Miscellaneous

Berlin

10. Biennale Tanzausbildung

Everything depends on training – this is especially true for the dance profession, as the career often begins in pre-adolescence. Young people must learn within a few years to be multi-flexible, multi-versatile, and multi-potential in order to cope with the complex daily routine of an ensemble and minimize the risk of injury. Teachers barely prepared for this task are still teaching, not to mention the lack of supervision. Body shaming and bullying are still being reported. And children who don't meet the medically necessary requirements still seem to be funneled into the system. Because subsidies and teaching positions at state institutions are tied to the number of occupied places. All of this needs to be debated openly and honestly.

The Biennale Tanzausbildung won't achieve that, but perhaps it will provide impulses that point in the direction of self-reflection. After all, the meeting is taking place for the tenth time, bringing together almost all of the German academies in Berlin, with the State Ballet School on site acting as host.

Under the motto "Variation – Precision and Boundlessness", the event, taking place from 2 to 8 February, will celebrate "above all the power of encounter and the creative energy of a vibrant dance community," according to the press release. Students, teachers, choreographers, and educators will dance, learn, and discuss together, using the industry gathering, now labeled a "national competition”, for exchange and networking. A symposium, conceived as a "co-creative gathering," will also serve this purpose, exploring commonalities and synergies, followed by a discussion on "personal, aesthetic, and social changes – in and with the art form of dance." In other words, in times of tight budgets, the question of relevance is of crucial importance in order to convince politicians and budget managers of the necessity of their actions.

The workshops will be led by Sofia Nappi, Pau Aran, Marguerite Donlon, and Rémy Fichet, all renowned artists. The public can also get a taste of the program: On 2 and 3 February, the German schools and international guests from France, England, and Denmark will present a comprehensive evening program. This will be followed on 7 February by a performance by one hundred artists at the Humboldt Forum—it's well worth a visit!

Dorion Weickmann

www.biennale-tanzausbildung.de