On behalf of Access Point Tanz, carried out under Zeitgenössischen Tanz Berlin e.V., a series of interviews was created and conducted by Nora Amin between May and August 2023, in order to explore responses towards the concept paper which was published in February 2022, and examine future possibilities of development, partnerships and collaborations coming from different voices within the dance scene. This report is based on a horizontal reading of the interviews that led to the following assessment of threads of evaluations and proposals, culminating with a conclusion to support the future phase and implementation of Access Point Tanz starting from 2024.
The Horizontal Reading
The interviews/conversations were based on reviewing the concept paper and responding to questions that were specifically devised for this process. They resulted in understanding the views and opinions of the conversation partners and interviewees in relation to four pivotal points:
- The evaluation of the concept paper
- Locating possibilities of reducing blockages within the dance mediation field
- Suggesting actions that consolidate the next phase of APT and contributing to them
- Envisioning the future of dance mediation in connection to diversity, decentralisation and transformation
The horizontal reading of these results led to the following assessment:
The evaluation of the concept paper
The conversation partners/interviewees expressed a great appreciation for the amount of work and content put into the concept paper. In some cases it was stated as gigantic work, a very round and rich concept that covers everything that dance mediation is concerned with, comprehensible, thought provoking, clear, accessible, absolutely impressive and relevant, an important step towards real diversity in dance, revolutionary, a wealth of perspectives and visions, sensitive and inclusive. Some responses stated that the overall concept could be more developed towards:
- Strengthening a general, underlying reason/motivation for why people should want to dance at all: for example, for mental, social, emotional and physical wellbeing – for the individual as for the society.
- Re-working the title “Access Point Tanz” towards a title that can be more accessible and attractive.
- Presenting concrete examples of dance mediation from the contexts of collaboration, co-creation, situated learning, communities of practices, to represent concretely the decentralised perspective.
- Naming the institutions and individuals involved in each section/pillar, and stating their qualifications/credentials.
- Adding potential actors/partners from community dance (i.e. folk dance in clubs, associations of folklore dance) and sports associations.
- Adding more focus on the concrete work of advising within the section on advising, and finding another title instead of “School for Everyone” since the title should express events that are mainly aimed at dance mediators.
- Exploring more about connecting with national and international networks in relation to dance mediation.
Locating possibilities of reducing blockages within the dance mediation field
There was noticeably a wide range of diversity in the responses towards tactics of reducing blockages within the dance mediation field, whether based on confirming the concept paper or going beyond it. Therefore we state most of them in a compact way as follows:
- Admitting the existence of discrimination and marginalisation, as well as hierarchies, leads towards a vision of social change where these blockages/obstacles can be strategically removed. Nonetheless, in order to implement this desired change within institutions, dance mediation needs to have a much higher recognition and power, while also addressing it as a medium for healing socio-political conflicts and wounds.
- Putting focus on the idea of a mobile dance platform circulating across the city, with sensitive and meaningful framing, as well as providing access to social dance as an enriching activity towards the actual practise of diversity.
A multidisciplinary, critical of power and radically diverse approach can reduce the blockages and difficulties within the cycle of dance mediation
- Attempting a complete change in awareness towards forms that go beyond contemporary dance, by diversifying the content of the dance discourse even more, and enabling diverse artists to define their art forms themselves.
- Collaborating with institutions of “high culture” and involving them in a way that produces change within their visions.
- The digital map of Berlin dance mediation is a great idea. Especially when it’s made in a creative way, so people enjoy to explore the map playfully and visually rather than reading a lot of text. Especially for the young generation from the communities, it is a great tool to have a different access in this way.
- Continuity and sustainability of financial support systems in the arts sector in Berlin, so that artists are able to build up -without interruption- on what they have worked on in their career. A better exchange, communication and network between theatres, and art centres within Germany could be a step to interconnect interests and visibility for artists.
- Diversity in leading positions with an open-minded vision, knowledge, craft, practical and real experience, not only aimed at people with a high degree in education but also aimed at those who are respected in the scene and communities.
- More programs are needed to address people with mental and physical disabilities, so that they can be trained to become dance mediators, therefore expanding the possibility of inclusion for all relevant communities and identities.
- The sections for training and further training has a strong potential for inclusion, especially with the title “School for Everyone” which inspires working on education from a decentralised perspective, address less privileged candidates. With its highly participatory nature, it can become a platform for learning within diverse settings.
- The networking meetings turned into workshops that integrate practical and embodied knowledge, can have a huge impact especially if they are well-moderated spaces where those effected by the blockages can think together with the experts.
- The networking events can become a kind of “Do & Share” for collegial exchange and joint learning, while topics can overlap, it would be good to have each event curated by a different people so that this too becomes a practise of diversity and inclusion.
