Aktion Tanz - Bundesverband Tanz in Bildung und Gesellschaft e.V.

Aktion Tanz - Federal Association for Dance in Education and Society

Contact: Philine Herrlein

Phone: +49 (0)221 -27642138

E-Mail: info(at)aktiontanz.de

Internet: www.aktiontanz.de

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Allgemeiner Deutscher Tanzlehrerverband e.V. (ADTV)

General German Dance Teachers' Association

Contact: Jürgen Ball, President

Phone: +49 (0)6175 7959767

E-Mail: jb(at)adtv.de

Internet: www.adtv.de

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European Association for Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies

Contact: Silva Dietrich

E-Mail: info(at)laban-eurolab.org

Internet: www.laban-eurolab.org

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Reinhild Hoffmann

Reinhild Hoffmann, a multiple award-winning pioneer of German dance theatre, has been working as a freelance choreographer and director with a focus on musical theatre since 1995. Her productions include ‘Tagebuch eines Verschollenen’ and ‘Pierrot Lunaire’ at the Frankfurt Opera; Sciarrino's ‘Die tödliche Blume’ and ‘Macbeth’ in Lucerne, “Begehren” by Beat Furrer (scenic premiere 2003, Steirischer Herbst and Ruhrtriennale), ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’ at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden; 'Das Mädchen aus der Fremde' (music theatre by Reinhild Hoffmann, Isabel Mundry, Brice Pauset, premiere at the Mannheim National Theatre), “Ein Atemzug - Odyssee” by Isabel Mundry (premiere at the Deutsche Oper Berlin), “Tristan und Isolde” at the Bremen Theatre and “Salome” at the Aachen Theatre.

www.reinhildhoffmann.de

Susanne Linke

Susanne Linke received her education from Mary Wigman in Berlin before studying at the Folkwang-Hochschule in Essen. From 1970-1973 she was a dancer at the Folkwang Tanzstudio with the Artistic Director Pina Bausch. At the same time she developed her own first choreographic works and headed the Folkwang Tanzstudio until the summer of 1985. At the beginning of the 1990s she was an artist in residence at the Hebbel-Theater, Berlin. From 1994 until 2000 she was Director of Dance Theater at the Bremen Theater. 

In the years 2000-2001 Susanne Linke was a founding member of the Choreographisches Zentrum Essen and its designated Artistic Director. In den Jahren 2000 bis 2001 war Susanne Linke Gründungsmitglied des Choreographischen Zentrums PACT Zollverein Essen und dessen designierte künstlerische Leiterin. She also created new choreographies for the Limén Dance Company New York, the Paris Opera, the Kibbutz Dance Studios, the Nederlands Dans Theater, the Choreographisches Theater Bonn and the Aalto Ballett Theatre Essen.

www.susanne-linke.com

Prof. Martin Puttke

Prof Martin Puttke studied dance at the Berlin State Ballet School from 1962 to 1966 and was a dancer at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin from 1966 to 1970.

From 1970 to 1975 he studied to become a ballet teacher/ballet master at the GITIS theatre academy in Moscow under Professor Nikolai I. Tarassov. From 1975, ballet teacher at the Berlin State Ballet School, where he was artistic director from 1979 to 1995 and also director from 1981 to 1991.
1988 Professorship at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts Berlin. From 1990 to 1992 artistic director of the ballet of the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, 1995 to 2008 ballet director of the Aalto Ballett Theatre Essen.
Lectures, seminars on the methodology of classical dance and ballet lessons in Germany, the Netherlands, England, Italy, USA, Japan, Austria and Brazil. His master students have won gold medals and top prizes at the world's most important ballet competitions.

Co-editor of the books ‘Erlebnis Ballett oder der anspruchsvolle Weg zum Tänzer’ and also as translator of ‘Pas de Deux im Klassischen Tanz’ by Nikolai Serebrennikov, as well as editor and translator of the reference book ‘Klassischer Tanz - Die Schule des Tänzers’ by Nikolai I. Tarassov, all Henschelverlag Berlin. Co-editor and co-author of ‘The Neurocognition of Dance’, Psychology Press, England, USA, Canada.

