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Under the new curator MATEUSZ SZYMANÓWKA, the 30th edition of Tanztage Berlin speculates on the future of our dance floors and how we can fight isolation from each other. In dance we enter into unexpected alliances: Through dance we heal, mourn, resist.

When the theaters closed in 2020 and the clubs turned into museums, dance sloshed across screens, through bedrooms, basements, parks and streets. Undisciplined bodies occupied digital and public space to rave, but also to rave against, resist violence, unjust politics and systemic oppression. Since hard times require furious dancing, this year’s festival explores the anti-authoritarian tradition of dance. It explores the revolting body in its fragility, mortality and ability to transform itself and others. With the hope that moving together on stage can be as urgent as live gatherings outside.

Confronted with the constant resurgence of fascism, a global pandemic and other doomsday scenarios, dance tries to tell stories about other futures. In the dystopian “now” after the afterparty, science fiction becomes a somatic practice, a tool that not only serves to create better worlds, but also to cultivate critical bodies and rehearse scores for times when the boundaries between us are blurred: Scores of tenderness and solidarity that call us to stick together and leave no one behind.

The 30th edition of Tanztage Berlin is a production of SOPHIENSÆLE. Supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe. With the friendly support of Tanzfabrik Berlin e.V., Theaterhaus Berlin Mitte and Förderband e.V./Berliner Spielplan Audiodeskription. Media partner: taz. die tageszeitung

Every year in January, Tanztage Berlin provide a platform for the city’s emerging choreographers. In the 29th edition, queer-feminist and postcolonial perspectives intertwine to form a complex reflection on today.

In eight premieres and two guest performances, the artists question the structures of our society and contrast them with their own narratives. They look at the colonial dance heritage with a non-European gaze and create their own decolonial movement practice. Beneath the hypermasculinity of martial arts they find queer vulnerability and in school uniforms the anarchic power of transgression. For selected performances, live descriptions and touch tours will be offered for blind and visually impaired visitors and for the first time at Tanztage Berlin, there will be Relaxed Performances in a laid-back and sensorially relaxed atmosphere.

AFTER SIX YEARS AS FESTIVAL DIRECTOR THIS is ANNA MÜLTER‘S FINAL EDITION AND WE ARE HAPPY TO CELEBRATE IT WITH HER!

The 29.th Tanztage Berlin are produced by SOPHIENSÆLE. Funded by Senate Department for Culture and Europe. Supportet by Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore, mapping dance and Tanzfabrik Berlin e.V. Media partners: taz.die tageszeitung, Zitty, ExBerliner.

In the 28th edition of Tanztage Berlin, the city’s young choreographers once again present themselves in all their diversity. This year many of the productions deal with the perception of one’s own body and that of others. What do we attribute to a body, when do we see it as unpredictable and in need of help, when as controllable and strong? In theory, there are no limits to the possibilities, but in practice we are exposed to social norms that restrict our view. Bodies are pressed into forms, but also question them and blow them up. The fictitious potential of bodies opens up undreamt-of dimensions: They reinvent themselves using drag techniques or approach non-human organisms using mimicry. Two choreographers from Egypt will be guests at Around the World this year, providing insights into the Cairo dance scene.

This year, for the first time, audio descriptions and Haptic Access Tours will be offered for selected performances, and the feedback format Let’s Talk About Dance once again initiates an exchange between artists and audience. A choreographed conversation brings together Berlin activists, politically engaged dance professionals and audience members alike, to discuss how the dance community and civil society can mutually support each other in their fight against the rise of the right.

WITH Angela Alves, Olympia Bukkakis, Nina Burkhardt, Anjal Chande / The Soham Dance Project, Léonard Engel, Forough Fami, Mirjam Gurtner, Perel, Julia Rodriguez, Kareth Schaffer, Annegret Schalke, Nagham Salah Othman, Shaymaa Shoukry, Tchivett

The 28.th Tanztage Berlin are produced by SOPHIENSÆLE. Funded by Senate Chancellery for Culture and Europe. Supported by Goethe-Institut Kairo, mapping dance berlin and Tanzfabrik Berlin e.V. Media partner: Ask Helmut, ExBerliner, taz. die tageszeitung, Zitty.

In keeping with tradition, held at the start of the year – here comes the showdown of the Berlin dance scene! By now in its 27th edition, Tanztage Berlin allows the emerging choreographic talent of the city to flex their physical and spiritual muscles! This year Tanztage Berlin is teaming up with the Young Choreographers Festival from Athens: Two pieces by Greek artists will be presented and working conditions discussed.

We are inviting you and yours to kick off the new year with a dance marathon comprised of seven premieres and seven guest performances which have never before been shown in Berlin!

WITH Asaf Aharonson, Youness Atbane + Youness Aboulakoul, Joy Alpuerto Ritter, Simone Detig, Lina Gómez, Przemek Kamiński, Mateusz Szymanówka + Marta Ziółek, Ana Laura Lozza + Bárbara Hang, Sara Mikolai, Reza Mirabi + Roland Walter, Emmilou Rößling, Helen Schröder und Die Neue Kompanie, Mey Seifan / Tanween Company, tanzfähig + Zwoisy Mears-Clarke, Xenia Taniko GUESTS Katerina Andreou, Evangelia Kolyra

The 27th Tanztage Berlin are produced by SOPHIENSÆLE. Funded by the Senate Chancellery for Culture and Europe. Supported by Onassis Cultural  Centre-Athens, Kulturreferat der Landeshauptstadt München, Goethe-Institut Marokko, Polnisches  Institut Berlin, mapping dance berlin and Tanzfabrik Berlin e.V. media partner: taz.die tageszeitung, zitty Berlin.

For 21 years now Tanztage Berlin has been a solid institution for the Berlin dance landscape and the most important date for up-and-coming choreographers of the city. In its 26th festival edition the artists are diving deep into the structures which surround us on a daily basis: in eight premieres and four revivals of past productions they will examine the measurability and illusion of time and will make the algorithms, which are imperceptible but yet constantly surround us in the internet, tangible to us in the analogue world. They transfer methods of musical composition into choreography and examine everyday gestures like an embrace as well as hauled out of daily life gestures of ritual worship. They dance with the mind, think with the body, they fight against reality and let vampires sink their teeth into the existential structures of desire and death!