Suggesting actions that consolidate the next phase of APT and contributing to them
The suggestions for actions and contributions by the conversation partners/interviewees proved to be a rich resource for future concrete partnerships and collaborations. Hereby we list just a number of excerpts from what has been proposed with great generosity:
- I am aspiring to an event where Tanzvermittlung /dance mediation is discussed with a focus on social change: what can dance mediation contribute to it? Why is the healing aspect of dance still considered inferior to dance mediation that is connected to art? Maybe this could be a topic for the „school for everybody“ or for an online community gathering on the new platform. It could be a big gathering of all the active dance mediators, an open space, a think tank, a ritual to connect us as a strong force with a common goal. Out of that we could envision planning for different working groups who implement this common ground onto different areas of action: schools, venues, universities, Kitas, communities. This may lead to the creation of a network that cares for shared spaces, and where freelance dance mediators can work. I would love to contribute to such an event which could be a strong start for different players on a common ground. (Amelie Mallmann, dance mediator)
- In some places I would have liked more mentioning of the expertise that has already been collected and the ongoing projects in Berlin. Similarly, I would suggest -instead of having APT create its own project for refugee shelters- to work on knowledge transfer in this area and involve the organisations that have been doing this work successfully for many years for a greater extent. (Martina Kessel, Aktion Tanz)
- I think that the good establishment and setup of the coordination office is very central. I think that a cross-departmental implementation at the interface of culture, education and city development could be interesting. The concept should target a selection of specific social spaces in which the underlying approaches can be diversified. Implementation should take place at nodes with multidisciplinary teams. Offers should be designed less according to project logic, but processes must be started that would be supported in the coming years. I can imagine that Berlin Mondiale, as a transcultural network and as a network that creates participatory spaces, can be part of the process as a mediator and facilitator. We can share experiences, create cross-departmental synergies and design contemporary strategies through mutual exchange. (Sabine Kroner, Leitung BERLIN MONDIALE, Projektbüro cIo Kulturnetzwerk Neukölln e.V.)
- I am open to interact and co-create new and different forms of outreach, research etc. I can offer an institutional cooperation with the university where I teach – on a federal level (Niedersachsen)- Hochschule für Künste im Sozialen, Ottersberg. Our B.A. program has started recently to offer a regular B.A. degree to students with mental disabilities. We are in an exploration process and are also reaching out to connect and gather and exchange experiences. In Berlin, I can offer a cooperation with TANZSCOUT. (Maren Witte, Tanzscout, professor at Hochschule für Künste im Sozialen)
- With respect to Workshops and performances – the Tanz und Teilhabewoche is a welcome activity, that I will be happy to contribute to, both in terms of planning and implementation. It is this kind of visibility that has been missing since the 1990’s, where at least an intercultural week used to take place. A concentrated action in this regard is a must. (Rajyashree Ramesh, choreographer & dance educator)
- We are interested in long term partnerships and the concept of “hosting”. We can imagine contributing to all three pillars of the concept and to complement them. We propose to include a fourth pillar with the title: Politics, Society and Networks. For on one hand, the concept describes an ideal state for Access Point Tanz that still needs to be achieved and for which a lot of lobby work should be done. Secondly, the role of dance mediation in the transformational potential of culture and education is not yet sufficiently recognised. Moreover, what new narrative does art offer not only for its own transformation but also for a more equitable and sustainable world? Can art still evade this question? What role could dance mediation play in this? As education repositions itself with the Global Goals Curriculum, the 21st century Skills and more, and as new and more equitable economies and sustainability concepts become increasingly interdisciplinary, I find that the performing arts are in a “crisis of meaning”. A new narrative is therefore needed in the performing arts to become more relevant to people and to connect with the many challenges of our world. Therefore, with all the discrepancies, we need a broad multi-perspective network and political lobby internally and externally, in order not to get stuck in a tiny bubble. (Livia Patrizi, TanzZeit & Tanzkomplizen)
- Recently a small team „urbandanceberlin“(lead by Tatjana Mahlke) has started an initiative of reuniting all leaders/ organisers of the free dance sessions of the urban dance scene in Berlin, in order to exchange the needs of the sessions, logistics, the difficulties in terms of discrimination and respect, how to keep up the culture for the new generations …etc. We also had the topic of how we want to represent ourselves within the contemporary art dance sector in Berlin and how much that could be of an advantage or not. This is where I can see a strong link with the Access Point Tanz concept. And I feel this link can be the bridge towards this conversation. A meeting between the two parties urbandanceberlin and the dance mediation team (APT) could be a very fruitful beginning of an exchange for further interconnecting development. (Joy Alpuerto Ritter, choreographer & dancer)
