Curation

Curation ITF and TANZTAGE INGOLSTADT 

The curation of this contemporary dance and performance festival is dedicated to exploring the complex and multifaceted dynamics that characterise bodily expression in our time. Dance and performance emerge here as spaces of profound investigation, where the body is presented not merely as a vehicle of movement but as a fertile ground of meanings, interactions, and transformations.

In contemporary times, dance and performance are not limited to aesthetic or formal reproduction but expand to question and reimagine the role of the body in society. Inspired by the reflections of critic Jochen Schmidt, who suggests that dance turns towards the most intimate motivations of the human being, we propose a keen look at the body that inhabits our performative scenes today. This body is not a mere object of representation; it is a political subject, laden with history and potential, ready to challenge norms, break paradigms, and subvert expectations.

 

Contemporary dance and performance, by giving space for the body to express itself fully, reveal the richness of its living anatomy—an anatomy that, although invisible to the eye, pulses with creative energy. This body, with its muscles, bones, nerves, and fluids, not only performs movements but constructs narratives and generates meanings. It is sensitive to the influences of the external world while simultaneously capable of projecting its own internal realities.

The curatorial proposition of this festival is, therefore, to give voice to this lived anatomy and explore how dance and performance can appropriate the complexity of the contemporary body. As the philosopher Michel Foucault reminds us, the body possesses a utopian dimension that can be revealed either through the dissection of a cadaver or through a reflection in the mirror. In this sense, contemporary dance not only explores this corporeal utopia but makes it tangible and present on stage.

The encounter between body, mind, and space is central to this curation. Dance and performance here are more than artistic expressions; they are processes of communication, exchange, and re-signification. They are practices that deconstruct preconceived ideas about the body and reconstruct it as a field of research and creation. This body, which seems utopian in its complexity, becomes the raw material for artistic creation, challenging both the artist and the audience to rethink their relationships with space and with others.

The festival proposes an art that is not utopian but deeply immanent. An art that recognises the body as a physical being, with all its density, weight, and presence in the world, but also as permeable, adaptable, and intrinsically connected to its surroundings. This body, at once observer and observed, activates a critical consciousness regarding what it sees and experiences, promoting a continuous and living interaction with art.

Thus, the curation of this festival is an invitation to delve into the immanence of the living body in all its dimensions. It is a celebration of dance and performance as means to explore life in its essence, where each movement and each gesture are laden with meaning, and where art becomes a direct reflection of the human experience in its purest and most authentic form.

The first year of a thematic Curation - TANZTAGE INGOLSTADT TERRA 2023 -

Terra – Witnessing the Birth of the Earth

When addressing the theme of Earth, we are confronted with its complex existence and its archetypal significance as the primordial mother, the ancestral figure of all beings. Earth, in its essence, symbolises coexistence, co-dependence, and co-regulation. Ailton Krenak notes that, although we might conceptualise a separation from nature mentally, “one can be separated from nature in the head, but there is no separation as an organism.” This perspective underscores that Earth is a living organism, and we, as part of it, are interdependent and inseparable.

Understanding this symbiosis leads us to a long-disrupted intrinsic wisdom, fostering an intuitive, respectful, and empathetic intelligence. This awareness of coexistence and co-regulation guides us to a place of unity and singularity, where each piece is essential to the whole. It counters the extractivist, capitalist, and patriarchal view that sees the Earth as dirty and untameable, and that exploits it disrespectfully. This sick and fragmented view cries out for a new form of coexistence among its inhabitants.

The Tanztage Ingolstadt 2023 festival, with the theme TERRA, seeks to reflect and integrate these ideas. The festival’s curation and production are inspired by the characteristics of the theme, both in form and in the content of the contemporary art, dance, and performance pieces presented. The festival aims to explore Earth as a symbol of co-creation, transformation, and nourishment, connecting the intrinsic sense of the feminine, spirituality, and equity in an artistic expression that seeks healing and reintegration with the wisdom of the body and sensitive rationality.

“It is been One and a half years of planning and organizing … one year of connections through e-mails and telefon calls. One year of text readings and writings and gatherings of information and news on how to build a curatorium that talks to what we believe within our cour! How to make heard the words and gests of a bodyEarth. A small drop of lived water dropped in the hard stones of ignorance and negationism of this era… A silent, or better saying, poetic demonstration to evoque new structures towards a collapsing system. 

There were 50 artists on stage, plus many more backstage and a tireless production team!!! It took 15 months of pre-production and many conversations and meetings to ensure that everything was in the right place to reach our audience!

Thank you for making it real and alive!

Thank you for coming together !”

 

Where it all starts -  THE INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL INGOLSTADT

INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL INGOLSTADT

(Karin Destroff Report from the year 2012 in Donaukurier newspaper – english translation is mine)

Dance is the only art in which we ourselves are the material from which it is made. (L. Schnabel)

Two years ago, there was movement in Ingolstadt’s cultural life. The “Dance Short Cuts” series in the theater’s Kleines Haus was the first time contemporary dance was presented in the city. The total of eleven choreographic evenings delighted a growing audience.

“Dance Short Cuts” at the Kleines Haus has long since established itself as an event. This was proven more than ever at the seventh edition of the dance theater series on Saturday evening. And also that there is no intention of being lulled into complacency by the success of being a self-runner. This evening also came across as vital, young, clever and fresh.” Donaukurier, 20.06.2010

 

Now the initiators are going one step further and organizing a multi-day dance festival with international guests. The program includes performances in the streets and squares of the old town, workshops with the artists and a stage dance evening in the Exerzierhaus/Klenzepark. Dancers, choreographers and musicians from Brazil, Germany, Italy, the USA and Japan will present dance art at the highest level. With Minako Seki, we have succeeded in bringing one of the most important representatives of Butoh dance to Ingolstadt. She will not only perform, but also offer workshops on two days, as will the dancers of the “desCompania de Dança” from Brazil. The “Physical Graffiti Project” – a local project with an international dimension – is another component of the festival program. It deals with urban spaces and people in the city, whereby the artistic forms of expression dance, music and film correspond with each other. The first results will be presented during the festival in the form of street performances. The next venue for the “Physical Graffiti Project” will be the home of our guests “desCompanhia de Dança”. We are delighted about the lively cultural transfer that we owe to the universal language of art. Ingolstadt now has a small dance scene – the task now is to develop and further revitalize this niche in the city’s cultural life. By organizing an international dance festival, we know that we are on the right track. The City of Ingolstadt’s Department of Culture has also promised comprehensive support. Below you will find a letter of recommendation from the Head of Cultural Affairs, Gabriel Engert.

(As the initiator of the festival, I was the artistic curator and organizer for the first three editions).