How do we invite?
- On merging access and hospitality in artistic production
Professional exchange 2024: Theater o.N Berlin & tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf
May 15, 2024 in Berlin at Tanzhalle Wiesenburg
Since 2023, Theater o.N. and tanzhaus nrw have been inviting interested colleagues twice a year to an exchange on virulent topics in dance & theater for young audiences. We are interested in bringing the two scenes of theater for young audiences and contemporary dance together and into conversation, as the different perspectives have proven to be mutually enriching.
The fourth meeting in this series will take place in Berlin on May 15.
The two meetings in 2024 are dedicated to the wider field of opening up the dance and theater scene. In 2023, we looked at intergenerational forms and age specifications as well as participatory choreographies, and in February 2024 we explored the question of how we can "touch" the audience. These discussions have shown that the preoccupation with access, opening up and de-hierarchization is most effective precisely at the point where the considerations about hospitality are directly incorporated into the artistic work on the production.
On forms of touch and being touched in the theatre, article by Elisabeth Wellershaus.
This is precisely where we want to start at our conversation in Berlin and take the time to explore the concept of hospitality in relation to various artistic concepts.
Artists' talk and workshop
We will start the day with a workshop with producer and lecturer Micaela Kühn Jara and invite you to a discussion with performer Silja Korn, director Daniella Strasfogel and Access dramaturge and director Susanne Tod in the afternoon. Moderated by Micaela Kühn Jara, they will talk about their experiences with multi-sensory staging concepts. For example, what artistic potential can plays unfold that are aimed at both sighted and blind or deaf and hearing audiences?
Information on the workshop
In this five-hour workshop we will deal with questions related to hosting and hospitality: How do we invite? Who plays which role, who is the guests and who is the host? Especially when working with young audiences, these roles tend to be less obvious. When we play in schools, we become hosts in a reversed logic, almost invasively. When playing in theatres, the invitation is mainly addressed to the adults, who then decide for their younger companions to come.
We will get busy with these questions in our work, from the rehearsal to the performance situation. We will not attempt to solve these questions, but rather work with them in a generative way, in a mix of inputs, conversations, practical tasks, small groups activities.
The workshop follows on from the exchange in Düsseldorf in February, where we looked at various concepts related to participation and ended up with the question: How do we invite?
However, it is not a problem to attend the events in Berlin independently of the first part.
Schedule
09:30 - 10:00 Checking in
10:00 - 13:00 Workshop
13:00 - 14:15 Lunch break
14:30 - 16:00 Continuation Workshop
16:00 - 16:30 Break
16:30 - 18:00 Artists' Talk
The exchange is aimed at dance and theater professionals: Dancers, performers, choreographers, directors, dramaturges, theater and dance educators, academics, production practitioners and anyone else who is interested.
The workshop and the discussion will be held in German and English spoken language.
You are welcome to come to the workshop or the talk only.
The venue is not barrier-free. For more detailed information please write to domroes@theater-on.de or call +49-30-4409214.
Registration at domroes@theater-on.de
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Biografies of the artists involved
Moderation and workshop leader:
Micaela Kühn Jara works in the fields of dance and education with a special interest in participation and young audiences. With a background as a dancer, her work today encompasses production, education, conceptualization and research. She is the creative producer of Alfredo Zinola Productions (Germany), a company that develops contemporary performances for young audiences. She is also an artistic advisor for the program Dansehallerne (Denmark) for young audiences, which brings dance into schools through hybrid formats. In addition, she is a guest lecturer in the Dance and Participation (MFA) program at the Danish National School of Performing Arts on topics such as participation, artistic-educational practice, inclusion and creative practice.
Artists in conversation:
Silja Korn is a blind performer and advises theaters on access issues relating to blind and visually impaired audiences. She is the first blind educator in Germany with state recognition and works in a daycare center in Berlin. She is also an artist, paints, takes photographs and writes short stories. She also supports low barrier movements in museums and is involved in social projects. In workshops on art and other topics, she aims to minimize technical and human barriers. In the performing arts, she has worked on various projects with Judith Reinartz, Annika Hirsekorn, Eva Costa, Joris Camelin, Katia Engels and Zwoisy Mears-Clarke in recent years. In 2023, she worked with Theater o.N. for the first time for the production "DAS HEIDI - Eine Vorstellung übers Herausgerissenein" by Katharina Kummer, in which she appeared on stage. She is currently advising the ensemble on its new production for blind, visually impaired and sighted audiences. www.siljakorn.de
Daniella Strasfogel is a musician, music theater maker and performer in Berlin and founded LOUDsoft in 2018. With LOUDsoft, she wants to create formats for children, young people and families that offer access to the world of the independent scene and a new perspective on the interfaces between music, art and performance. Daniella is a founding member of the soloist ensemble Kaleidoskop in Berlin and was artistic director of the ensemble from 2010-2015. In the 2023/2024 season, Daniella is in-house director for music theater at tjg - theater junge generation, Dresden. Since 2022, she has been developing new skills in inclusion through consultations and participation in various workshops. In 2022, she developed "HERE", an inclusive and interactive experiential space for children from the age of four and adults. She is currently working on a multi-sensory sound playground for the next season in Dresden, in which haptics and sound are combined in different ways. https://www.daniellastrasfogel.com
Susanne Tod works as an access dramaturge, theater pedagogue and director in various productions and projects. The focus of her work is on theater work with deaf and hard of hearing people and experimenting with sign language as a stage language. From 2012-2022 she directed the youth club TheaterPlus at the Ernst Deutsch Theater (Hamburg) and since 2020 the project "Geschichten stärken" at the district & cultural center MOTTE e.V., which focuses on diversity and inclusion. She works as a curator and dramaturg in independent productions staged in sign language (DGS), most recently at Kampnagel for the multi-sensory music theater "Die Insel" by the artists' collective [in]operabilities (sign language dramaturgy) and at the Junges Theater Münster as director for the play "Ich will das so" by Leute wie die (co-director: Wera Mahne), a theater experience in spoken and sign language for children aged 5 and up. Since 2023, she has also been a jury member for Theater o.N. (Berliner Schaufenster and FRATZ International).
Supported by Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
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Photo credits: Melanie Zanin
The choreographers Hanna Bylka-Kanecka and Alfredo Zinola in conversation about Touch & Respect // Touch & Respect - approaches to participatory choreography in dance for young audience // Theater o.N. Berlin & tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf: Professional exchange February 23 - 24, 2024 at tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf.