HELP DANCE

HELP DANCE bietet geflüchteten Tanzkünstler*innen und Tanzschaffenden, die aufgrund des aktuellen Krieges in der Ukraine ihren Wohnort verlassen mussten, die Möglichkeit, ein Gesuch/eine Anfrage zu stellen, um Hilfe und Unterstützung bei der Unterbringung, bürokratischen Angelegenheiten, dem Zugang zu geeigneten Tanzstudios und der Beratung zu Arbeitsmöglichkeiten zu erhalten.  

In den hiesigen Forum können Tanzkompanien, freie Ensembles, Produktionsorte und Tanzschulen ihre Unterstützungsangebote angeben. HELP DANCE veröffentlicht und vermittelt diese Angebote und bearbeitet gleichzeitig die Anfragen von Geflüchteten, mit dem Ziel, die ankommenden Tanzkünstler*innen und Tanzschaffenden aktiv und gezielt in die professionelle Tanzszene Deutschlands zu vermitteln.

 

HELP DANCE funding programme

Since July 2022, a funding programme has also been part of HELP DANCE. The aim of the HELP DANCE funding programme is to give dance artists and dance professionals associated with artistic production who have had to flee to Germany because of the war in Ukraine the opportunity to work in ballet, dance theatre and contemporary ensembles. In a first jury decision, funding was approved for K3 - Zentrum für Choreographie in Hamburg and Of Curious Nature in Bremen. In a second round of applications, the jury decided on funding for Schauspiel Köln / Ballet of Difference and Staatsballett Hannover. The funds are limited for use till 31 December 2022. 

 

  • What is Dance-Help/Tanz+Blau+Gelb?

    What is Dance-Help/Tanz+Blau+Gelb?

    Dance-Help/Tanz+Blau+Gelb is a cooperation project Praetorian Non-Profit Art and Health Consulting, Dachverband Tanz Deutschland (DTD) and Bundesdeutsche Ballett und Tanztheaterdirektoren Konferenz (BBTK), which supports dance artists, who had to leave their homes due to the war and are coming to Germany.

     

  • What does Help-Dance/Tanz+Blau+Gelb offer?

    What does Help-Dance/Tanz+Blau+Gelb offer?

    + support with administration, registration, access to German social welfare

    + help to get an appropriate accommodation

    + access to professional ballet class and training and studio space, so that you can keep in a good state for auditions

    + advice for audition processes

    + networking with potential employers and company leaders

  • What is Praetorian?

    What is Praetorian?

    A German-based non-profit organization, which helps dance artists in crisis, promotes and implements practices of anti-abuse and mental health awareness in the performing arts community. Praetorian offers consultation, evaluation, education and programs for cultural and art educational institutions as well as for individuals, organizes events to promote neurodiversity and help dancers and performers to prevent and deal with mental and physical health problems.

    Praetorian was founded in 2020 by international dance artist, pedagogue and cultural manager István Simon. The mission of the organization is to transform and develop theaters as psychologically and physically safe working environments for artists.

    https://praetorianprojects.com/

    https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057214129393

     

  • What is Dachverband Tanz Deutschland (DTD)?

    What is Dachverband Tanz Deutschland (DTD)?

    The Federal Association of Dance in Germany, founded in 2004 and has been working as a nationwide platform for artistic dance in Germany since 2006. The Dachverband Tanz Deutschland acts as a long-term network partner for dance professionals, cultural practitioners, civil society actors, and politicians at the state, federal, and EU levels. It also develops position papers and concepts for the promotion of dance in Germany, it realizes campaigns and initiatives and implements them in its projects.

    http://www.dachverband-tanz.de/

     

  • What is Bundesdeutsche Ballett und Tanztheaterdirektoren Konferenz (BBTK)?

    What is Bundesdeutsche Ballett und Tanztheaterdirektoren Konferenz (BBTK)?

    The BBTK is a voluntary association of ballet and dance theater directors for the purpose of mutual information and cooperation. The first BBTK took place in Cologne in 1998 on the initiative of Marc Jonkers and at the invitation of the NRW Landesbüro Tanz. This founding meeting was followed by conferences every six months in different cities of the republic, from Saarbrücken to Dresden, from Kiel to Munich.


    https://www.bbtk.de

     

  • How does it work?

