Dance in Germany

INTRODUCTION

Germany’s dance landscape continues to be characterized by strong contrasts.

It constitutes a lively, highly idiosyncratic, and largely un-coordinated aspect of the country’s culture. There are substantial regional varieties to it, while at the same time, dance clearly transcends national boundaries.

However, dance in Germany continues to be marginalized and is even blatantly ignored both as a social phenomenon, and as an art form. A recent

enquiry of the government by the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union arrived at the conclusion that Germany’s government harbours a shamefully low interest in the situation of dancers in Germany.[1] The government’s response to the opposition’s questionnaire revealed that there are hardly any data available on the situation of dancers in Germany. Unfortunately, this is indicative of the situation of dance in Germany as a whole.

There is no national dance bureau to collect information on dance developments and provide legal and logistic assistance to the dance community, as is the case for instance in France.

With art and culture being considered a cornerstorne of national identity, public funding remains a characteristic trait of German cultural policies. Despite the appointment of a cultural state secretary by the current government, culture is still subject to the decisions of Germany’s sixteen federal countries. As a result, policies as regards art funding, and expensive arts like ballet and dance at that, differ considerably from federal country to federal country.

Due to the very nature of dance as a phenomenon that has a bearing on almost any aspects of culture, it is impossible to cover dance tendencies in their entirety. This text deals with dance as a theatre art; social dance and dance as a spare time activity; education and training of professional dancers; social status of dancers, dance teachers and choreographers; dance studies; dance research organizations; archives, dance therapy, other dance organizations, and dance and the media.

Dance as a Theatre Art

Despite major cuts in public spending, the country enjoys a thriving theatre scene. There is an impressive network of state-run, communal and private theatres offering a rich repertoire of music, drama, ballet, and dance. About 250 theatres in Germany employ ballet masters and/or choreographers on a regular basis.[2] Although in the last few years, a number of private musical theatres have been set up to stage long-runs of internationally successful plays like Starlight Express, Cats, Phantom of the Opera, or Hunchback of Notre Dame, the musical craze seems to have slightly calmed down.

The sacrificing of whole theatres, ballet companies and dance theatres in Germany first began with the closure of East German theatres right after German unification. In the meantime, however, it is no longer limited to Eastern Germany. In 1998/9, Germany’s theatres employed 1,604 ballet company members, 21 per cent of whom were foreigners. In contrast to 1996, the number of performing artists empoyed by German theatres rose by 6.9 per cent in Western Germany, whereas Eastern Germany suffered a decline by 9.9 per cent.[3]

Germany’s capital Berlin certainly cannot pride itself on being the country‘s undisputed dance capital, although there is a lively theatre scene, and an equally thrilling off-theatre scene, which include a considerable number of dance events. There are three opera houses that run their own dance companies. So far, however, they have failed to make their mark with a unique dance repertoire to fascinate their audiences. Thus  the Berlin senate‘s proposal to form a joint Berlin ballet company, or Berlin Ballett, as a means of saving money met with less public outrage than one ought to have expected. It also met with only a certain degree of resistance by the opera houses themselves. For when it comes to sacrificing, ballet and dance always seem to be the first choice of theatre directors.

This is only another confirmation of how attitudes and clichés originating from the 18^th and 19^th centuries as to the ‘seriousness’ and ‘respectability’ of the arts are effectively being perpetuated. Within theatre hierarchies, dance certainly occupies the lowest step of the ladder.

The director of Komische Oper Berlin had in fact already gone as far as to dismiss all his dancers. In the meantime, however, by inviting Blanca Li as  chief choreographer and re-establishing a dance theatre, he created a new status quo which will clearly prove to be a stumbling block to implementing the senate‘s ballet austerity programme. It remains to be seen whether Deutsche Oper and Deutsche Staatsoper will follow his example. Both the Berlin dance audience and an increasing number of tourists would certainly fill three opera houses if there were the chance for young choreographers and dancers to develop their potential.

Yet Berlin is not the only town to privatise its theatres. The closure of Cologne‘s dance forum, or Tanzforum Köln, proved to be a major shock to Germany’s dance community.