Every year anew the Tanztage Berlin connect with a different non-European dance scene – this time five artists from Tehran present their work. Other guests include three former Tanztage-artists who ask themselves whether the success in the past few years of documentary theater can also inspire dance to take a new look at reality. In short solo pieces they try out various documentary work processes.

Creating just as much commotion as the pieces themselves is the return of the feedback format Let’s Talk About Dance! Of course we can’t skip over the legendary festival parties at which the Berliner choreographers can be experienced live in performances, music projects and as DJs!

We cordially invite you to kick-off another Tanzyear with us together!

With Akiles, Anna Aristarkhova, Cécile Bally, Mab Cardoso, Philipp Enders, Tomasz Foltyn, Frantics Dance Company, Keyon Gaskin, Zeina Hanna, Alice Heyward, Tarren Johnson + Mira Obrien, Miriam Kongstad, Magda Korsinsky, Marquet K. Lee, Elpida Orfanidou, Juliana Piquero, Julia Rodriguez, Niloufar Shahisavandi + Solmaz Sajadieh, female trouble, Maria Walser SPECIAL GUESTS Nargess Behrouzian, Sorour Darabi, Masoumeh Jalalieh, Mehrdad Motejalli, Raheleh Taabodi

The 26th Tanztage Berlin are a production of SOPHIENSÆLE. Funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe. With the support of Goethe-Institut, Tanzfabrik Berlin e.V. and mapping dance berlin. Media partners: taz. die tageszeitung, Zitty, Tanz

The new has become tradition at the Tanztage Berlin: now in its 25th edition, the festival will present the young choreographic talents of the city over eleven days. The focus this year will be on the critical and affirmative adoption of practices from a variety of cultural contexts: an equally enchanting yet questionable exoticism will sprawl from the stage into the audience, ethnic stereotypes will be thrown off-balance by over-exaggeration, post-colonial heritage will be devoured and the Japanese martial art of Ninja will lend the necessary fire power to Contact Improvisation. In addition, transborder practices of love and sexuality and experiments with the physicality of voice and the sound of the body will be explored.

The exchange between Berlin and the non-European dance scenes will be continued this year with the Collectivo AM from Mexico City. Another special guest of the Tanztage Berlin will be the Julius-Hans-Spiegel-Zentrum. The mobile research center explores the exoticisms of modern dance and questions the relationship between contemporary dance and non-Western physical practices.

Let’s talk about dance! Together with the audience we will once again test new dance exchange formats. So that dancing will not just be limited to the stage, two choreographers will present their own party formats. We invite you to celebrate a roaring festival of contemporary dance with us!

WITH Rodrigo Garcia Alves, Rike  Flämig + Zwoisy  Mears-Clarke, Jule  Flierl, Roderick  George, Olivia  Hyunsin  Kim, Aline  Landreau, Rocio Marano + Lea Kieffer, Ania  Nowak, António Onio + Bráulio Bandeira, Kareth  Schaffer, Mirjam Sögner, Karol  Tyminski  SPECIAL GUESTS Colectivo AM: Bárbara  Foulkes, Nuria Fragoso, Anabella  Pareja  Robinson  and the artists in residence of the   Julius-Hans-Spiegel-Zentrum Dragana Bulut, Tümay  Kılınçel + Nuray Demir, Sara Mikolai

The 25th Tanztage Berlin is a production of SOPHIENSÆLE. Funded by the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Senate Chancellery for Cultural Affairs. With the kind support of Museo Universitario del Chopo, Goethe-Institut, Institut français, the French Ministry of Culture and Communication / DGCA and mapping dance berlin. Media partners: taz.die tageszeitung, Missy Magazine, tanz

Meanwhile also in its 24th edition, the Tanztage Berlin serves as a platform for the upcoming choreographic talents of the city. The focus of this year’s festival is the interdisciplinary nature of many young artists whose playing field is not just restricted to dance. They set out to discover new worlds or genres and address choreographic issues in pop culture such as: striptease and breakdance, club culture, talk shows and pop music – nothing is safe from their grasp.

The new format Strip Down to Everything makes the illusionary machine of the theater implode. In a performance obstacle course for each person, the choreographers test the limits of direct encounters and intimacy. Pushing the boundaries of contact, the Tanztage Berlin are teaming up with other international platforms of up-and-coming artists and will show two works from Sri Lanka this year. The eleven day long performance marathon with nine premieres and five revivals invites the public to discover new choreographic perceptions and to come celebrate contemporary dance with us at our fabulous party.

The 24th Tanztage Berlin are a production by SOPHIENSÆLE. Funded by the Mayor of Berlin – Senatskanzlei – Kulturelle Angelegenheiten. Friendly supported by Goethe-Institut, Polish Institute Berlin, mapping dance berlin, Tanzfabrik Berlin and Halle Tanzbühne. media partners: taz.die tageszeitung, tanz, Zitty.

In contrast to the grey Berlin winter, Tanztage Berlin is back in 2014 with a colorful festival of emerging dance artists. This year’s program is once again queer and international. It presents great differences in how choreographers see their work. Whether they consider it a formal arrangement, an expression of ideas or self, a political project, a narrative or a momentary experience: the audience is invited to emerge themselves into a myriad of artistic visions. At the same time, they can ponder on the positions that these dances take in the ever-widening field of choreography. Once again, Tanztage Berlin provides a momentary snapshot of the intertwined and complex connections of the Berlin dance scene.

This year we have decided to write about the artists from our point-of-view. We wanted to make the curation process more transparent and reveal what we thought was important about each artist’s work. Curating, for us, is an opportunity to initiate dialogues between the audience and the artists, the artist and ourselves and, of course, the audience and ourselves. This is how we pick up on trends and give impulses into the dance world. As a result, our programming stands as one possible definition of what contemporary dance means in Berlin today.

Those who support emerging artists need, above all, interest, patience and openness. The audiences of Tanztage Berlin have always excelled in these qualities. We are looking forward to a lively exchange with all of you again!