    How does it work?

    We work in cooperation with German theaters, dance centers, municipalities, and offices specialized for the help of refugees.

    As first step, we offer refugee dancers solutions to keep routines, maintain health, fine-tuned, complex coordination, strength, stamina, and readiness for performances or auditions.

    In the next phase we intend to offer advising and guidance in the audition processes for a dance job in Germany.

    The goal is to prevent the artists to lose the connection to their art form, enable their self-expression and keeping the door of their professional future in dance securely open until their situation is consolidated.

  • Who can apply?

    Who can apply?

    War refugee dance artists of any age, style and background can apply for support, who had to leave their home and their dance practices due to the current war in Ukraine. We also support the families of the artists, who are arriving together with the Artists.

     

  • How can an artist apply?

    How can an artist apply?

    You can apply by filling out the form on our website under "Application". This way your requests will be deposited with us and we can coordinate the contact between you and an offering institution.

    Or contact us via:

    help-dance@dachverband-tanz.de
    Hotline (in English) +491743532469 Mo.-Fr. 9:00-13:00 & 16:30-18:00 CET
    Viber: +491743532469
    WhatsApp: +491743532469
    Skype: Praetorian Projects / info@praetorianprojects.com
    Instagram: @praetorian_health
    FB: Praetorian Art and Health / www.facebook.com/100057214129393
     

  • How soon can help be provided?

    How soon can help be provided?

    As soon as you contact us, we immediately take your request to work. We cooperate with a network of theaters and organizations throughout Germany, and we are able to find the most suitable option for you. Finding a solution can take anywhere from a few days to three weeks.

     

  • How can dance organizations support and help our initiative?

    How can dance organizations support and help our initiative?

    The following type of supports are commune from dance organizations:

    1)         Welcoming and supportive social environment

    • Training participation offers

    • Organization of local volunteers, who can offer temporary accommodation for the dance artists (a temporary address is very important for the registration process)

    • Support by developing a group of local volunteers, who can accompany dance artists when registering at the Welfare Office (Sozialamt), and the Ausländerbehörde (foreigners Authority) 

    • Support in finding suitable apartments which price is in alignment with the amounts described by the Welfare Office (Sozialamt). Support in the communication between the dance artist and the Welfare Office (Sozialamt), to arrange the accommodation.

    • Support in requesting an appointment at the Ausladerbehörde (foreigners Authority) 

    2)         Paid guest performance opportunities, projects, participation in opera and dance productions, apprenticeships, full time contracts, part time contracts.

  • Why contact us instead of sending a CV to every German company?

    Why contact us instead of sending a CV to every German company?

    We work as a coordination center. We are connected to the national dance networks in Germany, so we are informed about any paid job opportunity, guesting, or gala. Being part of and knowing the German dance landscape we can make the best matches of requests and offers. We can find the most suitable options for the dance artist. Our services can reduce the number of auditions. This can save some of the traveling and overnights for example.

     

  • What’s next?

    What’s next?

    Now Help-Dance/Tanz+Blau+Gelb is developing into a separate platform www.help-dance.org. The platform is jointly maintained by DTD, Praetorian Non-Profit Art and Health Consulting, and BBTK.
    We are also planning 2 projects in the near future in a trauma informed frame.

    1. Tanz+Blau+Gelb Gala tour

    The Lange Nacht der Kunst organized by the city of Gütersloh added an additional 30 minutes extra time to their originally planned program to support our initiative. They provided space for 6 of our supported dancers to perform.

    Live music is going to be played throughout the whole dance unit by Arne-Christian Pelz - chello, Deniz Tahberer - violin, and, Alina Pronina – piano. The evening will feature a contemporary solo and duet by Andreas Heise as well as a new creation of Jiří Bubeníček on the score of Karen Lefrak (contemporary composer living in New York)

    In the dance gala, a diversity of styles is presented. The performance highlights the sophisticated artistry and mastery of dance artists who had to leave their homes doe to the war.

