Encounters - Symposium - Festival for the youngest

FRATZ International is a children's theater festival that brings together the global children's children's theater scene in Berlin. It is mainly aimed at children aged 0-6, but is also popular with adults and professionals.

The dance ambassadors Celine and Mira accompanied the festival this year and recorded their impressions of some of the plays in the following blog article. The festival took place from October 11-17, 2024 at various venues in Berlin.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Encounters - Symposium - Festival for the youngest

Atmospherically inviting. Very child-friendly, a ball pool! Even if there was a bit too much professional audience and not enough children.

Also a very mixed audience in terms of age. Cooperation between the generations. A coming together. Interesting experience for everyone. Relaxed, nice atmosphere.

Bounced (Magnet Theatre / Südafrika):

A play from South Africa on the subject of bullying and exclusion

Celine: It was fantastic! The performers started playing with different balls... footballs, tennis balls... It then developed in such a way that in the end three of the four performers had a large exercise ball and one person didn't. This person was excluded and included again and again, always alternating. This person was excluded and included again and again, always alternating. Overall, it was very exciting and musical. They sang and made rhythms themselves, sometimes with their bodies on the balls. And there were lots of children there who pumped their upper bodies every time the balls were inflated, which I thought was wonderful. It was a very heart-warming piece and the young audience members were very enthusiastic.

THINGS at the end of the world (Alfredo Zinola / Germany):

Vibrating boulders and a fluffy ball that you immediately want to hug, a journey across the universe and the world of materials.

Celine: It didn't pick me up that much. I found it quite bold with the female character, she seemed so added on. I think it was really nice for the children to be able to touch the big ball, for example, and to get so close to the stones. But I didn't understand the slime on the stones either, I found it rather annoying. 

Mira: I really enjoyed watching the play. What you meant about the female read person, I don't see it the same way as you do. I don't think there has to be a specific connection, it's just someone who was in the play. The elements with the slime and the stones were very special, and I also understand that you weren't so taken by it. It was just something very special and you could tell that it was really about the consistency of things. What I asked myself is whether the piece really appeals to children that much, or whether they don't get a bit bored. Because it really played a lot and simply with the different elements.

Fields of tender (Dalija Acin Thelander / Schweden):

A participatory piece.

Celine: A very dark room with lots of elements hanging from the ceiling. Different fabrics that you could touch. It was intended for neurodivergent children. You could go in and out of the performance at any time. Everyone was allowed to walk around freely, touch everything and you were also allowed to interact with the actors and talk to them. It smelled cinnamon-y inside, which I found very exciting. All the senses were stimulated. And then the atmosphere kept changing and there were different installations on the floor with different colors that clashed. I found one situation particularly touching: there was a boy who was running around too much. He then came into contact with a performer and became very calm. He sat down on his lap and became calm. And the father was so amazed at how he calmed down. I found that totally fascinating.

Shall we… together (tout petit / Belgien):

A performance for young and old.

Mira: I thought that was very, very nice. The play took place in a nursing home. As spectators, we walked through the corridors of the home and were part of the world of these older people, for whom the play was also intended. There were also children there, so it was a very mixed audience. Scaffolding was erected on the stage, almost like a playground. At the beginning, the two dancers moved around it and it looked very impressive. One performer kept falling over and you could tell straight away that the two of them trusted each other blindly. Everyone was excited and paying full attention. Sometimes comments were shouted out and the audience applauded spontaneously time and again. The performers also carried each other again and again and were able to do a lot with their bodies. At the end, which I also thought was very nice, they stretched a woolen thread across the room and used it to connect the children and the old people, so to speak. They gave one end to a small child and the other to an older person. This meant that everyone was involved with each other. The children were then able to move around the room and wriggle between the strings and climb over them. They really enjoyed it. And the older spectators had fun watching them.

Luft (Nir de Volff and Theater o.N. / Germany):

About breathing.

Mira: I really loved the big inflatable bird. Lots of movement and breathing and fog from the fog machine. Bright colors. Everyone on stage was wearing unusual costumes and had a lot of energy.