NEWS
Success story: 5 years of explore dance - dance for young audiences Study confirms high effectiveness of the nationwide network
Over 400 nationwide and international performances of dance productions for children and young people, plus hundreds of outreach programmes in schools and educational institutions - the nationwide network explore dance - dance for young audiences has been working with impressive success since its foundation in 2018.
This is clearly demonstrated by the independent evaluation of CULTURE CONCEPTS that has now been published, which brings together empirical data with a survey of the central actors involved in funding and projects over the last five years.
The evaluation study is part of the booklet "5 years explore dance - network dance for young audiences. Impact, Potential, Perspectives" which was published on the occasion of the network's fifth anniversary.
REUT SHEMESH
Ultra4C - youth & uniform (AT)
From May 2023, the Israeli choreographer Reut Shemesh and her artistic team will develop a new stage production under the working title Ultra4C - youth & uniform on the themes of identity development and group membership. The focus is on the examination of uniform(isation) and the embodiment of social norms.
In the research phase, young people from different peer groups in Dresden, Hamburg, Munich and Potsdam will be closely involved in the thematic development of the piece in different mediation formats. Dance mediators from the four partner houses will accompany the production with a mediation programme for young people.
In this way, Reut Shemesh approaches the different forms of expression of specific groups together with the young people and asks about their own life experiences in the field of tension between differentiation from others and their own positioning in a group. Belonging to a group can mean empowerment and solidarity - or also appropriation and blind following.
Ultra4C - youth & uniform is the first joint stage production of the partners fabrik moves Potsdam, Hellerau - European Centre for the Arts in Dresden, K3 | Tanzplan Hamburg at Kampnagel and Fokus Tanz | Tanz und Schule e.V. Munich, which will be developed at all four locations. The cooperation across four federal states is exemplary for a forward-looking collaboration between partners with expertise from different contexts of production, mediation and presentation. The project is funded by Jupiter.
The Palucca University of Dance Dresden with its master's programme in choreography and the University of Applied Sciences Clara Hofbauer Potsdam with its bachelor's programme in dance in social work are involved in the project as cooperating educational institutions.
The performances in Munich will take place as part of the THINK BIG! Festival 2024.
explore dance season 2023 begins!
In addition to the Munich premieres PRISMA and Hey Körper?!, the following guest performances from Hamburg, Potsdam and Dresden will be presented:
WHERE THE BOYS ARE | 14+
by Yotam Peled
Halfway between dance and martial arts, two people explore new possibilities of touch and competition. Is it a question of who is stronger, or is it perhaps something quite different than victory that is being negotiated?
DOWNLOAD info sheet (in German)
Performances in Munich:
04th July - 10:30 am / Berufsschule zur Berufsvorbereitung Bogenhauser Kirchplatz - performance visit possible on request via exploredance@fokustanz.de
05th July - 3 pm / Iwanson International School of Contemporary Dance - performance visit possible on request via exploredance@fokustanz.de
SCHWANENSEE IN SNEAKERS | 12+
by Anna Till
What is dance? Which bodies dance? A fun and creative journey through the history of dance. In it, the past is interwoven with the present and questions are posed anew. Is waiting for the bus actually dance?
DOWNLOAD info sheet (in German)
Performances in Munich:
20th July - 7 pm / Studiobühne der Theaterwissenschaft - Registration via exploredance@fokustanz.de
21st July - 2 p.m. / Hochschule für Musik und Theater - Performance visit possible on request via exploredance@fokustanz.de
SPLAAASH | 12+
by Lisa Rykena and Carolin Jüngst
The choreographer duo Rykena/Jüngst combines language, sound and movement to create a humorously illustrative piece that asks which superheroes we would design if we could choose.
Period: 2nd - 8th October 2023 - More information
HORACE | 6+
by Renae Shaedler
Horace is a duet between a human and a crocodile skull. The play thematises the cycle of life and tells of adventures that are exciting for creatures and things alike.
Period: 23rd October 2023 - DOWNLOAD info sheet (in German)
The Pop Up plays and guest performances can be requested and booked for school performances!
Please contact us at exploredance@fokustanz.de
Here you will find the step by step guide (German): How to get a Pop Up piece to my school?
© Fokus Tanz
PERFORMANCE | 8+
HEY KÖRPER?!
In anatomy or biology classes, we learn about the human body as a skeleton or as a system of muscle strands and functions. Muscles, organs, body parts are depicted – but what exactly are these body parts, what defines my hand as a hand? And why is there no word for the area between my elbow and my upper arm? What would the body look like if we thought of it as a landscape, a weather system, or a folded skin sculpture? What do these body images look like in motion? With her piece Hey Körper?!, Sahra Huby explores existing body concepts and body images, changes them and plays with them. Through dance, the ways of perceiving the body are expanded and alternative ways of depicting the body are presented by means of live drawings.
Sahra Huby works as a freelance dancer. In 2016, 2017 and 2020 she received research grants from the City of Munich to further develop her own artistic practice to work on her research project Cartographies – a research about the representation and perception of the human body, which is questioned through dance and drawing. The pop up piece Hey Körper?! emerges from this research.