Since 1994 2nd chairman of the ‘Deutscher Berufsverband für Tanzpädagogik e.V.’ and the ‘Förderverein Tanzkunst Deutschland’.

From 1999 to 2009 1st spokesman of the German Federal Ballet and Dance Theatre Directors' Conference (BBTK).

Honorary member of the Aaltotheater Essen and the BBTK since 2009.

Ulrich Roehm

Ulrich Roehm was born in Essen in 1933. He studied at the Folkwang School in Essen under Kurt Jooss up to masterclass level. He received his first engagement with the Ballet de Wallonie, now the Ballet Royal de Wallonie, as Premier Danseur Etoile. There, from 1958 to 1961, he interpreted the leading male roles in great classical ballets such as ‘Giselle’, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Swan Lake’, in productions by the former Danseur Etoile of the legendary Ballets Russes de Montre-Carlo, George Skibine, then director of the Paris Opera Ballet.

In 1962, he was invited to the ballet of the Städtische Bühnen in Essen as principal dancer and appeared as a guest dancer with the “FOLKWANG BALLETT”, newly created by Kurt Jooss.

As a soloist with the Folkwang Ballet, Ulrich Roehm appeared between 1961 and 1969 in guest performances in Berlin (West and East), Dresden, Paris, Brussels, London (plus on the BBC with ‘Green Table’), Rome, the Salzburg Festival, Milan and many other places in England, Belgium, France, Italy and Holland, in Kurt Jooss' ballet ‘Der Grüne Tisch’, but also in other choreographies by Jooss, Lucas Hoving and Antony Tudor. At the same time, he was engaged as first solo dancer at the ballet of the Städtische Bühnen in Essen (1963 to 1969) and made guest appearances at the Ballet de Wallonie, the Zagreb State Opera Ballet and at various theatres in the Ruhr region as well as at the ‘Ruhr-Festspiele Recklinghausen’. He also performed at the Salzburg Festival in 1968.

Following an offer from the National Ballet of Canada, Ulrich Roehm went to Toronto in 1969. Ulrich Roehm began his teaching career in Canada, where he set up three ballet studios. After passing the examinations of the Royal Academy of Dancing (RAD) in London, he became a member of the academy (A.R.A.D. Associated Member of the RAD). From 1975 Ulrich Roehm was the RAD representative for Germany and Austria, and is also a member of the Canadian Dance Teachers Association.

After his return from Canada, Ulrich Roehm opened his own ballet studio in Essen in 1973, which he directed for over thirty years. In 1975, he was instrumental in founding the German Professional Association for Dance Education (then known as the ‘Association of Ballet Schools in Germany’) and has been its first chairman ever since. In 1983, he realised the idea of an “honourable prize” for dance - and so the “ Deutscher Tanzpreis” was born. During the award ceremony for the German Dance Prize to Pina Bausch in March 1995 at the Aalto Theatre in Essen, Ulrich Roehm was awarded the ‘Federal Cross of Merit of the Order of Merit’ by Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker for his services to dance in Germany.

From the founding of the Ständige Konferenz Tanz until 2014, Ulrich Roehm was a member of the board of the Dachverband, renamed ‘Dachverband Tanz Deutschland’.

Dr. Christiane Theobald

Dr Christiane Theobald was born in Koblenz, studied humanities as well as classical ballet and began working as a ballet dramaturge at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1987. In 1993, she moved to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden as ballet director and dramaturge. She supported the process of merging the Berlin ballet companies as part of a part-time postgraduate programme with her thesis, in which she theorised the structural change and laid the foundations for an independent ballet ensemble. When the Stiftung Oper Berlin and the Staatsballett Berlin were founded in 2004, she was appointed deputy artistic director alongside founding artistic director Vladimir Malakhov, a position she also held under the directorships of Nacho Duato and Johannes Öhman/Sasha Waltz. When she retired on 27 June 2023, she was made an honorary member of the Staatsballett Berlin.