The number of internationally renowned choreographers working in Germany may be low judging by the luxurious working conditions at German theatres. Pina Bausch may be the most widely known choreographer who actually comes from Germany. The majority of choreographers working within publicly financed theatres, among them William Forsythe in Frankfurt, John Neumeiee in Hamburg; Angelin Preljocaj and Blanca Li in Berlin, were not born in Germany. However, lacking support for their choreographic approaches induced promising choreographers to leave the country, among them Philipp Taylor, Pierre Wyss, and Richard Wherlock.

Yet there has also been a number of inspiring new initiatives.

After having been a much-admired off-theatre protagonist, Sasha Waltz was invited to Berlin‘s Schaubühne theatre to form her own dance theatre. With her successful pieces Körper and S, she not only delighted theatre critics, but also attracted a rather drama-orientated audience to watch dance performances. On September 14, 2001, however, Berlin’s Volksbühne theatre announced the dismissal of its dancers, i. e., the closure of its dance theatre. This effectively puts an end to Johann Kresnik’s Choreographisches Theater, and arguably a whole era in German dance.

 Like Berlin, many German towns enjoy a lively dance theatre scene comprising both established companies and off-theatre initiatives by a new generation of choreographers and performers. This is especially true of Nordrhein Westphalia, but also applies to Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Munich, Nuremberg, to name but a few. Dance has played a major role in North Rhine- Westphalia’s efforts to change from an industrial region characterized by 19^th century coal-mining and chemical industries into a service-orientated area attracting people with art, leisure and shopping facilities. It is the only federal country where dance plays a major part in politics. NRW, as it is called for short, runs its own federal dance bureau and stages an international dance fair Internationale Tanzmesse NRW every other year. Its success is largely due to the committment of its managing director Anne Neumann-Schultheis.(http://www.tanznrw.de/land.de) Another North Rhine Westphalian attraction is its Internationales Tanzfestival NRW, which is directed by Pina Bausch, whose Wuppertal dance theatre is also based in the region. Bundesakademie Remscheid plays an important part in the further education of dance teachers.

What with the lack of a national ministry of art and culture, the country’s Goethe institutes are in charge of presenting Germany’s dance developments on an international scale. The Goethe Institute‘s web-sites provide an insight into Germany’s dance, and the criteria that are applied to decide what may best represent German art. (http://www.deutsche-kultur-international.de)

In the last few years, dance festivals have attracted more and more people. Both Internationales Tanzfest - Tanz im August and Tanzwinter take place in Berlin. A number of towns stage their own ballet or dance theatre festivals, among them Baden-Baden Ballettfestspiele, Tanztheater international in Hannover and Braunschweig, and Geraer Balletttage. Tanzplattform Deutschland is a showcase of contemporary dance in Germany. In 2002, it will take place in Leipzig. Prestigious festivals like Ludwigsburger Schloßfestspiele/Internationale Festspiele Baden-Württemberg, Berliner Festtage, or Friedrichshafen Bodensee Festival also include ballet and dance.

There has been a tendency for theatre festivals like Berliner Theatertreffen or Leipzig‘s euro-scene festivals to present dance, choreographed drama and theatre forms transcending European conceptions of separate theatre arts or genres. This is also true of music festivals such as Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sansscouci, and Dresdner Forum für Zeitgenössische Musik.

They tend to present companies from all over the world, inviting an audience shaped by a Western European way of life to enjoy and be challenged by dance forms and dance contexts that usually do not form part of their experience.

Social dance and dance as a spare time activity

While folkdance has not formed a part of everyday life in Germany for many years, other social dances do play a major role. Folkdance is being preserved by a few associations, who find it increasingly difficult to attract young people. They also celebrate their highlights, such as a bi-annual folk dance festival called Bundesvolkstanztreffen. The lively movement associated with folk dance and folk music that existed in Eastern Germany before German unification undoubtedly is a thing of the past.

