Dance Ambassadors Celine and Mira

FRATZ International 2024

An experience report

Encounters - Symposium - Festival for the Youngest

FRATZ International is a children's theatre festival that unites the worldwide 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 professionals.

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 bath! Although a little too many professionals and too few children.” Celine

“Even age-wise very mixed audience. cooperation between generations. 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 actors inside started playing with different balls...footballs, tennis balls... It turned out that in the end three of the four performers had a big gymnastics ball inside and one person didn't. ^ This was excluded and again and again also included , always alternating. 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 who pumped with the upper body every time balls were inflated, which I found wonderful. 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 hug immediately. A journey through the universe and the world of materials.

Celine: It didn't pick me up so much. I found it pretty striking with the female read person who seemed so added. For the children, I think it was very nice that they were allowed to 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 really enjoyed watching the piece. What you mean by the female read person, I don't see it the way you do. So I think there does not have to be a concrete connection, is just someone who has played there in the play. 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 is really about the consistency of things. What I've been wondering is if the piece really appeals to kids so much, or if 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 / Sweden):

A participatory piece.

Celine: A very dark room with many elements hanging from the ceiling. Different fabrics 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 performers and talk to them. It smelled cinnamon inside, which I found very exciting. All sensory organs were addressed. And then the mood always changed, and there were different installations on the floor with different colors that met. A situation I found particularly touching, there was a boy who ran around a lot, did not come to rest, is. He then got in contact with a performer and became quite calm. He sat down on his lap and became calm. And the father was astonished at how he got 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, so a very mixed audience. A scaffolding was set up on stage, almost like a playground. In the beginning, the two dancers moved around it inside, and it looked very impressive. A performer has always flipped over, and you immediately realized that the two trust each other blindly. Everyone was thrilled 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, that I also found very nice, they then stretched a wool thread across the room and connected with it, so to speak, the children and the elderly. They put one end in the hands of a small child and the other in the hands of an elderly person. As a result, everyone was involved with each other. The children could then also move through the room and intersect between the threads and cross over. They had a lot of fun with it. And the older spectators had fun watching them.

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

About breathing.

Mira: Totally great I found the big inflatable bird. A lot of movement and breathing and fog from the fog machine. Colorful colors. Everyone on stage had unusual costumes on and tremendous energy.