 25 December 1951, Makka Kleist is the youngest daughter of Nikolaj Kleist and his wife Bertiaraq. She was one of the family's five children. Adopted by her parents, her cousin

Kuupik Kleist Jakob Edvard Kuupik Kleist (born 31 March 1958) is a Greenlandic politician who served as the fourth prime minister of Greenland between 2009 and 2013. A member of the Inuit Ataqatigiit party, he was the first Prime Minister not affiliated with S ...

has served as prime minister of Greenland. After first attending her local school in Greenland, when she was 12 Kleist was sent to a school

Odsherred Odsherred is a peninsula in the north-western part of the island Zealand (Sjælland) in Denmark. Odsherred stretches from the Sjællands Odde in the north-west to the now drained Lammefjord in the south, covering an area with a wide range of the m ...

, Denmark, after which she returned to Greenland where she attended an

efterskole An efterskole (literally ''"afterschool"'', plural efterskoler) is a unique type of Danish voluntary independent residential school for young people between the age of 14 to 18. At an efterskole, students can choose to spend one, two or three year ...

Aasiaat Aasiaat () or Ausiait, formerly Egedesminde, is a town in the Qeqertalik municipality in western Greenland, located in the heart of Aasiaat Archipelago at the southern end of Disko Bay. With a population of 3,069 as of 2020, it is Greenland's fo ...

and a

realskole ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola' ...

Nuuk Nuuk (; da, Nuuk, formerly ) is the capital and largest city of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities from other co ...

. She then returned to Denmark where she embarked on a teacher training course in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

but returned to Greenland to qualify for her teaching diploma at the training college in Nuuk. After attending a performance by the Tuukkaq Theatre, she was reminded of her childhood dream of becoming an actress and decided to study drama at the Tuukkaq school in Jutland. Under the guidance of Reidar Nilsson, she spent a total of five years training and performing at the Tuukkaq.

Career

Recognizing that opportunities for her to act in Denmark or Greenland were limited, Kleist decided to move to Toronto, Canada, where she gained success in performing an indigenous role in the television series ''Daughters of the Country'' (1986) and in the stage play ''Aria'' (1987). At her mother's request, she then returned to Greenland to care for her family. In order to make a living, she became a schoolteacher but participated in the newly established Silamiut drama group. In 1989, while performing in ''Aari'', she met Svenn B. Syrin who was theatre director in Tromsø, Norway. She moved with him to Norway when she became active in the theatre, in particular as director of the Trmsø Youth Theatre. In 2004, together with Syrin, she returned to Nuuk where she became director of Silamiut. From 2007 to 2016, she ran the newly established Greenlandic Theatre School. In 2011, she was awarded the Sermitsiaq Culture Prize.

References

External links

Makka Kleist at IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleist, Makka 1951 births Living people Greenlandic actresses 20th-century Danish actresses 21st-century Danish actresses