In growing anticipation,
Peter Pleyer and Arianne Hoffmann

WITH Barbara Berti, Vincent Bozek, Lea Kieffer + Michael Shapira, Calvin Klein, Hana Lee Erdman, Juan Gabriel Harcha, Jorge Rodolfo De Hoyos, Jee-Ae Lim, Juliana Piquero, Kareth Schaffer, Claire Vivianne Sobottke, Ahmed Soura, Maya Weinberg & Lee Meir, Wooguru, Baska Gwozdz, Korina Kordova and Agata Siniarska

The 23. Tanztage Berlin are a production of Tanztage Berlin GbR and SOPHIENSÆLE GmbH, in cooperation with Tanzfabrik Berlin, dem Polnischen Institut Berlin, Art Stations Foundation by Grazyna Kulczyk. Funded by Governing Mayor of Berlin – Senate Chancellery Cultural Affairs. Friendly supported by Allianz Kulturstiftung, Arts Council Korea, Balletcentrum am Kurfürstendamm, Mapping Dance and TanzScout Berlin. Thanks to our media partners zitty, Berlin Poche and taz.die tageszeitung.

Instructions for beginners in knitting for a frenzy of wool and colour:

“Be anarchic with wool by using as many different colours as possible, for example, with wool leftovers. Treat the rules of traditional handwork casually. Don’t use fixed patterns. Find a balance between being precise and improvising, chaos und form, anarchy and conformity to rules. What is the purpose in deciding whether to use applied or freestyle knitting? In applied knitting, the finished product (a blanket, pullover etc.) is the purpose of the manufacturing process where as freestyle knitting begs the question: what’s it all for? The process of knitting (the interplay of wool and structure, and the frenzy of colour) is in itself purpose enough.”
(forum.frag-mutti.de)

TANZTAGE BERLIN is knitting away at the dance history of tomorrow and in its upcoming festival, it presents Christine Borch and Dani Brown – examples of how the body and physical activity can be made into rigorous concepts in choreography. Julian Weber and Márcio Canabarro produce poetical dance pieces linked to the visual arts while Ari Hoffmann and Antje Velsinger’s research focus is on sound, music and language. Willy
Prager finds his inspiration in current political events. Once again, we will be looking beyond the borders of Berlin and for the fourth time, we will present the exchange programme with Stary Browar Nowy Taniec from Poznan, in which young choreographic talents from Poland are shown. And for the first time this year, young Israeli choreographers are represented from HaZira’s upcoming talent programme, “New Dance Project”. The programme will be supplemented by installation works in the Kantine and Foyer, improvisations, the Zeitgenössischer Tanz Berlin e.V. Zukunftswerkstatt, and festival insights and warm-ups with Tanzscout Berlin. Once again, Agnes Benoit will be present with a bookstand for “Books on the Move” and undergraduates from the HZT (Inter-University Centre for Dance) will blog during the entire festival.

TANZTAGE BERLIN wishes you a colourful start to the New Year.

WITH Diego Agullo, Christine Borch, Matthieu Burner, Dani Brown, Márcio Kerber Canabarro, Alessio Castelacci, Nils Freyer, Shani Granot, Ze(i)na Hanna, Arianne Hoffmann, Naama Ityel, Anna Jarrige, Roni Katz, Marzena Krzeminska, Tatjana Mejia, Willy Prager, Anna Posch, Sonja Pregrad, Magdalena Ptasznik, Nevo Romano, Irene Schröder, Antje Velsinger, Julian Weber, Witchtitts, Marysa Zimpel, Tanzscout Berlin, students of HZT Berlin and Ztb e. V.

TANZTAGE BERLIN is a production of Tanztage Berlin GbR and SOPHIENSÆLE, in cooperation with the Polish Institute Berlin, Art Stations Foundation, Hazira Performance.Art Arena and Theater Freiburg. Supported by funds from the Governing Mayor of Berlin – Senate Chancellery for Cultural Affairs. With the kind support of the Embassy of the State of Israel, Radeberger Gruppe KG, AV Tour GmbH, Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH, the Ballettcentrum am Kurfürstendamm and Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus. We would like to thank our media partner taz.die tageszeitung.

Berlin is a constant magnet for young, international artists – the influx of dancers and choreographers is unbroken, not only because of the low cost of living, but also because of the many opportunities for exchange and inspiration:

In which other city is there a dance office where dancers and choreographers can find all important information and a strong partner for problem solving? Where else is professional dance training offered at up to six different locations? Where else can you find numerous performance opportunities, such as at the ada Studio for Contemporary Dance, Tanzfabrik Berlin and Dock11, among others? And where else in Europe do two of the most distinguished contemporary choreographers, Sasha Waltz and Meg Stuart, work in independent structures?

TANZTAGE BERLIN is an important presentation platform for young choreographers. As part of Berlin’s independent dance scene, it is also one of the festival’s tasks to protect and expand these independent professional structures, as well as to strengthen them in terms of cultural policy. For the 21st time, the TANZTAGE 2012 will show new, progressive positions in contemporary dance in all rooms of the Sophiensæle. Between political analysis, the place of dance in society and a new look at the musical genre, various artistic approaches will be explored. The interface of dance, visual arts, music and performance plays an important role.

The young choreographers of the festival come from various international training institutes (e.g. SNDO Amsterdam, SEAD Salzburg), but increasingly also from the Hochschulübergreifendes Zentrum Tanz Berlin. From the pilot phase of the HZT, for example, An Kaler and Kai Simon Stöger are represented in 2012. We are looking forward to discovering new talents together with the audience again this year.

The 21st TANZTAGE BERLIN is a production of Tanztage Berlin GbR and SOPHIENSÆLE, in cooperation with Tanzfabrik Berlin e.V. and the Polish Institute Berlin. Supported by funds from the Governing Mayor of Berlin – Senate Chancellery – Cultural Affairs. With the kind support of Tanzwerkstatt Berlin / Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH, Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus, Tanzforum Berlin, Uferstudios, TiSCH – Theater im Schokohof, AV-Tour GmbH and Ballettcentrum am Kurfürstendamm. We would like to thank our media partners zitty and taz.die tageszeitung.

