Dance ambassador Céline
Conference "Equity in Dance"
An experience report
On November 14th, 23rd, the Offensive Tanz für junges Audience organized the Fachtag Equity im Tanz in der Hector-Peterson-Schule. Dance Ambassador Céline was there and wrote this report:
Tuesday morning 9:00 a.m. in a school in Kreuzberg …
As soon as I arrive, the old feeling of school spreads in me. When was the last time I was in a normal school? Amazingly, it was very quiet upon my arrival. This, however, was misleading, as was to be seen later in the day.
The entire 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 for the day we looked for our seats in the auditorium. After the welcome, I was particularly touched by the minute of silence for the current situation in the world. When we had all gathered again, we already 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 partly difficult listening task. Here we got together as two and one had to find the other in the room with closed eyes, guided only by the sounds that the partner made. Due to the many noises in the room one was partly confused and if a noise was duplicated, then one searched in the truest sense of the word: ‘The needle in the haystack’. Another fun game was a speed game, where the two main characters Peppa and Schorsch Wutz had to be quickly passed around in circles. In the end, both groups were in such a flow that there was a tie. Finally, there was free dancing and tea and pastries. We were ready for the next stage of the program.
As I had suspected, 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.
Impulses were: Gabi Dan Droste and Jan Kress (FELD – Theatre for Young Audiences), 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 Dance for Young Audiences). The speakers reported from 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, one person was supposed to summarize what they were talking about, but everyone was so engrossed in the discussion that we gassed one person to commit. This made it clear how important the issue was for everyone. The event and the whole day were captured by the fantastic sketches of Nora Haakh.
After this exciting exchange, we went on our lunch break. Food from the school cafeteria. The school feeling came back.
Afterwards we went to the gym of the school to watch the play PUSH by Potpourri Dance. We were surrounded by students. The feeling of court break spread. There was talk or friendly talk everywhere. Some were quiet and waited for it to start. The premiere was a complete success and even the loudest guys were suddenly quite 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 consolidating and securing 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 in this battle and made the dancefloor 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 trade day and school was a perfect combination, where you were directly at the young people.
