02. and 03. December 2023 // Partnering // by Marion Sparber + Pablo von Sternenfels
Friday 2-7 PM & Saturday 10AM to 4PM // Zentrum für Kunst // Hermann-Ritter-Straße 108E, 28197 Bremen

We start the class by opening our channels of awareness and connect to our partner by manipulating, testing and speculating with his/her structure and weight. A special focus in this phase is the use of our whole body doing the task, not only being limited to our hands and arms. In this first part the use of play-fullness allows us to connect to our instinctive side, tuning into a shared natural flow of breath. With the help of exercises in different constellations, every time changing and adapting to a new partner and universe - we listen, follow and direct the movement as one functioning organism through space. We get ready to jump, cross, push, pull, avoid, embrace and suspend each other. We like to focus on an organic way of Partnering, based on action/reaction principles inspired by Contact Improvisation and Fighting styles. We like to access the movement from a perspective of a deeper connection and try to avoid the superficial habit of copying shapes. Instead we motivate every couple to find a unique way of communicating with the partner and look for individual solutions and variations of the material. Another important aspect of our class is the constant change of the level of activity for both roles. We learn how much resistance, power and direction is needed to reach our maximum together by investigating with the given tools, and finally learning fixed Partnering material at the end of each class.

9. & 10. Juni 2023 // Who needs a dramaturg? // by Guy Cools
Freitag 10-17 Uhr & Samstag 10-17 Uhr // Villa Wigman // Bautzner Str. 107, 01099 Dresden 

The underlying idea of the workshop is that as a choreographer you don’t necessarily need a dramaturg but you should develop your own dramaturgical reflection on your artistic practice.

The workshop will be given in English and is addressed to professional dance practitioners from Bremen, Dresden and Münsterland. A registration as a pair (1 dancer / 1 outside eye or callaborator) is desired but not mandatory. 

22. Mai 2023 // Performing self-promotion // by Jessica Buchholz
Montag 10-14 Uhr // theaterkontor // Schildstr. 21, 28203 Bremen 

As a choreographer, director, theater maker in the independent performing arts, you have to sell yourself and your ideas all the time: to sponsors, journalists, potential collaborators, partners, theaters, and, of course, audiences. Sometimes it is difficult to strike the right note. In the workshop we will talk about different ways of writing and actively work on your self-presentation.
The workshop adressed professional dancers.

I'm Jessica, co-founder and co-managing director of STÜCKLIESEL Productions in Hamburg and have been working as a creative producer, conceptualizer, fundraiser, press officer since 2008 and as a business coach and business facilitator in the liberal performing arts since 2022.

31. März 2023 // Künstler:in, aber sicher? // by Jens Schönenberg
Freitag 11-14.30 Uhr // Ecos Office Center Münster und online // Hammer Straße 39, 48153 Münster 

With this workshop we would like to show which possibilities for the insurance of artists are really useful and how these are best combined with the state institutions. We will also take into account the current juristic situation.
The focus will be on questions regarding KSK and retirement provisions.
What insurance coverage do I really need? When and how can I join the KSK, and what will I get out of it? What do my possibilities of retirement provision look like? Which products can I usefully combine? How can I insure myself against occupational disability as a freelance artist?

Jens Schoenenberg on the mindset behind his work:
"If the artists are doing well, I'm doing well, too."
After training as a musical performer at the Stage School in Hamburg, Jens' stage career began in 1992, taking him from the big long-run musicals to the various city theaters in Germany. With a desire for change and an innovative idea in mind, Jens founded the agency OMA in 1999- of all years, the year the musical world of Germany was facing major changes due to the insolvency of Stella.

From his time in the theater business came the inspiration to look into the business side of the industry. Parallel to founding the agency, Jens successfully completed a degree in cultural management between 1999 and 2002.
Since then he has been working as a self-employed financial and insurance consultant specializing in the support of artists. With this Jens successfully fills a big gap in the industry.

10. & 11. Dezember 2022 // Upside down and all around // by Ana Jordão and Vincent Kollar
Samstag 13.15-17 Uhr & Sonntag 13-17 Uhr // Etage Bremen // Herdentorsteinweg 37, 28195 Bremen 

In this course we will explore acro dance and partnering and experience diverse ways of approaching and leaving the floor.
Tools such as breath, imagination and emotion will help us re-discover movements and find lightness. This lightness will lead us in our path towards energy efficiency.
Balance is not a static state; balance is a constant search. We will dedicate some time to feel the movement in the stillness of the inverted position. We will share our vocabulary of dynamic handstands, with the idea of passing through the handstand. To see the handstand as a step in the journey and not as the destination.
Use the floor as your partner and let the partner be your ground. Through animalistic games we let our bodies communicate with each other. For this we need to develop our ability to listen. We believe that nowadays listening is more important than ever. With the sensitivity and intuition that we develop through playfulness we will then start to understand the physical mechanisms of partnering. Let yourself move and be moved.

