JEANNÉ ROCKS LA
SA dancer makes transatlantic leap
Model, actress, WAG, ballet dancer — and now international DJ.
That was the route taken by East Londonborn Jeanné “Kietzn” Kietzmann, 32, to the bright lights of Los Angeles. But before that she trawled through some dodgy basements and dingy clubs.
The classically trained ballet dancer is now beating a different rhythm — playing underground deep-tech house on the decks. It’s a far cry from pirouetting to the strands of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Chopin.
Kietzmann left a lucrative modelling career and doing bit-piece acting in SA in 2014, hoping to break into the overseas music scene.
This was soon after the filming of the BBC science-fiction series Outcasts, in which she had a supporting role.
Before that she appeared in the M-Net soccer drama League of Glory.
The beautiful brunette caught the eye of Proteas cricketer Dale Steyn in Cape Town in 2007, reportedly at a restaurant where she was working, and the two trotted the globe until they broke up in 2014.
While their relationship bombed, Krietzmann’s musical career thrived, but not without its share of hurdles.
To date she has performed at sought-after venues, among them the Sky Bar at the Mondrian, Waldorf Astoria, Estrella, MA Lounge, Rosy Oyster, Soho House, Temple Tuesdays at Pattern Bar, Sanctuary Sundays and MGM Grand Vegas.
It is, however, her DJ stints at Burning Man that have audiences coming back for more.
The annual event at the temporary Black Rock City, in a private area of Nevada, has spawned a cult-like following for its experimental art.
It takes its name from the symbolic burning of a large wooden figure at the end of the festival, and was first held 33 years ago in San Francisco.
In Kietzmann’s early days on the club scene, one bad experience almost made her quit — a sound technician kept on yelling at her over the microphone because the sound was not right.
“I cried for a few days, gathered myself and decided I wasn’t going to let some guy ruin how I felt about playing music or dampen my passion.”
At times she felt very exposed and unsafe.
“You can imagine, people would still party hard by the time the sun came out. So you would get these people coming up to you, bumping the equipment, spilling their drinks everywhere. It just was a messy environment and being there on my own I sometimes felt really unsafe and uncomfortable,” Kietzmann said.
“My first DJ gig was actually at the gym close to my previous apartment. I went on to getting a residency at a venue called MA Lounge in West Hollywood after that.
“The thing with DJ-ing is that it takes a long time to get comfortable performing in front of people, learning how to master your skill set, networking and getting your music out to the world. There’s no such thing as an overnight success in the DJ world.”
She is in a relationship. “We have known each other for a few years and finally made it official. He is wonderful and I couldn’t be happier,” she said, but is keeping his identity under wraps.
Kietzmann grew up with her mother, grandmother and two sisters in Cape Town after her parents divorced when she was young.
“My gran had a pottery studio where I spent most of my time when I wasn’t at dance class, which I think contributed to my love for creativity.
You would get these people coming up to you, bumping the equipment, spilling their drinks everywhere. It just was a messy environment and being there on my own I sometimes felt really unsafe and uncomfortable Jeanné Kietzmann
“Starting out in the industry I didn’t know much, nor had I anyone I could ask for advice. Work would come, you’d make money, you’d waste all your money, you’d make more. It was just the cycle.
“No-one in my family was a part of the entertainment or music industry, so this really was a learning curve.”
Kietzmann is working on an EP (extended play record).
She dreams of collaborating with artists such as Black Coffee, Solomun (Mladen Solomun, a Bosnian-German DJ and lounge music producer), or Peggy Gou, a South Korean DJ and fashion designer.
“I love telling a story through music. I like my art to be a reflection of who I am and where I am from,” she said.