AscenDance Project

Isabel Jessica von Rittberg grew up in Wuppertal-Beyenburg, a small historical village in Western Germany. Her father is German; her mother was born in Montana. Isabel was raised bilingually. As a child, she danced ballet, played the piano and spent more time on horseback than on foot. Her summers in the Rocky Mountains instilled in her a love of nature. Isabel graduated with a BA in Latin American/Iberian Studies and a French minor from the University of California, Santa Barbara. There she also began climbing. In preparation for her senior thesis, Isabel spent a year in Santiago de Chile. While living and traveling in South America, she performed African-Brazilian dance and further developed her rock climbing skills. The grace of rock climbing captured her attention.

The urge to convey the beauty and fluidity of rock climbing led her to start the AscenDance Project in 2006. She has created a genre that unites climbing, dance and music, performed on a vertical wall. Since the founding of AscenDance Project, Isabel’s troupe has given numerous performances throughout the United States. After her appearance on national television in 2010 (America’s Got Talent) AscenDance Project has gained international recognition. The company is now based out of Boulder, Colorado.

Born and raised in the Nation’s Capital, Marisa has spent much of her life participating in physical and performance activities. At the age of 4, when the pre-school playground and furniture at home proved insufficient outlets for her energy, she joined a local gym and her love of athletic performance was born. Marisa competed in gymnastics for twelve years in local, national, and international venues. In 2003 she won the Level 10 Junior Maryland State championship. She had the good fortune of spending her first two years of high school in Paris, during which time, in addition to developing fluency in her third language, she competed with a local French gymnastics club and won a national competition. An injury forced her to end her competitive gymnastics career at the age of 16, so she turned to competitive diving for the remainder of her high school years. As part of her gymnastics training, Marisa received ballet and jazz instruction. When she moved to Colorado, she developed a love of the mountains and a renewed interest in dance, including West African, salsa, and contemporary/modern styles. Marisa graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2010, earning a B.A. in International Affairs with a French minor. While in school she began coaching gymnastics for a local competitive girls’ team, where she still works. Marisa is thrilled to have a found a new and unique form of movement and athleticism with AscenDance, and is eager to begin this new journey in performance.