However, dances like Tango, Salsa, or Swing are extremely popular not only among young people. The number of schools and venues offering courses and chances to dance and watch these dances being performed has increased tremendously. Children and young people also love Break dance and Hip hop. A growing fitness industry in Germany does not only provide the traditional Aerobic and workout courses, but has also discovered the potential of dance.

Germany’s big towns have developed their particular party and club scenes, although the country’s rich and diversified party culture is clearly not restricted to an urban setting. Techno continues to embrace a broad range of approaches to music and life. While a faction of the movement continues to cherish its original impulse to subvert a bourgeois way of life, including officially accepted art, another part of it has obviously yielded to a rigid commercialism. Berlin’s Love Parade may arguably be one of the most famous dance events in the world.

Dance in education

In contrast to Germany’s rich theatre landscape, dance plays only a minor role in Germany’s general education. Be it Germany’s kindergartens or schools,  dance is not taught as an end in itself, and does not form a part of the artistic education of children and young people. If taught at all, it lies within the responsibility of teachers who more often than not have not received a specific dance education and training. It mainly depends upon the teachers‘ individual commitment whether there takes place any dancing at all. It may be included in sports lessons, or, in the case of younger school children, be taught by an enthusiastic German or music teacher. School children visiting a dance performance, a natural thing to do for East German children before German unification, are a rare occurrence today. There is hardly any schooling of receptive faculties. In contrast to literature, painting and music, dance is clearly neglected in German education. This is also true of opera houses, theatres and dance theatres. Apart from the obvious Christmas Nutcracker, which may not exactly be suited to cast a lasting spell on a young audience, dance performances created for children and young people are shamefully rare. There have been a few attempts to change this situation. In 2000, the Cologne based theatre Monteure and NRW Landesbüro Tanz organised a conference Dance theatre for a young audience – the audience of tomorrow“. The proceedings of this conference will be published in collaboration with Tanzwissenschaft e. V. (Ed. Angela Rannow, Tanz für ein junges Publikum, Dokumentation des ersten internationalen TanzTheaterTreffens TRANSIT und der Fachkonferenz „Tanz für das junge Publikum von heute – die Zuschauer von morgen“, Köln/Dresden 2001)

Sadly enough, a school like Gymnasium Essen Werden, which offers dance as a ‘natural’ part of the curriculum, is an exception to the rule.

With the lack of any systematic education of children’s or young people’s active dancing skills and receptive powers, Germany clearly fails to educate a future dance audience.

Education of professional dancers

Both private and publicly funded ballet schools and dance departments at higher education institutions offer dance education and training.

Certificates and diplomas of publicly funded institutions usually are officially recognized. Thus dancers having graduated from one of these schools will have good chances for a second professional life after having finished their dancing career. Yet only diplomas of these schools qualify for university entrance. According to the Germany’s central artists‘ agency, Zentrale Bühnen-, Fernsehen und Filmvermittlung (ZBF), about 100 students graduate from a state-run dance school every year.[4] About 70 per cent of them find an engagement.

Higher education

While a number of ballet schools charge school fees, the dance education and training offered by the majority of schools within higher education is free of charge. Consequently, students have to shoulder the costs for their accommodation and food. This certainly adds to the attractiveness of Germany’s dance education and training. Dance students from Germany are eligible for state assistance  (BAFÖG), while foreign students may apply for a scholarship from their country of origin, or Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst.(http://www.daad.de)

As regards higher education, the Palucca Schule Dresden - Hochschule für Tanz (http://palucca.smwk.de) is the only dance college in Germany exclusively devoted to dance. It educates professional dancers, choreographers, and dance teachers. Another institution in Germany to provide professional education and training for choreographers is the drama college Hochschule für Schauspielkunst ”Ernst Busch“ Berlin. It is led by Prof. Dietmar Seyffert, who is the president of the CID’s German committee.

The dance department of the Folkwang-Hochschule Essen (http://www.folkwang.uni-essen.de) focusses on the education and training of professional dancers, and dance teachers. There is a certain emphasis on contemporary dance. This is also true of the newly established course in contemporary and classical dance at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main. Both Akademie des Tanzes at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim (http://www.tanzstiftung.de) and Hochschule für Musik München Ballet-Akademie, Heinz-Bosl-Stiftung, center on classical dance.