20 editions of TANZTAGE BERLIN from September 1996 – January 2011: That’s a lot of history – started at Pfefferberg and continued in Sophiensaele since 2001 – a lot of movement, lots of choreographers and memories we want to share and celebrate with our audience. Besides the new discoveries, some well-known former participants from 20 years of TANZTAGE history will surprise us with congratulatory interludes various days of this year’s festival. The foyer of Sophiensaele will invite you to browse through history; all editions of TANZTAGE BERLIN will be documented there with posters, booklets and pictures. A novelty of this year’s 20. TANZTAGE edition is the coaching project with Peter Pleyer. Once more on board: FU Berlin’s MA programme on Dance Studies, the “Solo Project Poznan”, “Books on the Move” and an evening with ZTB e.V. Thanks to all fellow campaigners, participants, partners, colleagues, sponsors and friends of TANZTAGE BERLIN, who contributed to the continuous success of the festival over the years. Join in celebrating!

The 20th Tanztage Berlin is a production of Tanztage Berlin gbr in cooperation with Sophiensæle, Tanzfabrik Berlin e.V. and the Polish Institute Berlin.  Funded by the Governing Mayor of Berlin – Senate Chancellery – Cultural Affairs. With the kind support of Tanzwerkstatt Berlin / Kulturprojekte Berlin Gmbh, Halle Tanzbühne, Dussmann Das Kulturkaufhaus, Buse Heberer Fromm Rechtsanwälte Steuerberater Partg, Mimecentrum Berlin, Ballett Centrum Kurfürstendamm Karree, Uferstudios, Tisch – Theater im Schokohof, and Av-Tour Gmbh.

Zoom in – Zoom out: The TANZTAGE BERLIN 2010 festival team is keeping an eye on their Berlin roots, taking a close look at the scene and, at the same time, over-growing their borders. Young Berlin artists will be put in focus, given support and encouragement. Despite the Berlin connection, the festival has to include the reality of living and producing in the dance scene, which is shaped to a large degree by flexibility, mobility and transnationality. Consequently, the TANZTAGE BERLIN is progressing to meet the demands and experiences of a new generation of artists and in doing so, it continually reaches its financial limits. More than ever, the festival will be made possible by its partners, networks and bridging efforts but also through initiative and cooperation from the participating artists. These extend from our Berlin and national cooperation partners to Switzerland, Croatia, France, Portugal and Argentina. For a festival made up of and for the international Berlin scene, it is important to broaden horizons and keep a look out for new ideas and impulses among newcomers from beyond Berlin – and to learn from them. This year, the TANZTAGE BERLIN are starting a cooperation with the production house STARY BROWAR nowy taniec and the curator Joanna Leśnirowska, the founder of the first residential programme for young choreographers in Poznan, Poland. We also turn our attention to a critical discourse on dance. On the internet portal tanzpresse.de, there will be reports and interviews with the participating artists of this year’s festival. Under the leadership of Junior Professor Dr. Isa Wortelkamp, students of the MA in Dance Studies at the FU Berlin will accompany the festival, raise critical questions and write reviews to be discussed on the final evening with the choreographers and the public. The mobile dance bookshop, Books on the Move will also be present at the festival again. COME ALONG!

The 19th TANZTAGEBERLIN is a production of the Tanztage Berlin GbR in cooperation with Sophiensaele, Tanzfabrik Berlin e. V. and the Polish Institute Berlin. Supported by the Governing Mayor of Berlin – Senate Chancellery for Cultural Affairs. With the kind support of Akt-Zent e.V., Tanzwerkstatt Berlin / Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH, Ballettzentrum am Kurfürsten¬damm, Jivamukti Yoga Berlin, Eliashof, Buse Heberer Fromm Rechtsanwälte, Pro Helvetia, HZT, tanzpresse.de. and Dussmann.

Inspired by the current study of the Fond Darstellende Künste “on the situation of professional theater and dance professionals”, TANZTAGE BERLIN also developed a questionnaire, which the participants of the festival answered. With this action we want to draw attention to the working conditions and the economic situation of young choreographers in Berlin. The answers show that the vast majority of participants developed their pieces with a budget of 0-800 Euros.

AIUAIO 1.2, the only production that had a larger budget, received financial support exclusively from France. But here, too, the funding corresponds to only a quarter of the production volume, if one includes unpaid personal contributions, little-rewarded friendship services, or the provision of rehearsal space by the Theaterhaus Mitte. Accordingly, most productions can only be realized through good cooperation partners and a lot of personal contribution. TANZTAGE BERLIN also supports individual productions with a small production cost subsidy from its own budget. However, if one considers the rehearsal periods and the number of artists involved, no production reaches a financial framework where one can speak of professional work in the true sense of the word. The question always arises: How does one organize oneself as a freelance choreographer with such a low income? The questionnaires show that very few of the festival participants can live from their artistic work, and therefore have additional jobs to earn a living.

For young artists, Berlin’s funding and job market situation is the basis, but also a constant challenge, for positioning themselves as choreographers in the city. To talk about this topic, current changes and future prospects in more detail, the Dachverband Zeitgenössischer Tanz Berlin e.V. (ZTB) invites to an information event and panel discussion in the Virchowsaal.

In addition to financial and work organization details, we were keen to elicit answers from festival participants about their working methods. We know that it is always difficult to be brief when describing one’s own work. So we were surprised by the concise and interesting details about the methods of material development as well as the themes and methods of composition. We hope that the reader will also compare with interest the answers of the respective artists listed in the program booklet.

In the artists’ answers about their place of training, it is noticeable that a large proportion of the choreographers living in Berlin were not trained in Berlin. Here, although many begin with advance training, it is often only in preparation for study at an international university. In order to close the gap in Berlin’s training situation, the pilot project Hochschulübergreifendes Zentrum Tanz (HZT), an initiative of Tanzraum Berlin and ZTB.e.V., was recently launched in cooperation with Tanzplan Deutschland, the UdK and the HfS Ernst Busch. The educational opportunities for contemporary dance in Berlin have always been an important aspect for us as a festival for young talents when selecting and designing the program. Jana Unmüßig, student of the new MA program Choreography will show her work “Ich bin Baum” in this year’s festival. The festival will be accompanied and critically scrutinized by MA students of dance studies at Freie Universität Berlin, who will write short reviews about individual productions.