From 2020 to 2023, she was entrusted with the provisional directorship of the company by the Berlin Senator for Culture. In her new position, Christiane Theobald remains committed to the Staatsballett Berlin's original founding motto ‘Preserving tradition, making the present visible and promoting the future’. In a phase of transition, of artistic, structural and social challenges and change processes of our time, she saw the strengthening of the ‘ensemble spirit’ as one of her central tasks, always driven by the desire to show the art form of dance a modern, viable future. In addition to her daily work with dancers, her main interests were audience development, prevention in dancers' everyday working lives and structural improvements for dance.

Dr Christiane Theobald is the author of various ballet libretti and has held teaching positions at the Free University of Berlin and the University of Music and Performing Arts Frankfurt am Main, among others. She is also involved in lobbying in the field of dance. She was a member of the executive committee of the Bundesdeutsche Ballett- und Tanztheaterdirektoren-Konferenz (BBTK) until summer 2023 and served as its spokesperson from 2009 to 2013. She was also a member of the board of Dachverband Tanz Deutschland from 2006 to 2018.

Christiane Theobald was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of Berlin on 01.10.2023 by the Governing Mayor Kai Wegner on behalf of the Berline Senate.

Walter Heun

Walter Heun is a cultural manager, dance and theatre producer. For over 20 years, he has been committed to contemporary dance education and the development of institutional structures for contemporary dance in Germany.

In this context, Heun was a co-founder of Tanztendenz München and the Nationales Performance Netz. Heun has also been co-founder and co-director of Tanzplattform Deutschlands, a showcase for German contemporary dance, since 1994. He has been director of the Munich festival Tanzwerkstatt Europa since 1991 and took over the management of Tanzquartier Wien in 2009.

Heun is a board member of the Bavarian State Association for Contemporary Dance.

Ivan Liška

Ivan Liška trained at the Prague Conservatory. After his graduation in 1969, he left his home country and joined the Ballet der Deutschen Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf. From 1974 to 1977, he was a soloist at the Ballet of the Bayerische Staatsoper (Staatsballett since 1989) before joining the Hamburg Ballet as principal dancer, where he danced and created the leading roles in numerous works by John Neumeier. Guest appearances worldwide, including as Onegin with Natalia Makarova in Paris, London and New York. He danced the role of Armand alongside Marcia Haydée in the film version of Lady of the Camellias.

At the Plissetskaya competition he was awarded the prize as 'best partner in dance' Choreographies at the Hamburg Ballet Workshops and in 1997 in Brno (Der Streit). Director of the Bayerisches Staatsballett since the beginning of the 1998/99 season, he has presented numerous new choreographers for the Bayerisches Staatsballett. In spring 2007, Liška was awarded the medal for special earnings to Bavaria in a united Europe by the Bavarian State Ministry.

In autumn 2008, the Chinese Ministry of Culture honoured him with the Outstanding Contribution Prize for Cultural Exchange.

Bertram Müller

Bertram Müller is a member of the board of the Gesellschaft für Zeitgenössischen Tanz NRW e.V. He graduated in philosophy and theology at the University of Heidelberg in 1971 and in psychology at the University of Bonn in 1978 with a degree in psychology and clinical psychotherapy.

Since then he has worked in independent practice as a trainer in Gestalt therapy at various institutes in Germany and abroad. In 1978, he was the founding director of ‘Die Werkstatt e.V.’ in Düsseldorf, the forerunner of today's tanzhaus nrw e.V. Düsseldorf, which he headed for many years.

In 1993-96, Bertram Müller was an expert for the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany/Association of German Cities as part of the EU programme ‘Kaleidoscope’ as well as for the European Commission, Unit A3, ‘Arts Education and Training Initiative’. Founding member of the European Institute of the Arts (ELIA). 1998 Opening of the tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf. Co-founder of the European Dance Development Centre (EDDC) Arnheim/Düsseldorf.