WITH
Choreography, drawings and dance: Sahra Huby
Music: Maxim Kolomiiets
Costumes: Louise Flanagan
Dramaturgy: Anna Konjetzky, Susanne Schneider
Outside Eye: Anette Geller
Assistance: Leonie Priepke
Expert: Tanja Erhart
PRESENTATIONS
9th July - probably 5 p.m. / Playground (Halle 6) - Public Showing; visit possible on request via exploredance@fokustanz.de
11th July - 9:45 a.m. / Primary school an der Fromundstraße (Premiere) - performance visit possible on request via exploredance@fokustanz.de
11th July - 12:15 p.m. / Primary school an der Fromundstraße - performance visit possible on request via exploredance@fokustanz.de
13th July - 11:40 a.m. / Mittelschule an der Simmernstraße - performance visit possible on request via exploredance@fokustanz.de
DURATION
40 minutes
LOCATION
Grundschule an der Fromundstraße and other schools/venues
© Alexandra Polina
PERFORMANCE | 7+
PRISMA
As a symbol for the diversity of perceptions, the collective around Rotem Weissman deals with the effect of prisms for their new piece. These alter the paths of light, scatter information in a variety of ways, and always bring with them a spark of magic. The children’s diversity of interpretation is to be equally stimulated and explored in this piece. Like daydreams, situations and objects are decoupled from their meaning and new connections are created. The resulting worlds are experienced, discussed and shared together.
Choreographer Rotem Weissman is deeply engaged in the exchange between the body and the imagination –in relation to oneself, but also in relation to others through interaction, reaction and shared imagination.
Weissman’s production BAUHAUS was awarded second prize at the Jerusalem International Choreography Competition. Residencies and fellowships have taken her to Studio Alta (Czech Republic), Tanz Station (DE), and the Mifal Hapais Cultural Foundation and Dis-Tanz Solo. After her training as a dancer, Rotem Weissman studied choreography at SEAD in Salzburg.
For this piece, Rotem Weissman is collaborating with Jin Lee and Jihun Choi. Both have developed their international career in choreography and dance, working in Europe and worldwide.
PREMIERE
14th March 2023
WITH
Choreography: Rotem Weissman
Concept and dance: Rotem Weissman, Jin Lee, Jihun Choi
Music: Tai Rona
Costumes: U.Kaiju and Lai
Outside Eye and mediation: Susanne Schneider
Expert: Ceren Oran
DURATION
40 minutes
LOCATION
14th March 2023 - Primary school on Mariahilfplatz / school performance
15th March 2023 - Primary school on Mariahilfplatz / school performance
17th March 2023, 3pm - Halle E at HP8 / Family performance
18th March 2023, 7 pm - Halle E at HP8 / Family performance
explore dance enters the second funding phase:
Sahra Huby and Rotem Weissman represent Munich 2022/23
The nationwide dance network explore dance for young audiences enables children and young people to experience contemporary dance art on stage as audience members on the one hand and to actively participate in the art form of dance themselves on the other. For the 2022/23 season, the partner institutions K3 | Tanzplan Hamburg, fabrik Potsdam, Fokus Tanz have issued an open call for the next Pop Up productions for the first time. The two choreographers Sahra Huby and Rotem Weissman were selected from Munich.
With Sahra Huby, a choreographer has been invited to Munich who has already worked as a dancer in an explore dance Pop Up and has had numerous guest performances. In her works, she focuses on the situational togetherness of people and opens up the artistic process for the observing counterpart. With "Body Atlas" she creates a piece that playfully addresses the constitution and deconstruction of bodies by bringing together movements and drawings.
Rotem Weissman's choreographic works have been shown at international festivals and captivate with their strong visual language. For her new piece "Prism" she creates a colourful world that stimulates the children's imagination. Weissman shows how diverse reality can be interpreted in dance.
The artists will meet their target group for the first time at a Research Lab in September 2022. This multi-perspective prelude will enrich the artistic process. The two new pieces will be premiered in winter 2022/23.
explore dance - Network Dance for Young Audiences is the joint project of Fokus Tanz Munich, fabrik Potsdam and K3 | Tanzplan Hamburg. Funded since 2018 by the programme TANZPAKT Stadt Land Bund, the project closes a nationwide gap in cultural offerings for children and young people and aims to sustainably strengthen and artistically develop the field of dance for young audiences. From July 2022, HELLERAU - European Centre for the Arts Dresden will join the project as a fourth partner and, by expanding the network to four federal states, will strengthen the visibility of the field.
In the new funding phase from July 2022 to the end of 2023, explore dance will focus artistically on educational offers and pop-ups as mobile productions that open up access to dance in schools, museums, cultural centres and theatre spaces both regionally and nationally. The nine or in future 12 productions will be presented at three (in future four) festivals. Embedded in the festivals are professional platforms that offer space for networking and a dialogue on cultural and educational policy.
The project explore dance - network dance for young audiences has had a special position at Fokus Tanz since 2018. In addition to experiencing and learning about contemporary dance, we want to enable children and young people - especially in a school context - to participate in the reception of art. Only in the connection between creative work and reception do we create sustainable opportunities for participation. Therefore, the production of dance for young audiences is a very important concern for us.
explore dance is a unique nationwide network of four partners: fabrik moves Potsdam, Fokus Tanz I Tanz und Schule e.V. Munich, K3 | Tanzplan Hamburg and HELLERAU - Europäisches Zentrum der Künste, who have entered into a long-term cooperation to develop a structure for the production of contemporary dance pieces for young audiences. Within the framework of the joint project, established choreographers are invited to develop new works for young audiences and present them in all cities. The research for the development of the piece will focus on involving children and young people in order to approach their themes and to experiment with artistic techniques together. The works are shown on stage by professional artists and are followed by various mediation offers and discussions with the young target group.
Further information: PERFORMANCES and INSIGHTS
To the website of explore dance