After the last jury decision of the Senate Chancellery for Cultural Affairs and the resulting cut in our basic funding for 2010, Berlin colleagues and an interested audience will surely be worried about the future of TANZTAGE BERLIN.  We, too, were shocked and astonished by the “soft throttling” of funding for a festival that has developed from an initiative by Barbara Friedrich and Benjamin Schälike over the past 10 years into an incredible success story with a huge influx of audiences. And yet we understand that even the tried and tested must be questioned again and again and that new goals and ways of further development should be sought. Thus, the decision was the starting point for new negotiations. The current positive developments of the talks with the Senate Chancellery for Cultural Affairs and the management of the Sophiensaele give hope for continuity and further stabilization of the TANZTAGE BERLIN with even stronger ties to the venue that has long been associated with the festival. We look forward with confidence to the coming changes and wish everyone a good start to the new year with DANCING DAYS BERLIN 2009.

The 18th TANZTAGE BERLIN is a production of Tanztage Berlin GbR in cooperation with Sophiensaele and Tanzfabrik Berlin e. V. Supported by the Governing Mayor of Berlin – Senate Chancellery for Cultural Affairs. With the kind support of PRACTICE – “Performative Research And Cho-reographic Tools In Contemporary Environments”, HALLE TanzBühne, Akt-Zent e.V., artblau-Tanzwerkstatt Braunschweig, Galerie Dieter Reitz, Theaterhaus Mitte, Tanzwerkstatt / Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH and Instituto Cervantes Berlin.

Under new artistic direction, TANZTAGE BERLIN is entering its 17th round.

This year the spectrum of artists and performances is again broad and – as a mirror of the Berlin dance scene – colorful and diverse. This scene is growing and professionalizing and more and more young dancers and choreographers are coming to the city to work here in the various professional independent companies or as freelance artists who create their own working context through national and international networks and co-producers. As a result, TANZTAGE BERLIN is also becoming increasingly international. For 2008, the team around the new artistic director Peter Pleyer has selected 26 choreographers from 11 countries to show to the Berlin audience and its New Year’s guests. On show are graduates and students from Berlin’s various training institutes, members of established Berlin ensembles as well as new Berliners.

The festival will be opened by Susanne Martin (with her solo “Rosi tanzt Rosi”), the Russian-born Ernst Busch student Anna Melnikova (with “THOMAS UND CLAIRE nach Tristan und Isolde”) and the HÄST DUO: the Swedes Sara Mathiasson and Sofia Restorp, who caused a sensation last year at the “Young Choreographers”. This year’s non-Berlin guests are Antje Schur and Régine Westenhoeffer from Strasbourg with their ravishing dance evening “La Doublure”. Further highlights of the festival are the “Young Choreographers” as well as works by the Meg Stuart-experienced dancer Frank Willens and the visual artist Gregory Stauffert, who could already be experienced at “Freischwimmer 2006” as a precise and charismatic performer.

A program with discussions and concerts rounds off the 14 days of the festival. Among the 17 pieces are 9 world premieres and one European premiere.

An edition of TANZTAGE BERLIN GbR in cooperation with Sophiensaele and Tanzfabrik Berlin e.V. Supported by the Governing Mayor of Berlin – Senate Chancellery – Cultural Affairs. With the kind support of Eliashof, HALLE TanzBühne, LaMove, Embassy of Venezuela in Berlin, ZDF theaterkanal, rbb radioeins and fabrik Potsdam as part of Tanzplan Potsdam “Artists in Residence”.

Collaboration is not a foreign concept to us. Due to the high degree of specialization that accompanies our modern life, society can only function through collaboration. Nevertheless, the many forms of collaboration that have made the Tanztage Berlin possible this year deserve a special mention at this point.

Without collaboration, we would not have been able to support the artists presented during the 16th Tanztage. Our thanks go to Sasha Waltz & Guests, Tanznacht, Tanzfabrik Berlin, artblau Braunschweig, Sophiensæle, mime centrum berlin, fabrik Potsdam. Despite the limited financial infrastructure in Berlin, these collaborations made it possible for young, promising contemporary dance artists to create and present new works. In this way, you can witness the current developments in Berlin’s dance scene.

Collaboration is a necessary tool in the independent dance scene through which artistic ideas can be realized. Young artists work together, helping each other with professional advice, public relations, technology and rehearsal space. Their idealism and strong will to create keeps Berlin dance alive. They are the reason why the Tanztage exist.

Artists are collaborating more and more and in a variety of ways. More and more performance groups are working in interdisciplinary collaborations, as can be seen with Litó Walkey, Raffaela Galdi and PONI. In such a way of working, the artistic responsibility lies with the whole team. Choreographers and dancers step out of familiar roles and become equal partners. By looking at these multifaceted ways of working together, artists can help us see the world and the collaborations in which we work through different eyes.

Of course, there are new names to discover this year from young choreographers, fresh out of training or new to Berlin, as well as new pieces from already more well-known dance makers. As every year, the Tanztage would like to present you the diversity and the wealth of ideas of the young Berlin dance scene. We wish you a very exciting and inspiring festival.

With Friederike Plafki, Litó Walkey, Lea Martini, Stereo Gong Vital, Jeremy Wade, Maik Riebort, Ayara Hernández Holz, Caroline Picard, Kirsten Burger, Silvana Suárez Cedeño, Zufit Simon, Anat Vaadia, Lucia Glass, Raffaela Galdi, PONI, In The Series Young Choreographers Sara Mathiasson & Sofia Restorp, Ambra Pittoni, Julieta Figueroa, Rebecca Fratini & Janine Joyner, Mentoring Project Isabelle Schad (Mentor), Sybille Müller, Raisa Kröger, Nancy Banfi

The 16th Tanztage Berlin is an event of Tanztage Berlin GbR in cooperation with Sophiensælen. Supported by the Senate Department for Science, Research and Culture, Fonds Darstellende Künste e.V. With the kind support of artblau-Tanzwerkstatt Braunschweig, Instituto Italiano di Cultura Berlin, Embassy of Canada in Berlin, Sasha Waltz & Guests, RBB radioeins and ZDF Theaterkanal.