Chairman of the International Delphic Arts Commission since 2003. Since 2006 project director of "Take-Off: Junger Tanz. Tanzplan Düsseldorf". In 2008, he initiated the European-Chinese festival and exchange project ‘Chin-A-moves’.

Since 1994 he has been a jury member of the Theatre Advisory Board of the City of Düsseldorf, advisor to the NRW State Representation in Berlin and ‘Create NRW’ (International Ballet Competition Seoul/Korea).

Bertram Müller has been a member of the board since November 2008.

Dr. phil. Rajyashree Ramesh

Born in Pune, India, and brought up in Bengaluru, Rajyashree Ramesh received stage dance education in the solo dance theatre forms Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, and in classical singing, in addition to school and studies (B.Sc.). Living in Berlin since 1977, she was confronted with the term ‘temple dancer’, coupled with a deep admiration to the point of exoticisation on the one hand and ignorance to rejection on the other.
Her now four decades of cross-cultural dance mediation through performances, teaching assignments, workshops, lecture performances, essays, as well as the founding of her own Academy for Stage Dance Education in 1993 and Rasika Dance Theatre International in 1996 for cross-genre and cross-cultural stage productions brought opportunities but also great challenges and questions about the prevailing understanding of dance in general and non-European dance forms in particular.
After a certification as a Laban/Bartenieff movement analyst in the USA, she introduced her questions into academic research from 2008 and received her doctorate from the European University Viadrina in 2019. In her doctoral thesis, which was recognised as opening up a new field of research, she uncovered the as yet unexplored connection between Indian dance and body knowledge in theory and practice and the latest findings from linguistic gesture research, cognitive linguistics, brain research on emotions and fascia research. At the same time, she developed a first ever transcultural-interdisciplinary dance/movement study programme.
Thus, at the interface between art and science, she is committed to a still necessary global and yet diversified understanding of dance, beyond the still prevailing dichotomies and tendencies to contextualise, categorise and segregate.

Vera Sander

Vera Sander is director of the Centre for Contemporary Dance and Professor for Contemporary Dance at the University for Music and Dance Cologne and has since been central to its development as a teacher, publisher and organizer. Choreographer, dancer or teacher with e.g. Tanzforum Köln (D), Dansgroep Krisztina de Chatel (NL), Itzik Galili (NL), Semperoper Dresden (D), DV8 (UK), Adventures in Motion Pictures (UK), verasanderartconnects (D).

Her interest centres on choreographic and body knowledge as a source for interdisciplinary and intercultural creativity. She has been regularly invited to choreograph, to teach as well as to collaborate in lectures and is occupied with the development of study programs and exchange formats in the field of dance. From 2010 -2016 she was one of the four speakers of the Dance Education Conference (AK|T) and as such member of the steering group of the Dance Education Biennale. As artistic director of the 5th Dance Education Biennale Vera Sander has taken over the task of curating and developing an artistic-content conception. According to the featured topic “feedback and reflection” she promoted together with Mariella Greil the design of the Cologne Biennale as a collaborative and participatory process. Among others she participated in the research project “Dance Technqiues 2010” initiated by Tanzplan Deutschland.

From 2016-18 together with musician Holger Mertin she participated as artistic director in „Atlas Workshops“ – a project funded by the DAAD to foster cultural dialog occurring at the exchange between artists and academics (science) as well as German institutions of higher education and universities in the Islamic world. As part of the intercultural project Signifying Ghosts (with Rafaële Giovanola / artistic director CocoonDance Company, Kettly Noël /artistic director Choreographic Centre Donko Seko, Bamako, Vera Sander / artistic director Centre for Contemporary Dance, University for Music and Dance Cologne and Nelisiwe Xaba / Johannesburg) she created NULLSTELLE in 2019, a work that focuses on communication as the basis of collaboration, memory and identity. Vera Sander studied at the London Contemporary Dance School (UK) and Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Amsterdam (NL).

verasanderartconnects.blogspot.de

Prof. Gerald Siegmund

Prof. Dr Gerald Siegmund studied Theatre Studies, English and Romance Studies at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main. He completed his doctorate there in 1994 on the subject of ‘Theatre as Memory’. Between 1998 and 2005, he was a research assistant at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen, where he also completed his habilitation. His habilitation thesis was published under the title "Abwesenheit. Eine performative Ästhetik des Tanzes" published by transcript.