www.anajordao.com
www.vincentkollar.com

28.10. & 29.10.2022 // by Fernando Balsera Pita & Nacor Ibanez
Freitag 15-18 Uhr & Samstag 9-15 Uhr // Theaterkontor // Schildstr. 21, 28203 Bremen

The workshop is based on the Search Inside Yourself Curriculum. The original 2-day mindfulness - based emotional intelligence development program developed at Google, and successfully established in SAP, BBVA, Deutsche Telekom, AXA, etc. Designed and tested at Google, the SIY program teaches mindfulness and emotional intelligence skills that lead to mental health wellbeing, resilience, sustained peak performance, strong collaboration and effective leadership.

6. September 2022 // Katharina von Wilcke
10 bis 16 Uhr // Theaterkontor // Schildstraße 21, 28203 Bremen
"Hier kommt ein Projekt"

The goal: Describe and present projects in a comprehensible way!
How do you turn an idea into a comprehensible concept? What should I pay attention to when writing up a project so that a jury can support the application? And how can I convincingly present my dance project in elevator pitches, video presentations or when meeting organizers in the foyer?
This workshop offers choreographers and dancers the prerequisites for a successful written and oral presentation of their project through theory, exchange of experiences and practical exercises - from the development of a content structure, text tools and writing aids to presentation techniques with the use of body language.
Please bring your written concept drafts and laptops if possible.

Katharina von Wilcke is a curator, producer, lecturer and consultant for artistic and cultural affairs. In 1995 she founded DepArtment, the first production office for independent performing arts in Hamburg. She was project manager at numerous festivals and directed four editions of the Tanzkongress' on behalf of the German Federal Cultural Foundation from 2006 to 2016. Since 2018, she has been a jury member of the funding program TANZPAKT Stadt-Land-Bund. In recent years, she has been particularly concerned with the audience and develops her own mediation formats.

www.katharinavonwilcke.de

10. Mai 2022 / Niv Sheinfeld & Oren Laor

10.00 bis 12.30 Uhr Tanzwerk Bremen, Schildstraße 12-19

look and respond

The Israeli duo NIV SHEINFELD and OREN LAOR give insights into how they develop their pieces together with the dancers through play and improvisation training. The focus of their workshop is therefore on practicing to look and react closely. To be inspired by the physical and performative suggestions of the dancers in the space or to serve as a source of inspiration yourself.

08. Mai 2022 / Anya Saugstad
09.00 bis 11.30 Uhr Tanzwerk Bremen, Schildstraße 12-19

What is real and what is imagined?

Anya Saugstad will be leading a workshop focused on improvisational techniques and choreographic tools she uses in the creation of her own work, as well as teaching what she has learned from being a part of Vanessa Goodmans' creative process. Drawing from her background in both improvisation and contemporary dance, the workshop will focus on an improvisational exploration, and then will lead into learning sections of choreography from Anya's latest work.

06. Mai 2022 / Brian Mendez
etage (großer Raum), Bahnhofstraße 12, 28195 Bremen

Voguing

Voguing was developed in the 1980s by the queer Latin and African American ballroom scene in Harlem, New York. BRIAN MENDEZ, dancer in DOG RISING by Canadian choreographer Clara Furey, is also known for his voguing technique. In his workshop, he teaches the five essential elements of this dance style.

20. Februar 2022/ Sten Rudstrom
15.00 bis 18.00 Uhr Schaulust Bremen, Beim Handelsmuseum 9

Action Theater

Action Theater performance training is an improvisational body-based methodology. The training helps dancers expand their physical forms and inhabit those forms with humanity. Through the practice of working solo and with partners, Action Theater develops a better understanding of ensemble architecture, the use of space and composition. Action Theater work returns the dancer back to her body, broadens the range and quality of her movement. It develops a unique and idiosyncratic vocabulary, frees the individual and brings each performer to a fresh, new relationship with their movement.

26. März 2022 / Paul Pui Wo Lee 
15.00 bis 18.00 Uhr Tanzwerk Bremen, Schildstraße 12-19

Composing artistry from clarifying directional access

We can view our expression and communication as a composition of directional choices, and there are some directions - certain blindspots - that we don't normally access not for a lack of desire, but because we just might not yet know how to organise ourselves to get there.
The Feldenkrais Method® has this wonderful ability to help people realise a more accurate sensibility of the collaborative potential between all their anatomical parts to have a more well-rounded access into space. This clarification of the "self-image" will then serve as a dependable compass for spatial orientation to help with the crafting of one's artistic voice through movement composition, dance, and it will also provide another type of "skeleton" for further movement generation and research.