New and future. These two promising words are very appropriate for this year’s 15th edition of the Berlin Dance Days. They refer not only to the program, but also to our organization and the projects we have initiated for this festival.

Traditionally, at the beginning of the new year, we present new performances by previously unknown young choreographers as well as young, already well-known choreographers. The aim of the Dance Days is to support the development of talented choreographers. Therefore, this year we have invited five artists to develop a new performance in collaboration with a mentor each. With this program, called “betwixt and between”, we hope to have opened up to the choreographers a new perspective, new thoughts, a wealth of experience and critical dialogue in relation to their work.

In the 2006 edition of the Dance Days, we also encouraged another collaboration: that between young choreographers and young photographers. Nine young photographers from the OSTKREUZ School of Photography were invited to “get a picture” of this year’s program. Through conversations with the choreographers, they translated their ideas behind the performances into photographs, and the results can be seen in the program booklet.  These and other photos inspired by the collaboration will be on display in the Sophiensaele foyer during the festival.

The last, and at the same time sad news: Barbara Friedrich, who brought the Tanztage to life more than ten years ago and made the festival what it is today, has had to leave due to her involvement in the organization of all-Berlin dance activities.

We are happy to have found a replacement in the person of Inge Koks. So we welcome the new, look forward to the future and hope to meet you at Tanztage Berlin 2006.

With Hanna Hegenscheidt, Filippo Armati, Jasna Vinovrski, Ingo Reulecke, Felix Marchand, Raisa Kröger, Vanessa Huber-Christen, Anna Konjetzky, Anna Melnikova, Corinna Spieth, Benjamin Schälike, Anja Müller, Yvonne Hardt, Rafaella Galdi, Yui Kawaguchi, Andreas Müller, Margus Toomla, Martin Nachbar

A production of Produktionsbüro TANZTAGE BERLIN and Sophiensæle. Supported by the Senate Department for Research, Science and Culture Berlin and Fonds Darstellende Künste e.V.

Start a new year with TANZTAGE BERLIN and share with over 60 collaborating artists the pleasure of an art that constantly breaks new ground and connects with other genres. Complementing the International Dance Festival – Dance in August, the DANCE DAYS program is all about brand new Berlin productions and the opportunity to discover talent and themes of the next generation in dance.

Instead of following a thematic or aesthetic trend in the selection of the program, we prefer to surprise you with how diverse productions can be that have been concocted in this city in recent months. One basis for this diversity in Berlin is certainly the fact that many choreographers and dancers are constantly coming to the city and also enrich our program – as in this TANZTAGE Hanna Hegenscheidt, Javier Alemán Morillo, Michael Kellenberger and Caroline Picard.

With some very young artists, who participated for the first time last year, we were eager for further collaboration and were able to find necessary support for this. In the case of Lupita Pulpo, our thanks go to the Hauptstadtkulturfons, which made the BOB dance series possible. We are now looking forward to your response to our eve program. For Friederike Plafki, Tamara Brücken & Anna Widmer artblau made possible a concentrated working phase in the studio of the same name in Braunschweig.

We thank the Senate Department for Science, Research and Culture and the Mime Centrum Berlin for their support as well as the rehearsal venues Tanzfabrik, TLG Kulturbrauerei, Jerusalem Gemeinde, LaborGras, Marameo and Dock 11.

Special thanks for the great collaboration to Sophiensæle and the 14th Tanztage team Susana Lopéz-Rubino, Bernhilde Bonath and Steffi Müller.

With Anne Retzlaff & RP Kahl, Ballett Vorpommern & Trava, BodyAttacksWords – Yvonne Hardt, Brücken & Widmer, Caroline Picard, F. Plafki/Z.Simon, Florian Bücking, Hanna Hegenscheidt, Jenny Haack, Johanna-Elisa Lemke, Julia Reinartz, Kellenberger, L. Glass & M. Zechner, L. Martini / K. Burger, Lupita Pulpo, Selfish – Javier Alemán Morilla, Tabea Tettenborn, Trava

The 14th DANCE DAYS BERLIN is an event by Barbara Friedrich+ Benjamin Schälike in cooperation with Sophiensælen. With the kind support of the Senate Department for Science, Research and Culture.

The 13th edition of the Tanztage awaits its visitors from January 2, 2004 with a program full of contrasts, where the presentation of new choreographic talents and ideas has priority as always.  “The city’s favorite, most bizarre, and most astonishing dance series” (Berliner Zeitung) focuses this year once again on discovering the next generation of choreographers and dancers working in Berlin and promoting them through various forms of production support.

The 66 participating choreographers and dancers present 26 smaller and larger productions, including numerous world premieres. Our program booklet will be published soon, you can find more about the program in advance on the following pages.

We would like to emphasize one special feature of this year’s Dance Days: the program will conclude with the 10th edition of the international touring project DANCE ROADS: theaters and dance organizations from various countries, which joined together in 1990 to pragmatically promote young choreographers in the network “Bancs d’essai internationaux”, will present with DANCE ROADS 2004 this time 7 companies from 7 countries on a joint journey through the 7 countries France, Great Britain, Canada, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovenia and Germany. The second stop on this journey will take the artists to the stage of the Tanztage in Berlin’s Sophiensæle on January 14 and 15.

With Anja Hempel, Anja Müller, Anne Retzlaff, Branko Potocan, Brücken&Widmer, Catherine Tolopu, Florian Bilbao, Friederike Plafki, G.A.S., Gerhard Maaß, Hans-Werner Klohe, Karine Denault, Lincoln&Kliesch, Ludger Orlok, Lupita Pulpo, Nina Homolka, Nir de Volff, Oleg Soulimenko, Sandra Harnisch-Lacey, Splinter Group, Stefanie Wietzig, Tabea Tettenborn, Tania Soubry, Tim Plegge, Tina Weiler, Yann Lheureux

The 13th Tanztage Berlin is an event of Barbara Friedrich + Benamin Schälike in cooperation with Sophiensælen. With the kind support of the Senate Department for Science, Research and Culture

In the first days of the new year, 72 artists on stage and an expanded Tanztage team will give their best to make the 12th Tanztage an experience to remember. Tanztage Berlin 2003 presents 14 productions, 12 of them world premieres, as well as six smaller works in the popular Young Choreographers series.

