Team | Project partner | Press releases | Funding model & Sponsors
Since the founding of the Offensive Tanz für Junges Publikum festival in 2018, we have been committed to ensuring that young spectators aged 0 to 18 come into contact with dance - for example in the form of performances, workshops, battles or through our dance ambassadors.
In addition, we promote artistic research in the field of young dance through research and discourse formats. Berlin dance professionals who want to work for children and young people are given the opportunity to initiate new projects in laboratories, studios or residences, including the production, resumption and touring of dance pieces.
It also Offensive Tanz deals with content-related, aesthetic, structural and cultural-political issues in relation to young dance, for example in the context of specialist events. Discrimination-critical and inclusive perspectives, removal of barriers as well as better access for young viewers of all ages, multipliers are declared goals of our work and shape their orientation and design.
An important part of the activities Offensive Tanz takes place in international contexts, for example through cooperation with the Berlin partner festivals PURPLE and FRATZ International as well as guest performances and networking events.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Offensive Kulturbus As a subproject, the Offensive Kulturbus is closely interlinked with the work of Offensive Tanz and uses its personnel and infrastructure. The encounter with art from the very beginning is considered to be an effective tool for cultural participation: An equally worthy relationship with children and young people as serious spectators who deserve to encounter artistically demanding works, which in turn arise in recognition of their plural realities of life.
We stand for an open, diverse and solidarity-based society and clearly position ourselves against racism, anti-Semitism, right-wing extremism, queer hostility, sexism, ableism and any form of group-related misanthropy. We see this attitude as an ongoing task.
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Doreen MarkertArtistic management, management Doreen has been working for about 15 years as a freelance curator, producer and dramaturge with a focus on dance for young audiences. After projects such as Lucky Trimmer, Etape Danse and Berlin Diagonale, she began her work for the theater o.N. in 2013/14, whose structural professionalization she played a decisive role in shaping and implementing artistic projects in the field of young dance. She is co-founder of Offensive Tanz für Junges Audience and took over its artistic direction in 2026. |
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Veronika KnausFinancial administration & Event organisation Veronika studied Cultural Studies (and Aesthetic Practice) in Hildesheim and Berlin. After freelance work in the field of production, among others with 600 Highwaymen and CHICKS*free performance collective, he worked for the Fonds Darstellende Künste and Dachverband Tanz Deutschland. Since April 2026, Veronika has been responsible for the financial administration & event organisation at Offensive Tanz. |
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Lena Lenzoutreach Lena has been working in the cultural field for 20 years since completing her studies in Cultural Studies (BA) and Cultural Management (MA). After working for the artists' agency Impresariat Simmenauer, the Potsdam Sanssouci Music Festival, the direktorenhaus Berlin and the Kleistforum Frankfurt (Oder), she has been responsible for the public relations of Theater Strahl since 2017. Since the foundation of Offensive Tanz, she has been part of the project team and took over public relations in 2023. Here she motivates again and again to build the communicative bridges between people in order to create spaces of encounter and connection. |
Doreen Markert - Artistic Director d.markert@offensive-tanz.de
Lena Lenz - Public Relations presse@offensive-tanz.de
Veronika Knaus - Finanzadministration & Organisation v.knaus@offensive-tanz.de
CEO
Thomas Dörschel, Karen Giese, Doreen Markert, Inge Zysk
Extended team - Active employees of partner institutions:
Florian Bilbao, Dagmar Domrös, Canan Erek, Livia Patrizi
Former staff:
- Elisa Ricci - Project management (2022 - 2025) | Eva Grotzke - Financial administration (2019 - 2025) | Nora Amin - Co-management (2022 - 2023) | Laura Kraus - Public relations (2020 - 2023) | Canan Erek - Project management (2019 - 2022) | Katharina Neumann - Public relations (2019 - 2022) | Rebecca Mauser - Financial administration (2019 - 2021)
For the Offensive Tanz für junges Audience Berlin, four local, national and international partners of the contemporary dance and theatre scene for children and young people have joined forces:
A place worn and designed by many.
Founded in 1987 as a freelance theatre group, Theater Strahl has established itself over the last 38 years as one of the pioneering stages for contemporary and sophisticated theatre for young audiences. Theater Strahl also performs throughout Germany and internationally, follows invitations to children's and youth theatre festivals and is regularly nominated and awarded for theatre prizes.
The Theater o.N. is a free theatre in Berlin that produces productions for children, young people and adults. In the last ten years, the theater has become a permanent fixture and anchor position in Berlin and nationwide in the theater for the youngest (0-6). Our heart beats for the youngest audience, to which we turn with our artistic and participatory research, our productions and our symposia.
The Junge Tanzhaus Berlin produces, develops and presents dance for young and age-spanning audiences. Another focus is on dance in public schools. It combines professional artistic practice with learning, co-creation and social exchange.
International Dance Festival for Young Audiences
Since 2017, our goal with our festival has been to inspire children and young people to dance and to arouse their curiosity about contemporary performances. Every year we put together an exciting stage program with different aesthetic approaches and content-related topics from the international, contemporary dance scene.
Offensive Tanz für junges Audience Berlin is a non-profit entrepreneurial society (gUG). Since its foundation in 2018/19, it has been funded by TANZPAKT Stadt-Land-Bund with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and by the State of Berlin with funds from the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.
TANZPAKT Stadt-Land-Bund is a joint initiative of municipalities, federal states and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media to promote excellence in dance.
