The Tanzzentrale of the Nuremberg Region e.V., the Tanztendenz Munich e.V. and the Schwindelfrei
Festival Mannheim have joined forces to promote and represent contemporary dance in southern Germany. The two institutions from Bavaria have already worked together on several occasions over the last years and used their two anniversary festivals in 2022 to inaugurate the residency exchange. To extend the project to encompass the whole of southern German the partner from Mannheim joined the "see and be seen" alliance in 2023. Dance artists from the participating cities were able to apply for a working stay, an artistic residency, in one of the other cities.
Four applications were received from Nuremberg artists, eight from Mannheim and 16 from Munich dance professionals. A dance studio was made available for up to ten days for the selected artistic projects. A showing at the end of each residency opened up the process to the public and the local scene. The project concluded in December 2023 with a working meeting of all participants in Mannheim. At this meeting the vision of a southern German network for contemporary dance and stronger networking between Bavarian and Baden-Württemberg dance initiatives was discussed and first steps put into practice. The future vision of "see and be seen" involves other partners such as the
Produktionszentrum Tanz und Performance e. V. from Stuttgart, Tanznetz Freiburg, FLUX e.V., TanzSzene Baden-Württemberg e. V., ROXY TanzLabor Ulm, with the committed aim of increasing the visibility of contemporary dance in and from southern Germany and providing freelance dance professionals with better working opportunities, production conditions and networking.
This project is made possible by the Bavarian State Association for Contemporary Dance (BLZT) with funding from the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts and the Fürth Cultural Office.
Residency in Munich 02.–12.07.2023
The party pop-up performance 'Intellectual Striptease' was specially conceived for clubs and brings together art and nightlife, established dance aesthetics and subculture. The dance floor becomes a space for queer-feminist empowerment, freedom and euphoria. Together, audience and performers embark on a search for lost eroticism and the mystery of otherness. The residency served to create an extension of the existing piece and to give it a more comprehensive framework by means of the musical adaptation. On July 12, 2023, Tanztendenz München e.V. hosted a workshop, a jam and a show.
Photo credit: Stephanie Felber
Residency in Nuremberg 04.–09.09.2023
Tasha Hess-Neustadt (Munich) and Fabian Riess (Berlin) work together under the label Maria Neustadt. During their time at the Tanzzentrale, they explored the creative potential of restriction and its effect on the body. This work is part of a trilogy in which they explore and develop different spatial restrictions. They used the research in preparation for the production “LOT - Acts on Resilience”, which was performed at Schwere Reiter in Munich in November.
Photo credit: Sebastian Autenrieth
Residency in Mannheim 07.–13.12.2023
In December, Stephan Herwig was invited to Mannheim as a guest in residence. He worked with 2 dancers on “Intime Körper” (AT), exploring the theme of intimacy and used the residency as the first rehearsal phase for his new production. A working meeting took place on 13.12.2023 to promote the vision of a comprehensive southern German network for contemporary dance and to bring the dance initiatives from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg closer together.