- Schools “cry out” for artistic dance offers, these are still urgently needed, even more so since the pandemic, but also before that, since “normal school sport” has not been able to sufficiently satisfy the need for exercise for a long time. The call for movement for children and young people is also getting louder and louder politically. Creativity, self-determination and also social behaviour in groups can be trained particularly effectively within dance art projects. In order to carry out a project at a school, however, appropriate funding usually has to be raised or the school’s support association has to be convinced of the idea. The work of persuasion costs resources and energy and can often only happen on the basis of additional work by teachers and dance mediators who are interested and committed beyond their actual job. Therefore funding structures should be changed to such an extent that artistic dance projects can be carried out in schools and other institutions such as prisons, by providing these institutions with a budget for dance pedagogical projects, also in different formats, with which dance mediators could be paid from “outside”. This would make it possible that dance in schools would not have to be integrated into regular school life and could therefore be implemented as a regular project offer without evaluation and grading. This would automatically increase knowledge and understanding of contemporary dance in all its diversity to the maximum. This could also be beneficial for the professional dance scene, since in the best case an interested audience would develop and dance would also be integrated into school education in a meaningful way. (Nadja Raszewski, TanzTangente)
- Further education and training are extremely necessary, it is good to think of offering even longer courses because the short workshops only help to introduce information but longer time is definitely needed to consolidate and develop the knowledge acquired, for example in the area of writing funding applications and developing the skills required for that. (Natalie Riedelsheimer, Grupo Oito)
- As part of our mentoring program, Future Move e. V. has been working intensively on the topics of training and further education for people from marginalised contexts for more than three years. In my personal work I develop formats and programs in these areas. I can imagine helping to develop formats for the area of urban society, to be contributing in an advisory capacity. (Bahar Meric, Future Move e.V.)
- We, at Berlin Mondiale, have previously collaborated with APT by hosting an event on decentralised approaches, at Wasserwerk program, in September 2021. We would be open to hosting more events in relation to networking. We would also like to explore possibilities of interweaving our training and research programs with the training/further training and research section of APT as stated within the concept paper. (Laura Werres, Berlin Mondiale)
Envisioning the future of dance mediation in connection to diversity, decentralisation and transformation
In response to this point, the interviewees/conversation partners have stated a wide range of visions, we list here just a few of them:
- I would like to think dance and its mediation keeps on relating to the human life of people, playing with the digital world, but staying strongly rooted in the reality and in the present moment. (Lola Agostini, Tanzfähig, Kuyum Dance Platform)
- I would like to see a place in every district in every neighbourhood that is open to dance education and mediation. These don’t have to be new places, but places that can be used multi-functionally. I would like to see dance education in public spaces as an activist strategy. I would like the approaches and methods to be as radically diverse as Berlin’s urban society. I hope that we get moving together and become a movement. I hope that we can counteract the division inside and outside of Berlin and that we don’t just bring a project somewhere into the supposed periphery. I wish that we understand that the edges of the city are also the center for people and that there should be equal conditions for self-realisation and participation across all. As project coordinator of Berlin Mondiale I could immediately pick up on several parts of the paper both mentally and practically and I would be happy if that actually happened in the near future: Knowledge transfer. strategy formation, cultural-political Activities/ Lobbyism, designing resilient funding structures, city-wide, interdepartmental structure formation, protecting spaces and creating new places. (Sabine Kroner, Leitung BERLIN MONDIALE, Projektbüro cIo Kulturnetzwerk Neukölln e.V.)
- There is still a lot of work to be done for diversity in dance, especially with the topic of accessibility which still needs raising awareness until we get used to making it part of our thinking by creating and organising events. (Natalie Riedelsheimer, Grupo Oito)
- I think that dance mediation must include all actors, and that we have to think outside the box and look very carefully and project-specifically for partnerships, even if they may involve lengthy processes. I would like to see dance mediation that puts the factors of individuals, groups, those affected, and actors, in the context of social change, Berlin and “the rest of Germany”, i.e. acts more needs-oriented and allows multiple perspectives. In addition, I would like for dance mediation to have a more positive and valuable image and for its effectiveness, power and artistic and educational potential to be equally valued and visible. (Bahar Meric, Future Move e.V.)