Musikhochschule Köln at Cologne educates dancers.

Ballet schools

The Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin und Schule für Artistik decided to supplement a course of study to educate professional dancers with a course combining dance and an academic education qualifying for university entrance. (http:// home.t-online.de/home/sbb.sfa.cids/)

The ballet school of Ballettzentrum Hamburg - John Neumeier

(http://www.hamburgballet.de), the Ballettschule der Oper Leipzig -

Berufsfachschule für Bühnentanz (http.//www.oper-leipzig.de) and the

John-Cranko-Schule - Staatliche Ballett-Akademie, Berufsschule – Ballettschule der Württembergischen Staatstheater (http://www.staatstheater.stuttgart.de) educate professional dancers.

On the occasion of the 75^th anniversary of the Palucca Schule Dresden – Hochschule für Tanz, dance teachers, dance scholars, and psychologists discussed major challenges of a dance education for the 21^st century. The debates mainly centered on issues of creativity, improvisation, and  methodological problems of contemporary dance teaching.

The secretary general of the CID-UNESCO, Paris, Mrs. Arlet Bon, attended the celebrations and the symposium, which took place from July 14 to 15, 2000.

The proceedings of the symposium have been published and can be obtained from the Palucca Schule Dresden- Hochschule für Tanz. (Ed. Ralf Stabel, Kreativität im Tanz. Beiträge und Diskussionen zur Geschichte und Methode, Tanzwissenschaft e. V., Dresden 2001)

The school’s anniversary also gave rise to another publication. Its history is told in Ralf Stabel’s book Palucca Schule Dresden. Geschichte und Geschichten. Verlag der Kunst Dresden,  Dresden 2000.

Social status of dancers, dance teachers and choreographers

The social situation of dancers in Germany is highly critical.

This is mainly due to the fact that there are no official criteria to recognize the profession. Dancers who have not graduated with a diploma from one of the higher education institutions will find it diffult to get assistance for a second career. More often than not, they are treated as if lagging any professional training. Obviously, this proves to be a major obstacle for their transition.

Likewise, there are also no binding regulations to the dance teaching profession. Although eight colleges within higher education offer dance teaching studies leading to a diploma which is recognized by the state, anyone daring to do so can open a ballet or dance school, and teach children how to dance. The stipulation of criteria to ensure common standards of qualification is another  issue that urgently needs the attention of politicians and legal authorities.

Another faction of the dance community also lacks proper representation.

As regards copyright issues, Germany is clearly lacking behind its European counterparts, and even more so, the USA.

Although choreographers‘ rights are legally protected, there is no author’s society to exercise them. In 2000, the German committee of the CID-UNESCO and NRW Landesbüro Tanz held a conference on the collective representation of choreographic rights in Europe within the framework of the international dance fair in Essen.

Its proceedings, Ed. Angela Rannow, Die kollektive Wahrnehmung der Choreographenrechte in Europa, with the kind support of the Federal attorney for cultural and media affairs, Dresden 2001, are forthcoming.

Dance studies

Despite long-standing efforts to establish dance studies at university level, dance research still lacks the academic recognition enjoyed by other arts.

Undoubtedly, recent dance developments have induced an increasing number of scholars from a variety of academic backgrounds to explore dance or dance-related subjects. Thus, for instance, dance is approached from disciplines such as music, literature and art studies, cultural studies, gender and feminist studies,  communication studies, as well as history. Yet there is no systematic training of future dance scholars as is the case in a number of European countries, and the USA.

With German unification and the adjustment of Eastern Germany’s education to West German standards, a unique attempt at setting up dance studies within an art education and training context in Germany was terminated despite its obvious popularity. In 1991, the Leipzig based drama school Hans Otto, which combined acting, choreography, and theatre studies, initiated an experimental   course in dance studies led by Prof. Dr. Peter Jarchow, Ralf Stabel and Angela Rannow, to supplement its theatre and music theatre studies courses. Dance studies comprised both actual dancing and theoretical approaches to dance. After the drama college had been dissolved, dance studies were continued until 1995 as a part of Leipzig university’s division of theatre studies only for those students who had already been enrolled at the drama college.

