Dance Partners Fund

There are many successful projects underway in which children and young people can learn about artistic dance. More and more schools want to offer their students the opportunity to become more familiar with this art form. Likewise, numerous dancers, choreographers, theatres and other institutions have shown growing interest in developing joint dance productions with youngsters.

The Federal Cultural Foundation created Dance Partners, a fund to promote cultural education in dance. With a budget of 2.5 million euros, the fund aimed to support alliances between schools and dance institutions lasting several years.

The goal was to encourage pupils to learn about and experience dance as an art form at actual theatres and dance companies and at the highest artistic level. Institutional access is a key aspect of the project. The intention was not to send artists on an educational mission to schools, but to have pupils team up with artists at their rehearsal and performance venues, become acquainted with their artistic methods, and experience working conditions in the context of a cultural organization. Together with the dancers, the pupils developped productions of their own and made the theatre an integral part of their lives and experience in the process.

The funded projects:

• Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin / Hector-Petersen-Oberschule
• Cocoon Dance Company / 5. Gesamtschule Bonn
• Theater Bremen / Alexander-von-Humboldt-Gymnasium
• Stadttheater Bremerhaven / Marktschule Bremerhaven
• Theater Dortmund / Anne-Frank-Gesamtschule
• Tanzhaus NRW, Düsseldorf / St. Benedikt Schule
• Theater Freiburg, pvc Tanz / Vigelius Grundschule
• Tanzcompagnie Gießen / Integrierte Gesamtschule Busecker Tal
• K3 - Zentrum für Choreographie | Tanzplan Hamburg, Kampnagel Internationale Kulturfabrik / Winterhuder Reformschule
• Staatsoper Hannover / Integrierte Gesamtschule Linden
• Bayerisches Staatsballett, München / Heinrich-Heine-Gymnasium
• Perform(d)ance, Stralsund / Integrierte Gesamtschule Grünthal

Interactive map introducing the Dance Partners projects

The interactive map includes selected videos, photos, blog entries, articles and audio files about the projects and premieres. Simply drag your mouse across the map and click on the icons for impressions of the Dance Partners Fund projects.

Jury of experts for the Dance Partners Fund

• Prof. Dr. Antje Klinge, professor of Sports Education and Sports Didactics at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum
• Ursula Schneider, State Secondary School Elisabeth-Kohn-Street, Munich, principal of „Hauptschule der Freiheit“
• Moos van den Broek, artistic director of the dance department at Het Lab in Utrecht (NL)