Dance Ambassador Céline

Conference "Equity in Dance"

An experience report

On 14.11.23, the Offensive Tanz für junges Audience hosted the "Equity in Dance" symposium at the Hector Peterson School. Dance Ambassador Céline was there and wrote this report:

Tuesday morning 9:00 a.m. at a school in Kreuzberg...

As soon as I arrive, the old feeling of school spreads in me. When was the last time I went to a normal school? Amazingly, it was very quiet on my arrival. However, this was misleading, as should be seen later in the day.

The entire orga team was already there. The smell of coffee and tea came directly to me when I arrived in the warm cafeteria. All still a bit tired, but full of anticipation of the day we looked for our places in the auditorium. I was particularly touched after the welcome by the minute of silence for the current situation in the world. When we had all gathered again, we started with the first program item. I was very happy because we started directly with a movement unit. This allowed us all to get to know each other a little better. Bahar Meriç started with a small warm-up followed by a sometimes difficult listening task. Here we joined together in two and one had to find the other in the room with closed eyes, guided only by the sounds that the partner made. The many noises in the room sometimes confused one, and if there was a double noise, one literally looked for ‘the needle in the haystack’. Another fun game was a speed game, where the two main characters Peppa and Schorsch Wutz had to be given around in a circle very quickly. In the end, both groups were so in flow that there was a tie. Finally, they danced freely and there was tea and pastries. We were ready for the next part of the program.

As I had guessed, it shouldn't be quiet for long. Again and again it was loud at the windows and doors of the auditorium. We were the highlight at school that day. Some did not shy away from opening the door to the auditorium and calling us in loud messages. This is real school life.

Five keynote speeches followed in the Equity in Dance exchange forum.

The driving forces were: Gabi Dan Droste and Jan Kress (FELD), Fee Josten (LUNA PARK e.V.), Bahar Meriç (Future Move e.V.), Dörte Wolter (MV tanzt an, Perform[d]ance e.V. and Elisa Ricci (Offensive Tanz für junges Audience). The speakers reported on their own experience with the topic of equity, but also on challenges and open questions.

It was exciting to hear the many perspectives. After the short impulses, we divided into small groups and discussed various questions. In the end, a person was supposed to summarize what they had been talking about, but everyone was so engrossed in the discussion that we gassed a person to determine. This made it possible to see how important the topic was for everyone. The event and the whole day was captured by the fantastic sketches of Nora Haakh.

After this exciting exchange, we went for lunch. Food from the school cafeteria. The school feeling came back.

Afterwards we went to the gym of the school to watch the piece PUSH by Potpourri Dance. We were surrounded by many pupils:in. The feeling of court break spread. Everywhere there was talk or amicably tickled. Some were quite calm and waited for it to start. The premiere was a complete success and even the loudest guys were suddenly very shy when they were asked to dance at the end of the performance.

In the afternoon there was a dance battle in the gym and at the same time a political discussion in the auditorium. The political exchange was about the perpetuation and safeguarding of existing structures in dance for young audiences. A new and very interesting situation for me.

After this eventful day with lots of new information, we finally went to the Dance Battle to see which of the young dance talents wins. Everyone showed their personality at this battle and made the dance floor their own stage. One did not feel that the participants competed against each other, rather one had the feeling of harmony. It was mainly about showing your own style, supporting each other, networking with each other and just having a good time.

In any case, the mixture of technical day and school was a perfect combination, where you were directly at the young people.

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