How did you get into dance education and what is your personal focus?
As a dancer originally educated in classical and contemporary dance, I have been working for over 20 years in art and cultural education and outreach work, including in youth and cultural centres, and in intercultural networking and community art. In the past, countries such as France, the Benelux countries or England were further along in this field than Germany, even with regard to the issue of appreciation. In Germany, art education and outreach work was often judged disparagingly. This has largely improved in recent years, even if there is still much to be done. My personal experience is that the majority of artists working in this field are experienced, and cool, very unique things come out of it. My focus is on conveying a multifaceted view of dance and art, and in doing so, also questioning the Western understanding of culture behind it. The use of intercultural crossover and mixed styles in dance education is always helpful when it comes to building these bridges.
What insights and experiences did you take away from the practical experience with the Mobiler Tanzsaal?
We asked ourselves: What does urban practice in areas on the outskirts of the city mean in terms of a critical view of the concept of centrality? In doing so, a non-hierarchical community approach was important to us, i.e. an intensive dialogue with the local areas in order to find out what the people there need. We also wanted to offer the workshop leaders a good working atmosphere and not leave them alone when problems arise. We were also interested in artistic quality, e.g. fresh impulses and different styles from the field of urban dance – working with different stakeholders with intercultural backgrounds was a prerequisite. There were also hurdles: the project-related time pressure for one, and the pandemic-related measures and planning difficulties were another. Accordingly, we offered uncomplicated services such as artistic interventions in public spaces (e.g. pop-up workshops and happenings) to see if this could work. That was a good approach, also to see what could make sense in the future for a continuation.
What do you think is important for dance education and outreach work now and in the future? Where should it go?
What’s needed are opportunities for spontaneous interactions in urban space, based on acute needs. But that collides with the funding reality at hand – with the permits alone that have to be obtained, such projects quickly reach their limits. So one wish would be for funding programmes that are less complicated to implement in terms of urban practice. In general, I would like to see Berlin first of all fanning out, what could dance education and outreach work comprise? Fortunately, there are no longer the hard boundaries that there used to be; that seems to have dissolved a bit. Now it’s more a matter of considering what is possible and how dance education can be thought of as omnipresent. Nobody wants to question high culture. But education and outreach work that is based around community and participation – for that you need active artists who come into contact with people and implement artistic projects. And that only works with appreciation and continuity.