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Days of Dance in Berlin

Days of Dance in Berlin Will Take A Place From 7th till 17th of January 2016 in Sophiensale

January 06th, 2016
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Winter is slowly coming in Berlin. December was sunny and quiet warm, so we had many places where we could go. It was still so warm, that we could go in the day to the park, it was full of life on the streets, and in the evening we went to the Christmas Markets. Now the weather is turning and the streets are getting emptier, is so cold that we don’t know how to dress anymore and even where to go. But staying at home can get boring. But don’t forget Berlin is always preparing us something that we can do, even where we thought that it was not possible in these conditions.

From 7th till 17th of January 2016 will take place the Days of Dance Berlin (Tanztage), a contemporary dance festival focusing on the discovery and support of choreographers and dancers based in Berlin. Choreographers, participants and dancers, will show us in these days performances, which will include elements of visual arts, sound, music, and language and others inspired by the current political events. Besides that part of the festival will look at pop cultural references and genders, like striptease and breakdance, club culture, talk shows and pop music.  

“All dance performances take place at Sophiensaele in Berlin-Mitte, one of the most significant production and performance spaces for off theatre in Germany. The full festival program is available on the official Sophiensaele Website” reported BerlinOnline.  The Sophiensaele is located in the former building of the craftsman's association, whose turbulent history begins with its construction in 1904/1905. The building has quite a significant history, from which it is important to mention ¨In the 1910s and '20s, the building was frequently used as an assembly space by the revolutionary left in Berlin, the WHO were based on the nearby Rosenthaler Straße . Famous revolutionaries Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg spoke here. During the Third Reich, forced laborers from Holland Produced propaganda - leaflets for the Nazis and the Festsaal. In the German Democratic Republic, the rooms were used by the Maxim Gorki Theatre as workshops, while the Hochzeitssaal (wedding hall) functioned as a dining hall and the Festsaal held a large carpenter's workshop¨ reported Sophiensaele. 

Last year Days of Dance in Berlin was opened beyond geographical borders and the establishment of contacts with other international youth platforms was made. The festival cooperated with the Colombo Dance Platform and featured work by two choreographers from Sri Lanka who dealt with the political situation after Civil war.  

The full program and ticket information can be found at the following website from the link below.

This festival began in 1988 and annually presents 20,000 visitors with an extensive range of exhibitions, conferences, screenings, performances and publications. The Transmediale Festival is also involved in other projects, like the CTM Festival, a festival for contemporary electronic music that will be in the same place and period of the Transmediale one. Furthermore, throughout the year, Transmediale publishes a magazine that aims to expand the festival themes and transfers into other fields. It is also involved with a thematic newspaper and an online journal “A Peer Reviewed Journal About” in collaboration with the University of Aarhus.

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References and Links

Kaja Odar, News from Berlin
Berlin Global