At the moment, students interested in a theoretical reflection of dance can only decide for a ‘pure’ academic setting. However, theatre studies usually do not give much space to dance. Although there have been a few efforts to broaden their perspectives, the majority of publications and exhibitions on German theatre either do not include dance or cover only certain of its aspects.

Thus the ritual origins of drama and dance, current world theatre experiments as well as selected dance theatre developments are likely not to be overlooked any longer.

Yet there have been a few positive signals following growing pressure to make up with dance studies‘ developments in other countries. Leipzig university advertised the initiation of a professorship in dance studies within its theatre research department.

In a similar vein, two art colleges tried to establish dance studies.

Musikhochschule Köln appointed a professor in dance studies. However, as the Cologne college educates dancers, it does not actually run a course of dance studies. The Palucca Schule Dresden has announced the creation of a professorship in dance studies and dance dramaturgy. Yet neither Dresden or Leipzig have appointed a scholar to their dance studies‘ positions so far.

Among last year’s academic highlights as regards dance research was Ralf Stabel’s dissertation on the artist Palucca and her school. He explored both the artistic development of Palucca and her teaching methods. What is more, he for the first time revealed how official East German cultural and educational policies affected dance.

Ralf Stabel, Vorwärts ^. Rückwärts ^. Seitwärts - mit und ohne Frontveränderung. Zur Geschichte der Palucca Schule Dresden, Beiträge zur Tanzkultur, ed. by Hans-Gerd Artus, vol. 2, Florian Noetzel Verlag, Heinrichshofen-Bücher, Wilhelmshaven 2001.

Dance research organizations

Gesellschaft für Tanzforschung e.V.

The society for dance research promotes the development of dance studies in Germany. It supports dance-related research and publications, dance research conferences, seminars and further education projects. The society is divided into working groups, such dance and movement therapy, dance education and gymnastics, artistic dance, and dance studies. It also serves as a forum of young scholars to discuss their current research projects.

The society publishes its own yearbook.(Eds. Sabine Karoß and Leonore Welzin, tanz, politik, Identität, Jahrbuch Tanzforschung, Bd. 11, Lit Verlag Münster, Hamburg, London, Hamburg 2001)

(http://www.gtf.tanzforschung.de)

Tanzwissenschaft e.V.

This assocation exclusively devotes itself to the improvement of dance studies in Germany. It aims to establish dance studies as an independent discipline in German higher education, and supports a variety of research activities. It played a major part in preventing the closure of Leipzig‘s dance archive.

The association publishes its own books and co-operates with a number of dance institutions to promote dance studies.

(http://www.Tanzwissenschaft.com)

Mary Wigman Gesellschaft

The Mary Wigman society is especially concerned with the history of German Ausdruckstanz, German modern dance and current dance theatre developments.

It publishes the magazine tanzdrama, organizes conferences, seminars, and exhibitions, and supports the publication of dance-related research.

(http://www.theaterszene-koeln.de/mary-wigman-gesellschaft/info.htm)

Archives

Berlin

Germany’s academy of art Akademie der Künste comprises a department of performing arts. Its archival foundation Stiftung Archiv houses valuable dance collections, among them the collections of such eminent dancers as Mary Wigman, Palucca, and Gerhard Bohner.(http://www.adk.de)

In the absence of a museum devoted entirely to the art of dancing, Germany’s dance archives do not just collect and preserve dance documents, but also mount exhibitions, and organize research congresses.

Bremen

Deutsches Tanzfilminstitut is an important centre to produce and collect dance films. It is located both at Bremen university and the Cologne dance archive and directed by Rose-Marie Härtel.

Cologne

Thus the Cologne dance archive, or Tanzarchiv Köln increasingly presents the results of its active research programme in exhibitions and publications. Although there is a certain emphasis on the Modern dance movement of the twenties and thirties of the 20th century, with publications on Valeska Gert, Dore Hoyer, or Harald Kreutzberg, the archive also explores subjects like dance and eroticism, or postmodern dance in Sweden.

