The tanz weit draußen network on the road in Schleswig-Holstein!
Game On, Hero and Tülva – pop-up productions on tour in Schleswig-Holstein –
3 dance pieces, 6 venues, 9 performances – that was the tanz weit draußen tour in cooperation with tanz.nord to schools in Schleswig-Holstein at the end of September. The tanz.nord guest performance »Tülva« was also part of the tour, together with the pop-up dance pieces »Game On« and »Hero«. After each performance, pupils had the opportunity to get in touch with the performers in a workshop and immerse themselves in the world of dance performance. On the second day of the tour, Mark Christoph Klee invited us to the rehearsal room of the artist collective Merle | Mischke | Klee in Neumünster. There, the 30 dance professionals had the opportunity to exchange ideas and network. In addition to Merle | Mischke | Klee and the TWD Touring performers involved, dance professionals from TuP.SH in Schleswig-Holstein and cultural policy stakeholders from the city of Neumünster also attended. The lively exchange ended in the evening with pizza in a cosy atmosphere. All in all, we can look back on a successful tour with lots of positive feedback and curious children and young people!
Tanz weit draußen tours BW – a touring project by the tanz weit draußen network in cooperation with TanzSzene Baden-Württemberg e.V.
2+2=4, Horace and Augenhöhe – pop-up productions as guests in Baden-Württemberg
In October 2023, the sixteen-strong dance team travelled over 300 km to present mobile dance pieces to children, young people and adults in rural regions of Baden-Württemberg and then invited them to dance themselves.
They travelled across the state in two tour buses – at a total of three stops in Rettigheim, Gaggenau and Ehingen (Donau), more than 150 people came into contact with contemporary dance in dance schools and school gyms.
With their piece ‘2+2=4’, the BLOMST! gUG team from Stuttgart showed their young audience with a wink what you can do with four arms and four legs. Renae Shadler & Collaborators presented their fantasy friend with their piece ‘Horace’ from Potsdam: a crocodile head that tells the autobiographical story of the choreographer from Australia in a child-friendly way. In the piece ‘Augenhöhe’ by Mecklenburg-Vorpommern tanzt an from Stralsund, two dancers meet – one of them stands on her legs, the other sits in a wheelchair. They humorously explore encounters at eye level. All the pieces were then discussed with the children and young people and seamlessly transitioned into a movement workshop.
Video review of the touring event in Baden-Württemberg(Video currently only available in German.)
In her welcoming address at the Gaggenau venue, State Secretary Sabine Kurtz from the Ministry for Rural Areas emphasised the importance of cultural offerings outside the big cities, which for her are a natural part of a ‘good, interesting and beautiful life’. The audience at the Dachgrub school centre was delighted with this special visit.
In Rettigheim, the ZeitTanzLand association welcomed dancers and the public to the premises of its own school for dance, performance and yoga, named Semilla. The association gave the dance team a warm welcome and organised a special workshop to get to know and network with the dance professionals.
In the Schmiechtalschule in Ehingen (Donau), all the larger rooms were made available to allow three performances to take place at the same time. The Südwest Presse reported on ‘the enrichment provided by the dance team, which emphasised dance education and was able to teach the pupils new things.’
The team’s tour began with the premiere of the INTER-ACTIONS Company at the EinTanzHaus in Mannheim and ended with a tour of the ROXY in Ulm, a socio-cultural centre that continuously promotes artistic dance with the TanzLabor Ulm platform. These institutions are members of TanzSzene Baden-Württemberg e. V., which, as an alliance partner of tanz weit draußen, is responsible for the realisation of this tour and offers the guest dance artists from the northern federal states of Baden-Württemberg a platform for artistic dance.
Touring event Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Pasta ohne Ende, 1000 Kisses, Hero – pop-up productions visiting Vorpommern-Rügen –
tanz weit draußen – tour in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern(Video currently only available in German.)
‘tanz weit draußen’ tours MV – a touring project of the network ‘tanz weit draußen’, in co-operation with Mecklenburg-Vorpommern tanzt an and Perform[d]ance e. V.
From 12-15 March 2023, three pop-up dance pieces from different federal states toured Western Pomerania – from kindergartens and schools in the hinterland to the Grundtvighaus in Sassnitz on the island of Rügen. The dancers who perform in Pasta ohne Ende, 1000 Kisses and Hero don’t need a big stage; on each of the four days of the tour, they dance in classrooms, gyms and community halls. This is precisely why they have developed their pop-up productions about enjoying pasta, kisses or turning defeats into victories: to be able to show sophisticated, entertaining dance for children and young people anywhere and without much effort – even in places where the art of dance rarely or never goes!
But it wasn’t just dancers and choreographers who came to Western Pomerania; dance educators from various federal states were also invited to take part in the tour. They accompanied the performances with movement workshops and discussions and were able to exchange ideas with dance artists from the region. Input for everyone – this is how the concept of these days can be described: for children and young people who experience an artistic interruption to their school day through dance, for the travelling dance artists and dance mediators who can show their productions and gain insights into the realities of life and working practices in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and for the local dance professionals who were able to expand their knowledge and network enormously through the encounters and exchanges.
On the afternoon of the third day, the experiences of this tour and exchange project were discussed. In a working discussion, participants and guests from local and state politics, culture and education and representatives of the ‘tanz weit draußen’ network partners discussed questions such as: What do we need to be able to set up such tour and exchange formats more broadly? What financial, personnel and infrastructural support is needed so that this pilot project can be repeated and also realised in other federal states?
The working meeting took place on Tuesday, 14 March 2023 from 4:30 – 6:00 pm in Stralsund.
This project as part of the ‘tanz weit draußen’ network is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media via the ‘Verbindungen Fördern’ programme of the Bundesverband Freie Darstellende Künste e.V. (Federal Association of Independent Performing Arts).
