companionship programme

companionship programme

Thu 12.09.24, 10:00 -
Wed 30.04.25, 20:00
digital via zoom
Registration completed

We are looking for ten participants who see themselves as producers in the independent performing arts in Germany and would like to develop or expand their own work practice transnationally in the support of a companion. The companionship programme will be held in English.

Our companionship programme addresses independent creative producers, production managers, managers, colleagues of independent production offices and (non-commercial) agencies, agents and distributors in the independent performing arts. The participants must have their tax residence in Germany. The open call is not aimed at self-producing artists.

In the digital companionship programme, one companion with transnational expertise supports one participant in the development and expansion of their own transnational working practice as a producer in the independent performing arts. The ten companionship duos will each spend six individual companionship sessions independently and self-organised in the digital space with a focus on personal exchange of experience and knowledge on transnational contexts and relationships. We will accompany the six individual sessions in the respective duo constellations with digital supporting events: a common kick-off and closing meeting, informal meetings between the companions and participants, a moderated reflection session and three public inputs on selected topics of the programme.

The companionship programme starts on Thursday, 12.09.2024 and ends on Wednesday, 30.04.2025. Applications are only possible via our online form until 10.05.2024, 23:45.

The companionship programme: transnational contexts & relations is conceived, hosted and organised by Kreativ-Transfer, a programme of the German Dance Association (Dachverband Tanz Deutschland) and produktionsbande.


open call

The open call is also available to read as pdf here.

Producing in a transnational context has so far played a secondary role in the German funding landscape, which is reflected in the little developed or even non-existent mobility and touring funding for some sectors. This situation has been intensified by the effects of the covid pandemic. At the same time, dealing with the consequences of the pandemic and the challenges of the climate crisis opens up different opportunities to think and shape transnational and international relationships in the independent performing arts.

Producers and those working in creative production often generously share their knowledge among each other and with many other protagonists and groups in the scene. They create connections and become allies. However, they are rarely supported in this. The companionship programme is addressing this practice and the questions associated with it.

What standards do I set myself for ecologically and socially sustainable transnational producing? How can I (further) develop my distribution work in a way that is aware of the contexts at hand? How can I improve the hosting experience for transnationally touring groups and artists at a residency venue, production house or festival?

Transnational production in the independent performing arts in particular raises interrelated questions about practices of inviting and distributing, curating and organising. At the same time, it also calls for a practised welcoming culture, open participation and shared encounters. For production managers, producers, distributors and venue hosts, transnationality can thus manifest itself both as a practice of dissemination and as a practice of hospitality.

Transnational producing therefore not only or necessarily includes working outside one's own national borders, but also means engaging in complex and (self-)critical reflections on welcome- and working practices in the immediate environment.

transnational 
In contrast to the term international, we do not understand transnationality as the relationship between different states, but rather between individuals from different countries and contexts.

companionship
We use the term companionship to describe a quality of relationship that is characterised by a shared and mutually interested accompaniment. In this programme, a companionship refers to a duo consisting of a producer working transnationally (companion) and a producer based in Germany (participant) who positions or would like to position their own work practice transnationally. The difference in the level of experience of the companions and participants involved is less relevant here; rather, the focus of the relationship lies on the exchange of experience and knowledge that is equally protected and supported by both sides - companions and participants.

companions 
In this companionship programme, ten transnationally operating producers are represented as companions, each making their different perspectives and expertise available to a participant in order to engage in a mutual exchange on transnational relationships in the independent performing arts and to accompany the participant in the (further) transnational orientation of their own work practice.

participants
In this programme, participants benefit from the transnational perspective of their companions and can use the shared experience and practical knowledge to take the first or further steps towards reflecting on, reshaping and/or expanding their own transnational practice as a producer in the independent performing arts. For funding reasons, participants must have their tax residence in Germany and also need to primarily work as a freelance producer.

With this open call, we are looking for ten participants who see themselves as producers in the independent performing arts in Germany and would like to develop or expand their own work practice transnationally in the support of a companion. The companionship programme will be held in English.

In the digital companionship programme, one companion with transnational expertise supports one participant in the development and expansion of their own transnational working practice as a producer in the independent performing arts. The ten companionship duos will each spend six individual companionship sessions independently and self-organised in the digital space with a focus on personal exchange of experience and knowledge on transnational contexts and relationships. We will accompany the six individual sessions in the respective duo constellations with digital supporting events: a common kick-off and closing meeting, informal meetings between the companions and participants, a moderated reflection session and three public inputs on selected topics of the programme.

With the digital kick-off meeting for the companionship programme, we will bring all companions and participants together for the first time to create a basis for everyone to get to know each other and those involved in the programme and to start the exchange between the companionship duos.

In addition, we organise an intro session for the group of companions and participants with a focus on raising awareness concerning the complex issues of transnational cooperation.

participants receive a total fee of EUR 1,500.00 net for participating in six individual digital companionship sessions and the digital support events described above. For this purpose, we will conclude a fee contract with each participant. The fee is paid on the basis of a regular invoice and can be paid in one complete payment or in instalments according to individual agreement on the amount and payment dates. The final (instalment) payment will be instructed as soon as the participant has submitted a written final documentation/reflection.

For reasons of ecological sustainability and cost reduction the companionship programme will take place digitally, which is why no travel expenses are included in the stated fee. We are currently checking whether we can also offer a final meeting in person and will inform the companions and participants in time.

The companionship programme takes place digitally. It starts on 12.09.2024 and ends on 30.04.2025. Within this period, a total of six individual digital sessions will take place for each duo, accompanied by the digital supporting events described above.

  • kick-off meeting for participants & companions
    thursday, 12.09.2024 

  • intro sessions
    tuesday, 24.09.2024 for participants
    thursday, 26.09.2024 for companions

  • six individual sessions for each companionship duo

    Between September 2024 and April 2025, all companionship duos will meet in six self-organised individual sessions. Each duo will decide among themselves which medium is most suitable for the exchange: For example, you can arrange to meet via Zoom, GoogleMeet, Microsoft Teams, via phone, etc.

  • moderated reflection sessions
    tuesday, 28.01.2025 for companions
    wednesday, 29.01.2025 for participants 

  • input (public) | dates and content will be communicated soon
    october 2024
    december 2024
    february 2025

  • outro meeting
    wednesday, 30.04.2025 

We will communicate the specific time slots for the supporting events to the companions and participants by the start of the companionship programme at the latest.

Our companionship programme addresses independent creative producers, production managers, managers, colleagues of independent production offices and (non-commercial) agencies, agents and distributors in the independent performing arts. The companionship programme takes place in English spoken and written language. For funding reasons, participants must have their tax residence in Germany. The open call is not aimed at self-producing artists.

In the companionship programme, companions and participants learn from and with each other: about different experiences, individual perspectives in their own work practice, about distribution strategies, about the design of artistic production processes in a transnational context and about hosting transnational cultural workers with their practices and projects.

In the individual meetings, participants have the opportunity to enter into dialogue with the companions about their own positions, working practices and habits in order to reflect on, question and (further) develop them. This creates spaces for a shift in perspective and the opportunity to learn from each other in order to position oneself sustainably and in solidarity with colleagues in the field in transnational work.

participants show a transparent and sustainable interest in transnational work with a focus on hosting and/or distribution. The mere duration of your work in the field is less relevant to us than your previous experience in transnational work and the future direction of your work. Based on the self-understanding of produktionsbande and Kreativ-Transfer, we expect you to work in a way that is sensitive to discrimination and to reflect your own privileges.

We have set up an online form in English for the application. In addition to personal data, we also ask questions about motivation and research interests for the programme as well as previous professional focuses and stages. We use the personal data for the formal assessment. An appointed jury is responsible for assessing the content of the applications received on the basis of the content-related questions.

Applications are only possible via our below mentioned online form until 05.05.2024, 23:45.

formal assessment: personal data

With regard to personal data, we ask you to provide proof of your self-employment (e. g. via the letter from your tax office assigning your tax number or via a blackened tax return) as part of the application process. This proof is a formal requirement for the application.

The data provided by the applicants when submitting the online form will be processed by us or third parties on the basis of Art. 6 b DSGVO and are required for processing and deciding on the applications and, in the event of acceptance, for the payment of fees.

The formal assessment will be completed on 3 June 2024.

contentual assessment: jury procedure

The content-related questions will be reviewed and discussed by a jury comprising three individuals. We will announce the jury members shortly.

As part of the assessment of the content of the applications, the jury will also decide on the combination of the companionship duos. The proposals for the assignment of the participants will be agreed by the jury with the respective companion before the final decision is made.

The jury meetings will take place on 04.06.2024 and 05.06.2024. The decision on the applications will be announced via e-mail by mid-June 2024.

Since we are organising the transnational companionship programme in English spoken and written language, we subsequently provide the online application form in English written language and ask all applicants to reply in English written language. We will not consider applications in German as part of the formal assignment. By submitting your application, you also declare that you can speak, read and write English in order to participate in the programme.

As part of our info zoom sessions, we will present the companionship programme and the application process for the current call for participants and discuss your questions. Participation in an info zoom session is not a requirement for an application.

Representatives of Kreativ-Transfer and produktionsbande will organise and host the info zoom sessions, which will primarily be held in English.

Kreativ-Transfer and produktionsbande are equally approachable for any questions regarding this open call, the programme and its organisation.

In case you want to get in touch with us, please send an e-mail to companionship@produktionsbande.org. Both teams of Kreativ-Transfer and produktionsbande monitor all incoming messages and will get back to you accordingly.

The companionship programme will mostly take place remotely from your respective location. There are a few group appointments that are scheduled and will take place online, probably via Zoom. These dates can be found above in the call and will be organised as barrier-free as possible. For budgetary reasons, it will not be possible to offer sign language interpreting.

companions and participants arrange their individual sessions as a duo, taking into account differences in time zones as well as access requirements. If there is a meeting in presence, the location will be checked for accessibility and the programme will be designed as barrier-free as possible. If you have any questions, please contact us via e-mail to companionship@produktionsbande.org.

kreativ-transfer is a programme of the german dance association (Dachverband Tanz Deutschland) and supports the international networking and visibility of companies, artists and creatives in the performing arts, visual arts and games.

german dance association (Dachverband Tanz Deutschland) was founded in 2004 as the Standing Conference (Ständige Konferenz Tanz) on Dance and has been working as a nationwide platform for artistic dance in Germany since 2006.

produktionsbande is a network of and for producers of the independent performing arts in Germany, which strengthens the field of activity of those involved in artistic production with its knowledge exchange and networking opportunities.

Kreativ-Transfer
The companionship programme is part of the Kreativ-Transfer programme. The Kreativ-Transfer programme is run by the Dachverband Tanz Deutschland e. V. Kreativ-Transfer is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. In the field of performing arts, the DTD cooperates with the Bundesverband Freie Darstellende Künste e.V. (BFDK) and the Bundesverband Zeitgenössischer Zirkus e.V. (BUZZ).

produktionsbande
The companionship programme is part of the programme of produktionsbande - netzwerk performing arts producers e. V. produktionsbande is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media via the programme Fostering Connections (Verbindungen fördern) of the Federal Association for the Independent Performing Arts in Germany.

If you refuse to consent to the provision of your data in the below mentiond form, your application cannot be processed.

Your rights: You have the following rights with regard to our use of your personal data:

  • Right to information

  • Right to withdrawal

  • Right to rectification or erasure

  • Right to restriction of processing

  • Right to object to processing

  • Right to data portability

You can assert the aforementioned rights by contacting info@dachverband-tanz.de.

Withdrawal of consent: Insofar the processing of personal data is based on your consent (point a of Article 6 (1) GDPR), you may withdraw your consent at any time for the relevant purpose. The lawfulness of the processing based on your consent shall remain unaffected until receipt of your notice of withdrawal.

Erasure: We process and store your personal data only for the period necessary to achieve the purpose for which it is stored. If we are legally obliged to do so, we will also store your data beyond that point until the statutory data retention period has expired. In the event that we grant your request and you receive funding, we will store your data permanently.


jury

The presentation of the jury members including photos is also available as pdf.

Ana Letunić is a performing arts curator, cultural policy expert, and an AssistantProfessor at the Academy of Dramatic Arts at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. She graduated from the Master in International Performance Research at the University of Warwick, UK as well as specialized in Curating in Performing Arts at the Universities of Salzburg and LMU Munich. For over ten years, she has worked as a cultural programmer, dramaturgical advice, curator and researcher with contemporary performing arts organisations in Croatia, Germany, Netherlands, Serbia, Switzerland, UK, and USA as well as European networks such as IETM- Informal European Theatre Meeting, Advancing Performing Arts Project (APAP), Nomad Dance Academy and Life Long Burning. As a researcher at the intersection of cultural policy and performance studies, she has participated in numerous international conferences, professional trainings, and research projects; edited and authored several books and numerous articles; co-curated discursive programmes for festivals such as Tanz im August and Zürcher Theater Spektakel; and taught at several universities. She received her PhD at the University of Hildesheim and University of Arts in Belgrade and has also been working as a cultural policy consultant for Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and UNESCO.

pelin başaran is a performing arts curator, programmer and producer. Currently, she is working as the Head of Programming at Battersea Arts Centre in London. Previously she worked as a programmer at Contact in Manchester. Pelin founded and worked as director of PARC, an arts organization supporting artistic research, production, and the presentation of contemporary performance in Turkey. Pelin was also a key member of the founding team and senior programmer and producer at garajistanbul contemporary performing arts venue in Istanbul. Additionally, she initiated and worked as the researcher and co-director of the project “Siyah Bant-Freedom of Expression in the Arts” in Turkey.

Rui Silveira (b. 1980, Portugal) lives and works in Berlin since 2013. After graduating from the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona and studying performing arts in Lisbon, he worked in different positions with independent artists, art organizations, venues, and festivals in Europe, South America, North Africa, and the Middle East. While living in Barcelona (2000-2008), he worked as a performance curator for Metronóm - Fundació Rafael Tous d'Art Contemporani (2005-2006) and later became the artistic director of Complicitats, an international festival for dance, performance, and visual arts in Barcelona (2007 and 2008). Silveira then moved back to Lisbon, where he worked as the international relations manager for the Portuguese choreographer Vera Mantero (2008-2009) and later as the deputy artistic and managing director at O Espaço do Tempo (2009-2011) and artistic coordinator of EIRA in Lisbon (2011-2013). From 2008 to 2014, Rui Silveira was part of the board of directors of D.B.M - Danse Bassin Mediterranée, an international association and network of contemporary dance professionals from the Mediterranean region, serving as its President for five years. In 2013, he moved to Berlin and started to work internationally as a freelance advisor, manager, and curator for dance and performance, collaborating with independent artists, organizations, and festivals in Germany, North Africa, and South America. His work included collaborations with the Cairo Contemporary Dance Centre (Egypt, 2014-2015), Forum Internacional de Dança in Belo Horizonte (Brazil, 2017), and São Paulo’s Festival Contemporaneo de Dança (Brazil, 2018-2019). In 2017, he founded something great and has since then been its general and artistic director.


companions

The companions portfolio with photos and links to their socials is also available as pdf here.

about

I am the artistic director of SÍN Arts Centre, a Budapest-based production house. I have been working with independent dance artists on their project and career development for 20 years now. I am also a certified coach and facilitator, leading workshops and trainings on career development, internationalization, collaboration and leadership internationally for structures such as Aerowaves, EDN, IETM, Düsseldorf Tanzmesse and ICE HOT. My main focus of interest is the facilitation of horizontal, transparent, value-based collaborations within teams and with partners, encouraging discussions and reflections about good practices and lessons to learn in this respect.

 As regards to international practices I have been involved with various international partnerships, I worked in the advisory committee of IETM for 5 years. I was the co-developer of the card game Values of Solidarity – a tool for finding a common, value-based ground for international collaborations. Thanks to these experiences I have learnt that the development of international collaborations is a long but exciting process, finding like-minds around the world, working with differences and similarities as regards to cultures, contexts, systems. In an international context I enjoy being confronted by the diversity of angles and viewpoints, which triggers me to reflect on my own practices, habits and preferences.

language
english, hungarian

social media
instagram: @aniko_racz
facebook: aniko.racz

about

Bek Berger is an artist, curator and producer originally from Australia, based now in Riga, Latvia. From 2020 to September 2024, Bek was/is the Artistic Director of the New Theatre Institute of Latvia (NTIL) and the curator of the International Festival of Contemporary Theatre, Homo Novus. As a producer, she worked for such festivals as American Realness (NYC), Dance Massive (AU), Darwin Festival (AU), Fierce Festival (UK) and Forest Fringe (UK).

Since 2017, alongside the curatorial practice she collaborates as a Dance Dramaturg and producer with choregrapher James Batchelor. They have presented in over 20 countries and in such contexts as Centre Pompidou (FR), New Baltic Dance (LT), Tanz Im August (DE), Impulstanz (AT) and Dance Massive (AU).

Bek’s practice binds curiosity with innovation in order to design new models of connection, collaboration and reciprocity between artists and communities, across borders and art forms. Her expertise lies across festival making and dance creation, having intuited a number of large international collaborations such as Baltic Take Over Helsinki (LV, LT, EE, FI), The Shake Down with Rosendal Theatre (LV, NO), The Festivals Path with ANTI festival (LV, FI). She is currently busy with creating a new tarot deck to improve communication in creative processes and looking towards pleasure centre design processes. 

Bek serves on the board of the international performing arts network, IETM, was an ISPA fellow in 2022/2023 and in 2023 Bek was a SAARI fellow/resident in Finland supported by the Kone Foundation.

language
english

social media
instagram: @bekberger
facebook: bek berger

about

Godlive Lawani is the Founder/Director of Stane Performing Arts Management, a versatile arts management agency based in Berlin, Germany, which offers a distinctive artist representation for established and emerging dance companies. Cultural Promoter, Manager, Distributor, Producer – Freelance Dancer/Performer. For the last 10 years, she has dedicated herself to the Performing Arts Field, accumulating over a decade of expertise collaborating with venues, festivals, and artists. Festival Programmer of the ATLAS MÉXICO Biennial International Dance Festival and member of the Mexican production house Fábrica Escena SC. Since 2022, she has been in charge of the Production and the co-curation of the Frei Art Festival in Freiburg. She is a grantee of the Summa Artium/Trust for Mutual Understanding foundations.

In my international working practice, I focus on several areas: Cross-cultural communication: Facilitating effective communication and collaboration across diverse cultural backgrounds. Sustainable development: Promoting environmentally and socially responsible practices in international collaborations. Engagement with partners: Building strong relationships with stakeholders across different regions/countries to support organizational goals and objectives. When working internationally I'm driven by navigating effectively cultural differences to foster collaboration and understanding. I'm always trying to find ways to promote sustainability and social responsibility in international touring.

language
french, english, german, and spanish, knowledge of italian and korean

social media
instagram: @stane.pam
facebook: StanePam

about

Jessica Páez works as a producer and dramaturge with various institutions, artists and curators on hybrid artistic practices and formats between theatre, performance, film and visual arts. She has worked at Schauspielhaus Bochum (2010) and Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin (2010 - 2014). Here and as a freelance producer, touring manager and dramaturge, she realised projects with Nuran David Calis, Robert Bramkamp, Susanne Weich, Damian Rebgetz, Christoph Gurk and Kerstin Honeit. From 2013 to 2015, she took part in the postgraduate programme Cultures of the Curatorial at the HGB Leipzig. Since 2015 she has been working at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (HKW), among others with Hila Peleg, Rimini Protokoll, Marion von Osten and Phil Collins. Since 2023 she has been part of Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung's team as Senior Producer and Researcher and works with curators Carlos Maria Romero and Marie Hélène Pereira on performative practices at HKW. Her focus is on understanding and translating local, global and universal, unpredictable and normative conditions and demands in production. The reflection on and design of infrastructures in which responsibility, openness and sustainability (in relation to all resources) are possible is of particular interest. In doing so, she explores the possibilities and limits of the political within artistic production, rethinking notions of care and hospitality as integral practices.

language
german, english, spanish, french

about

I am an art manager, networker, and context curator. I discovered my passion for performing arts when I was a migrant worker in Australia and my visa did not come through. I realized I spend all my money on shows at a nearby arts center. I don’t remember being asked so many difficult questions by so many amazing humans from all over the region and beyond. I decided that I wanted this forever present in my life. Not as an evening entertainment but as a way of living and finding answers to the adaptive challenges that the world presents us with. I applied for an internship with Brisbane Powerhouse and my adventure began. For 9 years I worked as an Art Project Manager at Key Performance, an art management company based in Sweden. For 2 years I was the Associated Co-Director of Something Great in Berlin and the Collection Manager of Something Great Collection. For 7 years I collaborated with a Uruguayan choreographer Tamara Cubas and her organization Campo Abierto - focusing on social inclusion through the arts. Currently, I am an Associated Curator at Internationale Tanzmesse, I support organizations with artistic, curatorial, and strategic advice.

Hi, I am curious about your “why”. Why did you come to work with dance? And why do you insist on staying? Working within an international context can be a real pleasure and a source of joy but it can also drain you out. Do you have a strategy for how to stay alive, and how to adapt to the new ways of working and new challenges? I am particularly interested in opening up our sector to other industries and finding ways of collaborating to make a real systemic change. Would you like to dive into this topic with me? What would you like to bring to the table? I am so curious! What brings you joy? I have been digging for hope – shall we dig together and share whatever we excavate? Shall we dance?

language
polish, english, spanish, german
knowledge of russian and french

social media
instagram: @juliaasperska
facebook: Julia.Asperska

about

Laia Montoya (she/her) is an arts manager, producer and professional coach. In the performing arts field, recently she has developed projects with organizations such as Graner in Barcelona, ICEC - Berlin and Catalan Arts, New Theater Institute of Latvia, Studio Alta and Bazaar Festival in Prague, LAFT Berlin, Loom Festival in Barcelona, among others, promoting the internationalization of the performing arts in their countries. In 2020 she received the OSIC grant for performing arts research with a project on Queer Theatre in Catalonia: methods for production and programming. In 2023 she was a fellow at ITI Academy from ITI Foundation, where she worked interested in approaching transnationality, international cooperation and care practices. Based in Berlin, she is co-director of TINA Agency, a multi-local organization that manages and promotes international projects with artists and institutions from the dance field. She bases her vision on collaboration and cooperation, and it is in this spirit that TINA was created, believing in the uniqueness of each project and the need to be connected in order to reach our goals. TINA works on a multidimensional level, not only from the point of view of selling an artistic work, but also taking into account the need for knowledge exchange and connection with partners and the communities that surround them, leading to opportunities to generate projects from various fields and perspectives that are always very enriching.

language
english, catalan, spanish, portuguese, german

social media
instagram: @tina.performingarts & @laymb 
facebook: tina performing arts & lay.mb

about

After completing studies in dramaturgy (Leipzig, Germany) and arts management (London, UK), Martine Dennewald worked for theatres and theatre festivals in Luxembourg, Germany, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Switzerland and Austria. She then joined Niels Ewerbeck for a few years as dramaturg at Künstlerhaus Mousonturm in Frankfurt am Main, which she later ran as co-interim director with Marcus Dross and Martina Leitner for one year. Between 2015 and 2020, she was the artistic director of Festival Theaterformen, an eleven-day performing arts festival which takes place alternately in the cities of Hanover and Braunschweig (Germany). Since mid-June 2021 Martine Dennewald co-directs Festival TransAmériques in Tio’tia:ke/Montreal (Canada) together with Jessie Mill.

My main concern right now is the intersection of the climate crisis with the colonial state of the world: how it impacts co-production and touring in the performing arts, what arts organisations can do to mitigate its effects and how programming decisions can play a role in a paradigm change that would take us from extractivist practices to reciprocity, hospitality and shared power. I have worked in institutions both small and large, precarious and well-funded, with varying leadership models and systems of governance, in Europe and North America, and my teams and I have put in place change processes around anti-discrimination and decolonial practices within these institutions that we hope to continuously improve.

language
luxembourgish, german, french, english, spanish, swedish, japanese, italian

social media
instagram: @martinedennewald
facebook: martine dennewald

about

Nimi Ravindran is a writer and theatre practitioner with over 20 years of experience in the theatre working in various capacities. She is based in Bangalore, in Southern India and is also the co-founder and Artistic Director of Sandbox Collective, a feminist artists' collective working at the intersection of art and gender and the initiators of the Gender Bender festival (currently in its 10th edition). She also serves on the advisory board of two arts organistations based in India and she holds a senior fellowship in Theatre from the Ministry of Culture, Goverment of India.

Working Internationally with transnational cohorts has always been an incredible learning experience and yet fraught. The more we work with individuals and organisations that are unlike what we're used to, the more we build transnational solidarities and a non-negotiable space for art and artists. And, while such collaborations are almost always intertwined within a web of complexities reeking of inequalities based on our social-political realities, I still believe that the only way forward is through discussions, navigations and negotiations. If we believe in a better world, we can only build it together, not in silos and this is a dream worth pursuing, we can't give up on this simply because some of us don't have a choice, and some of us don't believe in giving up.

language
read write and speak: hindi, kannada, malayalam, english
speak fluently: tamil
speak-basic only: telugu

social media
instagram: @nimi.ravindran
facebook: Nimi Ravindran

about

Sarah Parolin is an independent dramaturg and producer with experience in the context of contemporary artistic creation and distribution both for performance and visual arts. Over the past years she collaborated with various independent artists and collectives as well as institutions such as BOZAR, Asia Arts Centre, Santarcangelo Festival. Between 2024 and 2023 she has been accompanying Kate McIntosh’s work. She is one of two halves of the project Backbone Berlin, and currently one of the three thirds of the organisation neon lobster.

language
english, fluent in italian, french and somewhat spanish, understanding german

social media
instagram: @el_sarparoh

about

Tzu-Yin is an energetic Taiwanese producer with 10 years of experience managing diverse projects. With strong knowledge and commitment, she is a goal-oriented professional dedicated to coordinating and producing impactful programs. For 6 years, Tzu-Yin served as the company manager of B.DANCE, where she developed and implemented strategies for 245 performances across 23 countries. Currently, she is the international booking agent at Aurora Nova.

Tzu-Yin is selected as an ISPA Taiwan Fellowship Participant (2023-2025), co-curated the FOKUS TAIWAN festival at Staatstheater Darmstadt 2023, managed the projects at Tanzmesse 2022, and Taiwan Dance Platform 2022.

Throughout her career, she has spent years as a producer. In this role, her responsibility was to interpret the artist's message and relay it to audiences through various channels. Thus, she focuses on understanding the issues that are important to the artist, the significance of their work, and the insights behind it. She strongly believes that truly impactful art can offer strength, warmth, and hope to society. She carries this ethos in all the positions she has served.

She frequently poses the question, "Why is it important to continue international exchange?" Her response is, "International exchange reminds us that there are many unseen places in the world. However, we can still make contributions if we are willing to act, share, and take on challenges. So that we can assist more people globally and collectively make an impact.”

language
mandarin, english

social media
instagram: @tzuyinhsu
facebook: Tzu-Yin Hsu
linkedin: Tzu-Yin Hsu