- In order to distinguish between diversity, and removing hierarchal structures from the work culture, we need to suggest clear and concrete structural ideas. Going for diversity is one thing, and aiming to change the hierarchal work culture is another. In the same sense, the wish to include EVERYONE leads to being imprecise, it’s impossible to start with everyone, therefore we need to prioritise steps. These priorities need to be clarified and made transparent. (Martina Kessel, Aktion Tanz)
- I do miss a space for all participants involved in Access Point Tanz (APT) to reflect, connect and understand the network also from a discursive, mind-set perspective. What are the values, ethics, APT is based on, inspired from, beyond individual experiences and practices. These are also highly important. I could imagine, that there might be a virtual or analog library, which hosts/holds important texts, quotes, writings and can be even a space for collaborative writing. (Nina Hänel, professor, Zentrum für Zeitgenössischen Tanz, Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln)
- It would be beautiful to see with time a natural awareness and development in terms of diversity. With easy accessibility and visibility to regular events and places of training, education and exchange to create consistency and therefore stronger networks and opportunities. Finding a way to inspire each other rather than having the feeling we are always competing with each other because of money or fame. We know funding budgets are limited and there are a lot of artists and dancers in Berlin. But when we create platforms and places for cross disciplinary genres of dance, where we can learn from each other, we will naturally gain more empathy, inspiration and support for each other. And that is the strength of the city Berlin. (Joy Alpuerto Ritter, choreographer & dancer)
- Dance mediation with a critical approach to discrimination not only has the potential to drive forward transformations in the art world, but also in the education system. Equipping the education system with future competencies is a task for the whole society, because our future depends on how young generations themselves grow up discrimination-critical, creative, communicative, collaborative, and systemically thinking. There are already innovative concepts in education that are growing into a movement by networking the actors. A stronger connection of dance education with these educational innovative movements and concepts would be desirable. (Livia Patrizi, TanzZeit, Tanzkomplizen)
- I like the idea to foster the periphery of the city: Karlshorst is where I am working already. Let me be a connecting partner for this little element of periphery! (Maren Witte, Tanzscout, professor at Hochschule für Künste im Sozialen)
- The future has to bring big change in regards to how dance mediation is still seen: namely as an „add-on“ or a measure of filling up auditoriums, but its power lies in diversity, decentralisation and transformation, in the chance of forming groups, bringing peace and health and a bigger understanding of movement and dance. Maybe it needs a big publicity effort from the future dance mediation office to launch offers of very different kinds to the outskirts, to institutions, to firms …etc. (Amelie Mallmann, dance mediator).
Conclusion
Access Point Tanz acquires its strength and richness from the input, inspiration and contribution of all dance mediators. Conducting an ongoing conversation with all actors on a regular and constructive basis may lead to a powerful development of the scene as inter-connected, inclusive and collaborative. While this report gives only a glimpse of the responses of the interviewees which range up to twenty-five conversation partner, the archive of the -mostly- written interviews remain as a vital resource for the future development and implementation of the project starting from 2024. Through the process of conversation, it became clear that there is a real necessity for such a project, Access Point Tanz, as it has the potential to function as a bridge between all the existing offers and expertise -therefore empowering them by exchange and connection- while also becoming a catalyst towards a new transformative power of dance if it unlocks possibilities of decentralisation, offering access to marginalised forms and practises, developing discursive approaches from anti-discriminatory perspectives, supporting research and dance education/pedagogy where the experts are the previously excluded dance practitioners, devising research and training opportunities that meet the social and cultural diversity of Berlin, spreading dance in communities -and via communities- towards even non-artistic locations, empowering youth dance and dance in the schools for the sake of a future generation that meets the relevant socio-political challenges, and -finally- expanding the meaning of dance itself to be regarded as a vital force – a lobby- for social change and healing.
Each of the pillars/sections of the concept paper -published since February 2022- can still be nourished and developed within encounters, workshops and conversations until the end of 2023, so that a collective feeling of participation, contribution and leadership would rise in relation to the future activities of APT. One recurrent idea that emerged while reading and re-reading the interviews, was that the scene is rich with amazing initiatives and projects, however if it all connects and builds upon each other, the power of transformation would be unprecedented. In that moment, APT would seem to have mediated the change for dance mediation, a change just in the right socio-political moment, a change such as: Dance mediation becoming aware of its own transformative power by allying all actors together, and by unlocking all discrimination and exclusions that lead to blocking its growth and power.
The process towards the implementation of the next pilot phase of Access Point Tanz is still ongoing, the conversations, exchanges and development will not stop. The open access, participatory and collaborative approach of this project has become an identity mark.
Berlin, 31.08.2023
Dr. Phil. Nora Amin
* The conversation partners included: Lola Agostini, Joy Alpuerto Ritter, An Boekman, Christa Flaig-Isaacs, Nina Hänel, Martina Kessel, Sabine Kroner, Amelie Mallmann, Bahar Meric, Natalie Riedelsheimer, Livia Patrizi, Rajyashree Ramesh, Nadja Raszewki, Sven Seeger, Diana Thielen, Laura Werres and Maren Witte.