As befits the Tanztage, there are many new names and many an experiment to be discovered. These certainly include our “excursions” to the productions “Ghost Letters III – Fest des Salzes” to an unknown location near Berlin and “Der Schwamm” to the Stadtbad Oderbergerstraße. In addition, TRAVA & Band dares something new on 11.1. and invites us all to dance with “kindasorta concert”.

We would like to thank the Senate Department for Science, Research and Culture, which this time provided budget on the recommendation of the jury and for the first time made a small production budget possible: For 10 productions we were able to give start-up funding (average amount 3.100 €). Many thanks to the co-production partners artblau Braunschweig, Schaubühne am Lindenfels Leipzig, fabrik e.V. Potsdam, La Prts Barcelona as well as to Kulturamt Pankow, Stiftung Kulturfonds, Goethe Institut Barcelona, Finland Institut in Germany, Institut Français Bureau de Theatre et de la Danse and Nationales Performance Netz for their share in the realization of individual productions.

Our greatest thanks go to Sophiensælen, which is not only a venue for the Tanztage, but also hosts our production office throughout the year and provides a productive atmosphere and support that makes further development possible.

With Anja Hempel, Anja Müller, Annegret Majer, Chat, Dela Diezel, Emerging Properties, Gerhard Maass, Hans-Werner Klohe, Janet Rühl & Arnd Müller, Ludger Orlok, Modjhan Hashemian, Nicole Beutler, Rachael Lincoln & Sommer Ulrickson, Ratzan’Kor, Sandra Peuthert, Trava & Band, Unit.Control-Bernhard Baumgarten, Walli Höfinger & Ingo Reulecke

The 12th Tanztage is an event by Barbara Friedrich + Benjamin Schälike in cooperation with Sophiensæle GmbH. Realized with funds from the Senate Department for Science, Research and Culture. With the kind support of Kulturamt Pankow and Stiftung Kulturfonds.

A daily program, on weekends as a double program in the Festsaal and the Hochzeitssaal, 17 productions in total, including 10 world premieres, 5 in-house productions and 1 co-production, 1 production in a previously unknown apartment in Friedrichshain, 1 dance-video-installation in the inner courtyard – that is the sum total of what the 11th Tanztage berlin from January 02-17 in the Sophiensaele have to offer.

With this offer, our Berlin platform for the latest in dance and physical theater is at the same time the starter in the program “tanz und ballett 2002”, with which seven Berlin stages and partners for Berlin want to make the lively dance scene of Berlin visible in the months of January to March. From the very beginning, we are thus directing our attention to up-and-coming choreographers and artists who are new to this city.

As always, the festival is neither stylistically nor thematically restricted: new security laws, the gravity of human relationships, absurdities in the history of time measurement, private in public and public in private space, the year 1989, the physical in the connection between body and technology, traces that life in public places inscribes in our movement or the acquisition of power in our bodies – these are the themes of individual productions.

Once again, the Tanztage enjoy the generous technical support of Mime Centrum and Podewil as well as financial help from the Kulturamt Prenzlauer Berg. Thanks are due to the Capital Cultural Fund, which promotes a special artistic cooperation and makes possible five in-house productions, which are developed from the outset as an attractive export package under the joint umbrella TANZ-PAKET-BERLIN. They will be premiered at the Tanztage and will travel together.

After last year’s record attendance, more than 70 artists, the sophiensaele team and the Tanztage team are once again waiting for a curious audience eager to discuss!

With Aloisio Avaz, Andrea Keiz & Björn Salzer & Roman Girisch, Christina Comtesse, Christoph Winkler, Gerhard Maass, Holger Bey, Jess Curtis, Lea Helmstädter, Nicole Baumann, theatregroup Trav, Tomi Paasonen, Two Fish

The 11th Tanztage is an event of Barbara Friedrich + Benjamin Schälike, Sophiensaele GmbH, Pfefferwerk Stadtkultur e.V.

Nine times the Tanztage took place at Pfefferberg – now they have to move temporarily. Before they start into the 10th season on January 3rd in their new domicile in the sophiensæle, we invite everyone to an enjoyable New Year’s walk. At the same time, our walk will be a sound performance of a special kind on the streets of Berlin, composed from the interplay of our tape recorders. It is not without reason that our guest, composer Phil Kline (co-founder of the band The Del-Byzanteens with Jim Jarmusch), is said to do “the most original things with cassette recorders since Steve Reich” (The Village Voice). At the finish point of our Unsilent Night on the streets of Berlin, the probably sweaty technical crew of the dance days and most certainly a delicious New Year’s punch awaits us in the sophiensæle.

Of course, we have made a virtue of the necessary move of the Tanztage: a new cooperation organization, two performance floors and a particularly compact program with 15 productions and eight premieres. Choreographer Tamara Tossey will open the Tanztage on January 3 with a piece about the hardships and bizarreness of moving. Finally, on January 17, we will show The Wandering Problem by Christoph Winkler, who made headlines at the last Tanztage. In between, choreographers who are new to the city, such as Anne Retzlaff, Hans-Werner Klohe, and Detlev Alexander, Jo Stone or Gundula Peuthert, who have returned to Berlin, will introduce themselves to the Berlin audience this time around. It remains Tanztage’s specialty to open the year with new talent in the art form that can least be squeezed into old boxes.

We thank all the artists and technicians! We thank the team of sophiensæle, Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch, Podewill, Mime-Centrum Berlin, Fabrik Potsdam and Künstlerhof Buch.

With A Harder Production, Anne Retzlaff, Beedfack, Christoph Winkler + The Best Group, Diquis Tiquis (Sandra Trejos), Fabrik Potsdam / Do Theatre Petersburg, Gerhard Maass, Gundula Peuthert, Hans-Werner Klohe & Detlev Alexander, Jo Stone, Jonna Huttunen, Juschka Weigel, Lilian Graça, Lole Gessle, Pathfinders Company, Tamara Tossey

The 10th Tanztage is a continuation of the series “Tanztage im Pfefferberg” and is jointly organized by Barbara Friedrich + Benjamin Schälike, Pfefferwerk Stadtkultur e.V., sophiensæle. The Tanztage are presented by zitty.

