Tanznetz Freiburg

The non-profit organisation tanznetz|freiburg (Dance Network Freiburg) is the further development of the current project Co-operative Dance Development Concept Freiburg through a new legal form, the aim being to continue increasing the professionalization of creative dance artists and the quality of productions, and to make them visible both within and beyond city and federal state borders, thus establishing a sustainable and resilient structure in Freiburg’s independent dance scene. The agencies responsible for Tanznetz Freiburg are the bewegungsart-Freiburg and E-WERK Freiburg associations. The independent scene is involved in the form of an advisory committee. Tanznetz Freiburg is providing long-term support for independent dance and ensuring targeted profiling and increased visibility.

Thanks to TANZPAKT Stadt-Land-Bund funding, the tanznetz|Freiburg could be established as an interest group and network for the independent, professional dance scene in and around Freiburg. From 2018–2021, it has been possible, in co-operation with E-WERK, to qualify Freiburg’s independent dance scene through numerous formats, to develop new experimental forms, to perform stage pieces with international choreographers, and to achieve initial successes in national networks. The basis of the success, the visibility and above all the consolidation of effort on behalf of the independent, professional dance scene was the numerous offers and formats, e.g. professional training, the artistic development programme, ‘tanzwuchs|freiburg’ (dance juniors|freiburg), a lab manifesto and three major productions at E-WERK. Freiburg is now being seen nationally as a lively, pulsating dance city.

The development of professional organisational structures was a major requirement in this. This constellation of posts has since formed a resilient structure for independent dance in Freiburg. The Dance Development Concept, which was implemented with help from the Office for Culture, attracted national attention and is serving as a model for co-operation projects in other regions.

As a consequence, Tanznetz Freiburg assumed responsibility, which includes the continued development of the national network as well as connecting independent dance in Freiburg to the national scene. It also involved the development of targeted measures and formats that are tailored to the needs of the scene, and the challenge of offering appropriate conditions and targeted support to an increasing number of professional choreographers, with the aim that some of them will also establish themselves beyond the city limits. The new structure provided an opportunity for the various players on the scene to work together even more constructively while the tight interlacing of the scene has been maintained through a single venue. In the years 2022 till 2024, Tanznetz Freiburg set the following programmatic priorities: 1. Guest-performance exchange and co-productions, 2. Networking and communication, 3. Artistic exchange and profiling. A  key concern for the local dance scene was the expansion of the existing network towards Switzerland and France, and within Baden-Württemberg. The aim was to make it possible for dance pieces to be shown not only in a few performances in in Freiburg but also in other cities, for productions to be created jointly in co-operation networks, and for guest performances to form part of reciprocal invitations. In the new Dance Dates format, two choreographers per ‘date’ presented themselves in two pieces from two cities in one evening and engaging in a dialogue with each other. The years were also used to develop and increase the visibility of the entire field of dance communication and participation in dance in Freiburg and the region, the central guidelines being sustainability, diversity and participation, and empowerment.