The Cologne dance archive houses more than 130 donations and dance collections of dancers, choreographers, dance teachers and ballet critics, among them collections of Harald Kreutzberg, Dore Hoyer, and Max Niehaus. Its collection of photographs comprises 80,000 positives and 50,000 original negatives. There is a library of more than 9,000 items covering all aspects of dance, a collection of dance magazines and videos, and a collection of newspaper clippings. Both the newspaper clippings and a collection of souvenir programmes are especially devoted to 20^th century dance.

The archive also presents a small permanent dance history exhibition focussing on major tendencies and highlights of European theatre dance.

(http://www.sk-kultur.de)

Leipzig

Similarly, the Leipzig dance archive, or Tanzarchiv Leipzig, is much more than a library in the usual sense of the word. It pursues an active programme of presenting its collections and research, and functions as a venue for debates and consultation for the dance community.

It comprises a library of 8,500 books and 80 dance magazines from all over the world, a souvenir programme collection of more than 4,000 items, a collection of films, videotapes, music and sound records, CDs, and a rich collection of music literature and posters. It also houses collections of inheritances of eminent dancers, choreographers, dance teachers and scholars, among them Fritz Böhme, Rudolf von Laban, Ilse Loesch, Palucca, Jean Weidt, and Mary Wigman. The archive has not only made its mark by publishing historical dance documents in its serial Documenta choreologica, but also by its compilation and publication of bibliographical data, and a systematic collection of newspaper clippings on all aspects of dance.

(http://www.tanzarchiv-leipzig.de)

Dresden

The dance archive of the Palucca Schule Dresden – Hochschule für Tanz holds photographs, newspaper clippings, and many other idems on Palucca and her dance teaching methods. The school intends to collect any material shaped to document Palucca’s artistic career and her dance teaching. It therefore aims to gather the collections of her pupils, among them Ruth Berghaus, Dore Hoyer, Lotte Goslar, Birgit Scherzer, Arila Siegert, Silvana and Mario Schröder.

Munich

Germany’s theatre museum is situated in Munich. Its collections do comprise dance material, and it has also mounted dance exhibitions. This year, for instance, the museum joined forces with the Cologne dance archives and the Berlin-based Georg Kolbe museum to stage an exhibition on Isadora Duncan and her dance schools in Germany.

Dance therapy

Dance therapy is a major concern of the Society of Dance Research (GTF).

In addition, there is a number of individual associations focussing on dance therapy.

Among them are Bundesverband für Kunst-, Musik- und Tanztherapie (http://www.muenster.de/~bkmt), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Tanztherapie

http://dgt-tanztherapie.de/, Deutsches Institut für Tiefenpsychologische Tanztherapie und Ausdruckstherapie, http://www.tanztherapie.de/.

Langen Institut is a partner of the Palucca Schule Dresden – Hochschule für Tanz.(http://www.langen-institut.de).

Other dance organizations

The Conseil International de la Danse Nationales Komitee der Bundesrepublik Deutschland e. V. (http://www.CID-NK.de) represents the International Dance Council – or CID-UNESCO in Germany. It addresses itself to the aims and objectives of its international umbrella organization. Germany’s committee also pursues a number of national projects. It is especially committed to dancing in education, an improvement of the social position of dancers, and copyright issues.

The German section of the World Dance Alliance is lead by Bertram Müller. It is located at Düsseldorf’s Tanzhaus NRW, which also houses World Dance Alliance Europe, its president being Marc Jonkers. Among its current projects are Dance Identities, which will be highlighted in a dance festival in 2002.

In addition to the dance research and dance therapy organizations mentioned above, several dance organizations represent specific realms of dance, such as its private dance schools.

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Rosalia Chladek

The Rosalia Chladek society, which is seated in Münden, is a division of Internationale Gesellschaft Rosalia Chladek (IGRC) in Vienna. It aims to spread

and develop the teaching methods of Rosalia Chladek in Germany.