Ears full of millennium chatter, pockets even emptier than usual, and the end of the budget freeze and provisional budget management in the capital more unforeseeable – the independent cultural productions can stay where the pepper grows at the beginning of the year. Culture is not a statutory duty! So rather “the pleasure of changing the world”?

We would like to thank all the artists and friends who helped to ensure that the Dance Days from January 4-25 will present 15 productions, including 8 premieres, of Berlin’s “lively” dance scene, despite adverse conditions. Special thanks to the Kulturamt Prenzlauer Berg and Thilo Wittenbecher of the Mime Centrum Berlin, to the Harder family from Unterzeitlbach; to the Podewil for generous technical help; to Rento car car rental, Berliner Pilsener and Illustrierte Stadtzeitung “zitty” for support of advertising costs.

The budget still has some holes, so we are asking for more donations: A small additional obolus at the box office or a larger sum against donation receipt.

After the last performance of the Tanztage, there will be a closing party at the Subground on January 25 for the fun of all, but also as a benefit for the Tanztage.

Afterwards, it’s Pfefferberg goes Marburg and some of the participating artists will show their productions in Marburg from Jan. 27 to Jan. 31 at the invitation of KPG Tanz and supported by the Cultural Office of the City of Marburg.

With Ashley Abrahams, Barbara Kryslova, Canan Erek, Dance. Theatre Phase 7, DANCELAB (Jorge Morro / Norbert Servos), Elke Biermann, Fine Kwiatkowski & Hans Tammen, Iwona Chwialkowska, Jonna Huttunen, Joseph Tmim, KPG Tanz Marburg, Malik Widu Tanztheater Berlin, Norbert Kliesch, Thorsten Donat, Torque

With Angela Schubot, Bensch Production & A Harder Production, Brixdance, Compagnie Ratzan’Kor, Die Ehemaligen, Diquis Tiquis, Donna-Yvonne Wuenschel, Dynion, Gerhard Maaß, Ingo Reulecke/Britta Schönbrunn/Sebastian Hilken, Lara Barsacq, Ludger Orlok, Lydia Wagerer, Özlem Zafer, Pathfinders Company, Stic-er Jugentanztheater, UNG Dansescene Juniorcompany, Verena Fleissner, Wee Dance Company

With Alex B & Company, Christoph Winkler, Dan Pelleg, Earthfall, Jonna Huttunen, Norbert Servos, Pathfinders Company, Sommer Ulrickson, Stefan Hahn & Jugendtheater Zinnowitz, Techtlmechtl Tanz Jandl, Vanessa Kienast

The Tanztage are presented by Stadtmagazin Zitty and kindly supported by Kulturamt Prenzlauer Berg, Mime Centrum, Podewil and Berliner Pilsener. A grant from the Senate Department for Science, Research and Culture.

With Alexander Sieber, Angela Schubot, Core, Genadij Skorobogatov, Joséphine Evrard, Josh Houben/Andrew Dawson, Ofra Doudayi, Sandra Peuthert, Sandra Trejos, Somatic Theatre Company & Guests, Sonja Romeis Tanztheater, Theatre Encorps

This year’s Tanztage im Pfefferberg is supported by the British Council, Bezirksamt Prenzlauer Berg, Senatsverwaltung für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kultur and Berliner Pilsener and presented by the city magazine tip.

The confounded seventh year is over, now it goes into the eighth and decisive year. Decisions will soon be made that could bring serious changes for the future. The entire Pfefferberg site was put out to public tender in the fall, and the Pfefferwerkverbund is one of the applicants for the site. As early as 1990, an initial utilization concept was developed for a mixture of cultural, social and commercial uses. At the moment, no one knows who will be awarded the contract. Let us hope for the sake of all those who have tirelessly put their energy into this project that it was not all for nothing and that another light will go out in Berlin’s (still) shining cultural landscape. So eyes and ears open, fingers crossed for the future.

We continue undeterred and wish all friends of Pfefferberg an exciting 1998.

With Andreas Müller, Canan Erek, JC&Co and Experimenti Berlin, Joanna Huttunen, Pathfinders Tanzcompany, Toula Limnaios Cie.

The events are presented by Pfefferwerk e.V. Thanks for technical support to Podewil, Ballhaus Naunynstraße and Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch.

The vehement curiosity of visitors for the Pfefferberg site was the impetus for the idea of “staging” this time-honored amusement and production site for the Tanztage. Since 1842, the most diverse ideas and ways of doing things have left overlapping traces here. The group l’autre pas tackled this location work full of energy and gave it the form “6 x 2 ways in situ” described on the following pages. We thank the group and all the choreographers, architects, dancers, musicians, painters, actors and technicians involved in its realization.

We thank Berliner Pilsener, the daily newspaper June Welt and the Kulturamt Prenzlauer Berg, who in particular laid the financial foundation for the realization. For further support of the Tanztage we thank: Berliner Sparkasse, Blumenhaus Finger, Cochet & Schwarz – Planungsgesellschaft, Hotel Kastanienhof and Hotel Greifwald, Reisebüro Däschner, Stöhlker & Partner GmbH, Trockel, Ullmann und Freund Weinhandel Berlin and the advertiser of the magazine. We would like to thank the venues that help us with the technical equipment, including Podewil, Tanzfabrik, Hochschule für Schauspielkunst “Ernst Busch” and Manufaktur Kamratowski und Hoffmeister.

We invite our visitors to discover exciting things in and outside the stage space Pfefferberg with the program “Tanztage and 6 x 2 Wege in situ”.

With David Hurwith, Zen in the Basement (Z.I.B.), Sandra Trejos, Altea Garrido, Josephine Evrard, Stefan Hahn, Lilian Graça, Britta Pudelko, toladà dance company, Ingo Reulecke, Ofra Doudayi/Fred Pommereh

The events are presented by Pfefferwerk e.V.

With Claudia Lehmann, David Hurwith, Kathinka Lühr, Lisa Witzke, Robert Poole’s Moving Words, Roman De Fauvel, Sonja Romeis Tanztheater, Toula Limnaios, Xenia Leydel

The events are presented by Pfefferwerk e.V.