Dance Ambassadors Celine and Mira

FRATZ International 2024

An experience report

Meetings - Symposium - Festival for the Youngest

FRATZ International is a children's theatre festival that unites the world's children's theatre scene in Berlin every two years. It is mainly aimed at children from 0-6 years, but is also popular with adults and professional audiences.

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

Impressions of the festival:

“Atmospheric inviting. Very child friendly, a ball pool! Even if there is too much professional audience and too few children.” Celine

“Also very mixed audience from an age point of view. cooperation between generations. It's a get-together. Interesting experience for everyone. Relaxed, nice atmosphere.” Mira

Bounced (Magnet Theatre / South Africa):

A piece from South Africa on the subject of bullying, exclusion.

Celine: It was fantastic! The performers inside started playing with different balls …Footballs, tennis balls … It then developed in such a way that at the end three of the four performers inside had a large gymnastics ball and one person did not. This was excluded and again and again , included always in alternation. Overall, it was very exciting and musical. It was sung and the rhythms made themselves, partly with the bodies on the balls. And there were a lot of children there who pumped with their torso every time balls were inflated, which I found delightful. A very heartwarming piece and the young spectators were very enthusiastic.

THINGS at the End of the World (Alfredo Zinola / Germany):

Vibrating boulders and a fluffy ball that you want to embrace immediately. A journey through the universe and the world of materials.

Celine: It didn't pick me up so much. I found it quite striking with the female read person who seemed so added. For the children, I think it was very nice that they could touch the big ball, for example, and also get so close to the stones. But I also did not understand the mucus on the stones, I found it rather disturbing.

Mira: I loved watching the play. What you mean by the female read person, I don't see as you do. So I don't think there has to be any concrete connection, is just someone who has played there in the piece. The elements with the mucus and the stones were very special, and I also understand that it didn't pick you up that way. It was something very special and you just realized that it's really about the consistency of things. What I was wondering is if the piece really appeals to children so much, or if they don't get a bit boring. Because it really played a lot and simply with the different elements.

Fields of tender (Dalija Acin Thelander / Sweden):

A participatory piece.

Celine: A very dark room with many elements hanging from the ceiling. Various materials that could be touched. It was intended for neurodivergent children. You could go in and out of the show 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 inside, which I found very exciting. All sense organs were addressed. And then the mood has always changed, and there have been different installations on the floor with different colors that have met. One situation I found particularly touching, there was a boy who ran around a lot, did not come to rest, did not come. He then got in touch with an actor and became quite calm. He sat down on his lap and calmed down. And the father was so amazed at how he went down. I found that totally fascinating.

hall we … together (tout petit / Belgium):

A show for young and old.

Mira: I thought that was very, very nice. The play took place in a nursing home. We walked through the hallways of the home as spectators and were part of the world of these older people, for whom the play was also intended, among other things. In addition, there were children, i.e. a mixed audience. On stage, a scaffolding was set up, almost like on a playground. In the beginning, the two dancers moved around it inside, and it looked very impressive. A performer is always tipped over, and you immediately noticed that the two blindly trust each other. Everyone was excited and was there with the full attention. Some comments were called in and the audience repeatedly applauded spontaneously. The actors inside have also worn each other again and again, could do a lot with their body. In the end, I also found that very beautiful, they then stretched a wool thread across the room and connected with it, so to speak, the children and the elderly. They have given one end to a small child, and the other to an older person. They were all involved with each other. The children were then able to move through the room and slither between the threads and climb over it. They had a lot of fun with it. And the older viewers had fun watching them.

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

About breathing.

Mira: I really liked the large inflatable bird. Lots of movement and breathing and fog from the fog machine. Colorful colors. Everyone on stage wore unusual costumes and a tremendous amount of energy.