Deutscher Berufsverband für Tanzpädagogik

The German dance teachers association supports the education and further education of ballet and dance teachers. It organises seminars, offers legal aid to its members, and especially devotes itself to a protection of the profession by exercising pressure to ensure common standards of quality. The association bestows the Deutscher Tanzpreis award, and publishes the journal Ballett Intern, which circulates among its members. In 2001, the composer Hans Werner Hentze was honoured with the German dance award.

Deutscher Bundesverband Tanz

This association especially devotes itself to non-professional dancing. It aims to

enhance the role of dance in Germany as a unique phenomenon of culture, education, and an important aspect of social life. It organises conferences and further education courses, educates dance teachers, and issues a serial informing about dance in general, as well as a calendar of dance events. (http://www.bkj.de/dbt/)

Genossenschaft Deutscher Bühnen-Angehöriger Berufsgruppe Tanz

The dance division of Germany‘s stage assocation represents the interests of theatre dancers. This includes legal issues, wages, and an assistance for the transition of dancers. Dancers are mentioned in an annually published yearbook called Deutsches Bühnen-Jahrbuch. The stage association also publishes a monthly called Bühnengenossenschaft.

Dance and the media

In the last few years, the number of dance-related magazines has declined. On the other hand, Ballett International/Tanz aktuell, with Harmut Regitz and Arnd Wesemann as leading editors, has developed into one of Europe’s leading dance magazines covering a broad range of dance-related issues.(http://www.ballet-tanz.de)

Ballett Journal/Das Tanzarchiv appears five times a year. It also includes reviews of ballet and dance theatre productions from a number of ballet centres, such as London, Paris, or New York. (http://www.tanzmedien.de/ballett/main.html)

Tanzdrama, the magazine of the Mary Wigman Gesellschaft e. V., appears six times a year. It is edited by Dr. Hedwig Müller, Dr. Katja Schneider, and Dr. Patricia Stöckemann.

Germany’s press continues to marginalize dance criticism. Only a few quality papers have their own ballet or dance critics. And only very few of them have made their name through pertinent comments on dance, elucidating its contribution to art and society as a whole. Although major events like international festivals or first nights are being covered, the space given to dance criticism or articles featuring dance artists, dance styles, i. e., the many-facetted situation of dance in Germany, is negligible in comparison to literature, music, drama, and art.

A general public is certainly not aware of the diversity, richness and creativity of dance in Germany, not to mention European or international tendencies.

Likewise, dance is not a matter of priority on broadcast or TV. In the last few years, however, cultural channels like Arte, ZDF Kulturkanal or the third programmes of Germany’s public TV network have tried to supplement the obvious choices of ballet classics by including dance theatre pieces, dance videos, and documentations on the creation of modern choreographies.

On the other hand, the media’s impact on shaping common attitudes to dance, especially as regards standards of technical perfection, speed, and virtuosity, should not be underestimated. This is especially true of the music video industry, and advertising, which relies heavily on presenting the body, and dance.

Conclusion

Germany’s position among the richest countries in the world is certainly reflected by its dance culture. It continues to receive substantial public funding, with private or corporate sponsoring playing only a minor role. While the country’s big ballet companies and dance theatres of its state-run and communal theatres certainly receive the bigger share of public funding, many individual artistic initiatives within Freie Szene, or off-theatre, also benefit from public spending, although the latter usually are the first to be sacrificed in times of tight money.

Likewise, many dance schools and colleges within higher education receive public funding. While diplomas of a number of schools are officially recognized,  the problem remains that not all dance professions have to meet commonly agreed, binding standards of excellency.

Both the country’s dance schools and its theatres continue to attract many foreign talents, who value Germany’s social network, or solidarity principle, which is also effective in dance.

The marginalization of dance in general education is certainly one of the gravest problems, which will have serious repercussions in the future. Generally speaking, dance indeed plays an important role in Germany. Yet for a number of reasons, or rather, clichés, it is certainly not appreciated for its true value, and even less for its potential to contribute to a rich, exciting and meaningful life of future generations.

© Angela Rannow

Sept 1, 2001