    The Gala program will be expended and taken on tour, providing further performing opportunities to Ukrainian artists.

    This performance places humanity in the center and has a very important social message: Art is stronger than war - Kunst ist stärker als Krieg

    1. Mental health and well-being support for the general population

    Another project is to train and educate dance professionals, to create and maintain trauma informed and trauma aware dance environments not only for artistic purposes but also, to be able to offer trauma informed dance workshops as form of mental health and well-being support for the general population, but especially, for the current refugee population.

     

Appeal of the German Ballet and Dance Theatre Directors Conference (BBTK), the German Dance Association (DTD) and Praetorian Non-Profit Art and Health Consulting

www.help-dance.org – Help and support for refugee dance artists from Ukraine and the bordering regions


Right now, thousands of people are fleeing Ukraine to escape violence and seek security during the war of aggression on the country. Some of these refugees are dancers and dance professionals. Likewise, artists from Russia and Belarus are also facing hardship.

While these individuals will need help navigating the social situation and the trauma of their escape, it is also important that they receive assistance with establishing professional connections. We must provide training opportunities, especially for dancers, as a small gesture of solidarity. Without training opportunities, especially over a long period of time, these refugee artists may lose not just physical strength but also confidence in their own abilities and hope for the future.

As a show of support, numerous ballet and dance companies have already offered support and are receiving inquiries. Many other institutions also want to help. In the medium term, refugee dancers will need assistance navigating insurance questions and residence permits, and they will need support to find financial security in these uncertain times. István Simon (Praetorian Non-Profit Art and Health Consulting) has launched an initiative, called Tanz-Balu-Gelb, for collecting inquiries and offers.

The Bundesdeutsche Ballett- und Tanztheaterdirektor*innen Konferenz (German Ballet and Dance Theatre Directors Conference, BBTK) and the Dachverband Tanz Deutschland (DTD) are taking up the Praetorian Non-Profit Art and Health Consulting initiative by setting up a platform:


www.help-dance.org – Help and support for refugee dance artists from Ukraine and the bordering regions

Please direct all inquiries and information for the platform team to: help-dance@dachverband-tanz.de

The platform brings together:


• Training offers from ensembles
• Inquiries from refugee artists
• Information on issues of residence, health insurance and other benefits, the legal situation, regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic, etc.
• Additional support options

The information will also be available in German, Ukrainian and Russian.

The platform is jointly managed by BBTK, DTD and Praetorian.

 

Contacts and information from the associations and institutions

German Ballet and Dance Theatre Directors Conference (BBTK)
Heather Jurgensen – Ballet Kiel (Executive Committee of the BBTK)
Heather.jurgensen@kiel.de

Tel. +49 431 901 2858


Dachverband Tanz Deutschland
Valentina Boroni, Sarah Holzmann, Merel Roozen
help-dance@dachverband-tanz.de


Praetorian Non-Profit Art and Health Consulting
Istvan Simon
info@praetorianprojects.com

Tel. +49 174 3532 469

 

Download PDF (in English)

Offer of help for a trauma-conscious dance community

We are aware that helping traumatized individuals and especially war refugees can be
challenging in artistic environments. We strongly believe in the good intention of the dance
community, but we feel important to mention, that know-how is also very important to
develop well-functioning solutions and to support these individuals. Therefore, we would
like to inform you that Praetorian Non-Profit Art and Health is offering the following
services:

  • Leadership coaching (for directors, choreographers, school directors, ballet masters etc.) on trauma-informed and trauma aware communication, solutions, and dance
    environments
  • Trauma awareness workshops for dance companies

Please, don’t hesitate to contact us or Praetorian directly, and ask for a tailored program to
develop your organization’s trauma awareness and expand your personal knowledge.

FURTHER INFORMATION ON RESIDENCE IN GERMANY AND SOCIAL BENEFITS

More information and FAQ can be found at

Touring Artists: Ukraine - Information (touring-artists.info)

Here you will find a summary of important regulations concerning the right of residence and social benefits for people who had to leave their place of residence due to the war in Ukraine and who are now staying and working in Germany.