From September 2005 he was assistant professor at the Institute for Theatre Studies in Bern until he was appointed to the professorship for Choreography and Performance at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies. Gerald Siegmund has worked for many years as a journalist and critic for various newspapers and magazines, primarily in the field of dance. His focus is on contemporary theatre and contemporary dance, theatre theories, performance, intermediality and the diverse border areas between theatre and the other arts.

Stephanie Thiersch

Stephanie Thiersch studied classical and contemporary dance in Wiesbaden and Montpellier, as well as media art with Valie Export at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne.

Fine art, contemporary photography and literature form the basis of her working methods. With her company MOUVOIR, founded in 2000, she develops stage plays, films and installations. Her work has received numerous awards. Since 2009, MOUVOIR has received excellence funding for dance from the state of NRW.

In addition to her ensemble work, Stephanie Thiersch is also a guest choreographer, last year for the Staatstheater Kassel, and a guest lecturer, including at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies in Giessen and internationally, most recently in Kenya and Tanzania. She is artistic director of the international festival GLOBALIZE:COLOGNE.

www.mouvoir.de

Bettina Wagner-Bergelt

Bettina Wagner-Bergelt, Artistic Director Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch; Artistic Director Bauhaus100, opening festival, Berlin 2019; freelance curator. Deputy Director of the Bayerisches Staatsballett until 2016. 1990-2016 Head Dramaturg at the Bayerisches Staatsballett; Founder/Director of CAMPUS Education.

Jury activities for Neue Wege 2019/2020; various dance awards, art in public space, new media, Philipp Morris Art Prize, Tanzfonds Erbe, Fonds Bauhaus heute; Artistic Advisory Board Tanzkongress 2015/2022, activities in advisory bodies (Ministry of Culture NRW, Ministry of Science Saxony); appointment committees; lectures and publications.

Board member of BLZT, board member of DTD until 2019, member of BLZT, Verband Tanz in Schulen and Landesverband Kulturelle Bildung Bayern.

2006 Founded Access to Dance (symposia, lectures, workshops, ‘DANCE4kids’ 2008, THINK BIG! festival from 2011), Tanzplan Deutschland, together with other Munich dance experts. Artistic director of the Staatsballett's CAMPUS Education Programme, numerous awards and sponsorships (e.g. ART MENTOR FOUNDATION LUCERNE).

Founder of ‘DANCE - International Dance Festival Munich’ 1987, its artistic director 1987, 1989, 2008, 2010; deputy head of music, theatre, dance at the Munich Department of Culture until 1989. Artistic assistant responsible for events at the Gasteig (new music/dance/theatre). Curator of the “New Dance” festival of the Bayerische Staatsoper from 1986-1989.

Artistic consultant at the experimental stage of the Bayerische Staatsoper, dance; freelance collaboration/curator for various publications and exhibition projects, such as “John Cage WATERCOLOURS” - Neue Pinakothek 1991, directed by Ullrich Bischoff, Forsythe-Projekt “PROLIFERATION AND PERFECT DISORDER” Pinakothek der Moderne 2006, with Dr Bernhart Schwenk, curator for contemporary art.

Member of the artistic directorate at the Theater am Turm in Frankfurt am Main until 1985, the first theatre for productions by independent groups in Germany; BesTANZaufnahme - First Festival for Independent Dance (with Reinhild Hoffmann, Bohner, Linke, Newport, Laokoon etc.). Awards: Germany - Land of Ideas; PWC Prize; Kinder zum Olymp Prize, Chevalier de l`ordre des arts et des lettres; Irène Lejeune Dance Prize; DANCE PRIZE of the City of Munich 2016.

Bettina Wagner-Bergelt is married and has two children.