Welcome
Every two years, graduating students and faculty from federal dance training institutions meet at different locations to spend a week exchanging ideas about dance and choreography, discussing diverse training and work cultures, and, of course, dancing.
The upcoming 10th Dance Education Biennale will once again take place in Berlin, at the State Ballet School, having also launched in Berlin almost 20 years ago. The Biennale’s motto, “Variation,” invites participants to connect contemporary and classical dance and to critically reinterpret them beyond the narratives of “innovation” and “tradition”—for both disciplines.
The Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth supports the Dance Education Biennale. The aim of the cultural competitions supported by our ministry is to offer young talents and emerging artists the opportunity to present themselves under professional conditions on stages, in concert halls, and art galleries, and to develop new skills in exchange with peers and more experienced artists. It’s not just about the competition; it’s also about the quality of training for a profession that is constantly evolving. In dance, the rational and the emotional intertwine, and both must be harmonized so that artistic personality and dance technique can develop.
I thank everyone involved for their commitment to the preparation and execution of the Biennale and wish the students an inspiring week filled with new impressions and insights.
Dr. Catrin Hannken
Head of the Department for Vocational Education and Lifelong Learning
Federal Ministry of Education, Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth
In a world where contrasts are currently emphasised primarily as antagonistic poles of an irreconcilable binary opposition rather than as markers of orientation within a diverse, inspiring and variable spectrum, art is also called upon to unfold its unique civilisational potential. Variations within a spectrum play a significant role in many artistic and scientific contexts. In dance, the concept can be found in all stylistic areas, including those represented in training: from the canonical pieces of classical ballet to the connection of the dancing individual to general human themes or the work with improvisation and ‘scores’ in contemporary dance. Variation – precise and unlimited – opens up a wide range of possibilities and evokes clear artistic but individually different associations in the various dance styles. Variation is change, it is movement, because no matter how precisely a movement is repeated, it is never the same.
Under the motto ‘Variation – precise and unlimited’, I am delighted to welcome participants to the anniversary event of the 10th Dance Education Biennale at the Berlin State Ballet School in its 75th anniversary year. I wish you all – students and teachers alike – every success and inspiration in what promises to be an exciting, busy, intensive and challenging week of training, workshops, discussions, encounters and, above all, dance in all its variations.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to the school’s curatorial team for their successful and thorough preparation, as well as to all the sponsors and supporters of the 10th Biennale Tanzausbildung from the worlds of art, politics and administration, without whose dedication a project like this would be impossible.
Ulrich Giessel
Principal Staatliche Ballett- und Artistikschule Berlin (SBuAS)
Welcoming Remarks from the Kuratorial Team
In a time when boundaries are defended and transgressed, we embrace the limitless possibilities of art. Dance connects, unfolds across borders, and forges new paths without losing its roots. Who, if not dance, is capable of perceiving limited and blocked spaces and opening our perspectives?
We cordially invite you to the anniversary of the 10th Dance Education Biennale and would like to immerse ourselves with you in the variations of dance development processes. The focus is on precision and limitlessness, with the awareness that the combination of these elements expands and crystallizes the qualities of dance.
Precision is indispensable in dance. It directs the focus on details and enhances their impact. It refines, polishes, questions, and concretizes until the sum of all those details merges into a total work of art.
Limitlessness, on the other hand, forms the foundation of all possibilities. It broadens the view into artistic worlds, both internal and external. It inspires us to think further, explore deeper, and shift our perspectives. Limitlessness connects cultures, breaks old patterns of thought, and creates space for new possibilities of expression.
In the airy, open spaces of the State Ballet School Berlin, we are celebrating the Biennale and the 75th anniversary of our school. We look forward to the inspiration of the invited choreographers and teachers and, of course, to the energy of the students!
Together, we strive to expand our own spectrum – from the details to maximum expansion.
Marek Rózycki, Kathrin Baum-Höfer, Ulf Höpfner