Art is beautiful,
but it’s a lot of work, as the notorious Karl Valentin once said. The work was worth it though: the Tanznacht, presented by the Tanzfabrik Berlin for the fifth time, has bid farewell to its past venue and moved into the Uferhallen. Actually we should be thanking the BVG – after the fact – that they abandoned their old central workshops; had it not been the case, we could never have been able to plan the tanznacht berlin ‘08 as a multi-day High-Light of contemporary dance in Wedding. For four days we will be showing important positions worth discovering by choreographers who live and work in this city. In contrast to past editions of the Tanznacht, the stage presentations will all be full-length, among them one world premiere, a number of Berlin premieres and first showings.
We hope that you will then judge contemporary dance by the extent to which you enjoyed experiencing your contemporaries – not just after attending the evenings’ performances, but during the rest of the time you spend here in a number of other event formats we have developed for youYou will find these in detail on this website. Just like the Cafeteria, Hildebrandtunnel or Halle 660, even our Trailer Park in the rooms of the so-called Completion Hall are all open to you. Here choreographers and dancers have prepared eight trailers, ready for occupancy. The wagon circle creates a piazza for evening concerts or oral poetry; it will be a daily meeting point for everyone who wants to experience something different before, between or after the shows. The Trailer Park program can be found on this site under Trailer-Park from December 1st.
Without you it will all not exist. Especially since tanznacht berlin 08 is meant to be a celebration of dance, we need you as guests. To make your decision to come repeatedly to the Uferhallen all the easier, we have invented ‘five in one blow’. With it you can see five shows of your choice for a significantly reduced price. In addition, numerous shows are either free or the ‘pay as you wish’ rule applies: on site you pay what you want for your workshop, training or installation. Where and how you get a hold of tickets is listed on page XX. And if this is already too much of a good thing, then you can get an overview of the program in the middle of the magazine.
Artistic spaces are not created by artists alone. They are created by everyone who passes through them. Sound a bit like a Woodstock atmosphere? In a way. But there are worse things than celebrations. Arnd Wesemann agrees and says so in his essay on the following pages.
We’re looking forward to seeing you!
Peter Stamer with Judith Brückmann, Klaus Ludwig, Andreas Harder, Ludger Orlok
tanznacht berlin 08 is taking place under the aegis of the Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit