From 26th to 28th of May 2017, Stiftung Tanz hosted the annual assembly of IOTPD (International Organization for the Transition of Professional Dancers). Fifteen participants from eleven countries came to Berlin for the event.
The main theme was the current state of the FIA Project “Dance Futures – Career Transition Schemes of Dancers” (further details below). The professional exchange with our international colleagues was lively and we all enjoyed our time together. A heartfelt THANK-YOU to those who supported this year’s IOTPD Assembly. To our many guests and international colleagues: “Auf Wiedersehen!”
We are looking forward to it!
Photos of and details concerning the assembly at:
www.facebook.com/Sti…
The first seminar on the project „Dance Futures — establishing transition regulations for dancers and supporting sustainable mobility in the dance sector“ took place from 22th to 23th of March 2017 in Brussels.
The goal of this seminar, which was Organisation by the International Federation of Actors (FIA) and the International Organization for the Transition of Professional Dancers (IOTPD), was first „to get professional transition laws for dancers in Belgium underway . . .“ ; second, to raise important questions for the relevant stakeholders; and finally to discuss the corresponding modes of action.
FIA is an international federation with around 90 member associations, such as unions, guilds, and professional organizations. They represent artists in more than 60 countries. Their main purpose is to defend the professional interests of artists, including dancers and circus performers. The association was founded in 1952 with headquarters in Brussels.
Cited and adapted source details concerning the FIA, dated 30.5.2017 at 6 pm:
fia-actors.com/fia…
Description of the project from 2011 at:
stiftung-tanz.com/wor…
Happy Birthday and good wishes, dear Katrina and Dirk!
We always enjoy to the pleasant and trustworthy cooperation with you.
Thank you!
Dancers received financial support for their transition in early 2017, as every year. During the first donation cycled of 2017,which ended on 30th of March, 13 dancers received individual support from Stiftung TANZ after a successful application.
In total, 8700 € were invested in dancers in these months of 2017.
To all those who received funds, we wish you much success with your transition-related endeavors!
Heike Scharf (Dipl.-Psych.) will give a lecture on transition on 11th of July 2017. The lecture begins at 2:30 pm, and attendees will have the option of individual counseling sessions afterwards.
The lecture will introduce different aspects of the transition such as:
– financing
– options for further training
– personal new redirection
– self coaching
The lecture will be followed by individual counseling sessions, which will be free and confidential, at around 4:30 pm.
Registration is possible at: heike.scharpff@stiftung-tanz.com
Our thanks for the support to the Tanztheater der Städtischen Theater Münster!
Since 1986, the Federal Academy of Wolfenbüttel (BA) offers nation-wide practically
oriented career training and in the field of cultural education in Germany.
Every year, 2 500 culture creators and curators receive their qualification through the academy’s 180 events, including seminars, qualifications courses und conferences. The following six interdisciplinary programs are on offer:
– visual arts
– performing arts
– culture management, culture politics, culture studies
– literature
– museum
– music
The combination of diverse contents, an interdisciplinary approach, and the many years of experience in continued education at the BA Wolfenbüttel is of particular interest for transitioning dancers.
BA is funded by the Ministry of Education and Research, the Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media, as well as the Ministry of Science and Culture for Nieder-Sachsen.
Adapted Info-Source with further details, including this year’s program, taken on 19.5.2017 at 10:15 am: www.bundesakademie.de/ueb…
Anyone who travels for work should be insured during their time abroad. Whether there is an additional fee abroad – outside of the EU – depends on whether there is a bilateral social security agreement between Germany and the country in question.
For an overview of the current social insurance agreements, visit the Ministry for Work :www.bmas.de/Sha…
When there is no insurance deal in the county in which you are working, you should take out a private insurance policy and let the public insurance be. The insurance policy will thus continue to exist, but will not be used by the insured party. The original insurance policy will be granted again after the eligibility period. The policy holder an thus pay a reduced fee. This is usually under 50€ per month. You can become a candidate for this insurance policy by applying (!) with your current insurers. IMPORTANT: The application must be submitted BEFORE the start of the long term professional time abroad, and be approved by the insurance company.
Cited source from 19.5.17 at 11:00 am more general DETAILS:
www.krankenkassen.de/zus…
Working as a dance pedagogue is an attractive career option for many dancers in transition. There are many courses and options for continuing education in this field, such as:
(1) Dance pedagogy-certification at TANZ ZENTRALE
Start of 1 year full time course load: 21th of August 2017 /Application still possible!!! *
(Start of modules to be completed parallel to the career: January 2018 /application until 31th of December 2017)
As a part time course parallel to a career: 2 years = 22 weeks
Weekends from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, plus two four-day intensives from 10:00 am – 4 pm.
Contents: Dance technique / Improvisation / Choreography / Developing repertoire / Pedagogy / Partnering & Contact / Theory / Light, Tone and Projections techniques
Cost: either 1870 € for one year / 1980 € for half a year / 2090 € for one month
DETAILS registration at: tanz-zentrale.de/tan…
* Konstantin Tsakalidis (Director of TANZ Zentrale): telephone contact on 18th of May 2017
Adapted info source, from 17.5.17 at 12:15 pm: ibid
(2) Additional competence in dance pedagogy with SENECA INTENSIV VITA / Berlin
Start: September 2017
Course involves: 4 days/week from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm = 715 hours of continuing education preparation for teaching, residency and self-study with trainings phases (afternoons)
Contents: daily training in diverse styles practical and theoretical discussions of dance pedagogy.
Methods of Instruction: intensive, practically oriented, up-to-date, independent of dance style, and seeks to reach a broad selection of target groups.
Cost: 3600 € (Financing possible)
DETAILS registration at:
www.seneca-intensiv.de/vit…
Adapted info-source, from 17.5.17 at 12:30: ibid
The German Association of Dance Pedagogues (DBfT) has recently released three guides about important professional themes for dance pedagogues. The guides were conceived by Verena Thalemann.
Nr. 1 „Little Guide to Establishing a Supplementary School“
Nr. 2 „Little Guide to Avoiding False Self-Employment“
Nr. 3 „Little Guide to Finding a Qualified Ballet School“
The guides can be ordered free of cost for DBfT-Members. For non-members, there is a nominal fee of 5 €, which must be transferred to the DBfT beforehand.
To order, please write: geschaeftsstelle@dbft.de
Cited source from 17.5.17 at 3:00 pm: www.dbft.de/
One feeling which regularly appears during the course of transitioning is shame. „I’m ashamed that this is happening to me,“ or „It’s shameful not to be performing at my peak anymore“ etc. Sometimes, shame can even lead to a complete retreat from the world in which you have been living in until now, which causes great loneliness. Particularly during the challenging phase of finding a new orientation, people need social support.
The shame researcher Stephan Marks says: „Shame is like a seismograph, which reacts sensitively when basic human needs such as attention, security, belonging or integration are damaged.[…] To respect the value of a person means, from the perspective of shame psychology – to protect him or her from ‚excessive‘ avoidable shame, in other words, not to shame them.“ (cited form Alina Gause: „Kompass für Künstler“, page 13).
For this reason, it is extremely important that dancers — particularly in the time of their transition — find a space in which they can receive recognition, security, belonging and integrity. To experience this time of change shame-free, it would be helpful to treat the transition as a necessary and self-evident part of a dance career — as it is luckily already portrayed in certain companies.
Our culture is still ruled in part by a culture of shame and shaming: the concept that people can be improved through being humiliated and humiliating themselves. (Marks, Stephan: Shame, the taboo emotion, page 80) Unprocessed feelings of shame which emerge in this way lead to an emotional dead end. They lead to passivity and depression, as well as to new wounds. Feelings of shame which remain unexamined are therefore of little help for constructive problem solving.
Yet in consciously considering shame, its origins and causes, you can reach conclusions from these feelings as to which step is necessary to develop. If you recognize that your personal boundaries have to often been disregarded, it is important to learn to create boundaries. „To ensure one’s own protection is part of your responsibility towards yourself. It is for this that we need shame: it protects what’s important to us.“ (Marks, page 167).
Literature:
GAUSE, Alina: Kompass für Künstler, Berlin 2017
MARKS, Stephan: Scham – Die tabuisierte Emotion, Düsseldorf 2007
(Text by Heike Scharpff)
Culture and art mediator is an as yet unprotected career label, but it offers a diversity of professional possibilities. Although there are no reliable statistics, art and culture mediators will, in our opinion, prevail.
Dancers in transition are in no way obliged to focus exclusively on dance pedagogy, as the culture and art industries offer interdisciplinary more and more professionalized applications. „[…This includes …] apart from the publicity offers in cultural institutions, such as tours, audience discussions, workshops or introductions to theatre, opera, or dance stages, of concert houses or of literary operations, also teaching art related school subjects (such as extracurricular activities like instruction in artistic techniques).“ In the past years, one can observe synergies between the above mentioned fields and alternative fields of publicity as well as to culture and project management. This opens up further interesting career possibilities!
The University of Paderborn offers a six semester BA in ‚culture and art mediation`. The preliminary requirement for study is Abitur, a subject-limited university qualification or since October 2016 (NEW):
– the wish to study is further professional training or
– professional certification and a career which corresponds to the desired field of study or
– a successful aptitude test.
Application deadline for SS 2018: 1th of October 2018
IMPORTANT: BA-study in „art and culture mediation“ at the University of Paderborn must be combined with the subjects Media Studies / Fashion-Textile-Design or Music Studies, and graduates will receive a double major.
Sufficient knowledge of German (minimum B2 level) necessary!
The wonderful new rules for career education and university access mentioned above makes it possible that transitioning dancers, who are no longer qualified for Bafög have the attraktive possibility of “Aufstiegs-Bafög”. For more information, consult the article from our newsletter „ No more Meister-Bafög, but Aufstiegs-Bafög!“ In: stiftung-tanz.com/new…
Further details to the course of study:
www.uni-paderborn.de/stu…
Adapted info-source, from 20.5.17 at 10:30 am: ibid
Cited info-source, from 20.5.17 at 9:30 am:
www.kultur-vermittlung.ch/zei…
for a network of professional Culture and Art Mediators: www.berufkunstvermittlung.de
„The work of education and mediation in museums has fundamentally changed in the last years and, due to demographic and social developments, finds itself in a dynamic process of development, which urgently needs new specialists.
In support of this development, the Faculty of Media at HTWK Leipzig, in cooperation with the above mentioned Federal Academy for Cultural Education of Wolfenbüttel, will launch a Master’s Degree in »Museum Pedagogy – Education and () in the Museum« in SS 2017.“
Info-Event: 30th of June 2017 (4:00 pm) – 2th of July 2017 (2:00 pm)
Registration in process! (limited place)
DETAILS here:
www.htwk-leipzig.de/fil…
Cited source from 17.5.17 at 1:00 pm:
www.bundesakademie.de/pro…
Dancers who will end their careers and their engagement in a company at the end of next season (2017/2018) are wanted for a Cinema- Documentary (Directed by Bettina Pohlmann and produced by Heino Deckert). For organizational reasons, contact can be established immediately!
The film would show the last weeks in a company, possibly the last tour, and the last performance. The dancer will also be filmed as they search for a new start: in a new job, during their continuing education, or as they return home – depending on which direction they take. A film, which will give courage for transformations and new beginnings!
If interested, please contact Bettina Kohlmann at: mail@bettinapohlmann.de
Further DETAILS, including the conditions (such as the number of film days): ibid
Stiftung TANZ is in no way involved in the discussions between the performer and the director or the productions company. We are merely providing contact to potential protagonists through this article and through a post on our Facebook site.
We are thrilled and wish all participants much success!
Further information about Bettina Pohlmann at:
www.viersindmalwelt.com / www.bettinapohlmann.de
(Text by Bettina Pohlmann in cooperation with Stiftung TANZ)