Dancing in times of distance

Canceled performances and an uncertain future: Berlin's independent scene has been hit particularly hard by the Corona crisis In March, Berlin-based dancer and choreographer Yui Kawaguchi was still in France rehearsing her new piece, which combines elements of Japanese No Theater with contemporary dance. The world premiere of "Mugen" was to take place on April 1 at Berlin's Sophiensaele. Kawaguchi was setting up the lights when the artistic director of the Montbéliard theater told her to leave quickly because the border to Germany would be closed the next day. Kawaguchi and lighting designer Fabian Bleisch quickly bought provisions, then drove to Berlin by car and immediately went into domestic quarantine. Kawaguchi trained in her living room, but at the end of the 14 days, she says in a telephone interview, she felt as if she were wrapped in absorbent cotton and was running out of breath. On the day the quarantine was over, it snowed for ten minutes. Kawaguchi immediately ran to the roof of her apartment building and danced with the snowflakes. She posted the video on Facebook. "I felt completely connected to the moment," she says, describing her feeling of happiness. She hopes to show "Mugen" later this year. It's not the only one of her projects that has had to be canceled for now because of the Corona pandemic. Kawaguchi, who has lived in Berlin since 2005, has a close collaboration with the group Nico and the Navigators. Their Beethoven project "Force and Freedom" was to premiere on May 1 at the SWR Festival in Schwetzingen. The group of singers, dancers and actors had already rehearsed together for two weeks. Now they are all staying home - and still continuing the creative process. "I am grateful to be here" "We continue to work individually, collecting material and sending Nico little videos," Kawaguchi says. The Navigators are happy to continue working. Contractually, they were guaranteed 80 percent of the regular rehearsal fee. But the fees from guest appearances are falling away. In order to make ends meet, Kawaguchi applied for emergency aid from the Investitionsbank Berlin. After just a few days, the 5,000 euros were in her account. "I am grateful to be here," says Kawaguchi. In Japan, she says, it is much more difficult for artists to survive financially. Other Berlin dance artists have also benefited from the emergency aid. Nevertheless, the Corona crisis is hitting freelance dancers and choreographers particularly hard. They were already working under precarious circumstances anyway, report Moritz Majce and Kasia Wolinska from the board of the "Contemporary Dance Berlin" association. The two experience the fears and worries of their colleagues very directly. With the money from a donation, they started the peer-to-peer project to support dance professionals in need. Anyone who offers help to a colleague, for example in applying for funding, receives 50 euros in return. It's just a drop in the bucket, but it's an important signal that holds the scene together. Michael Freundt, the managing director of Dachverband Tanz Deutschland, is also experiencing a great deal of uncertainty. Together with the Baden-Württemberg dance scene and the dance offices in Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia and Munich, the umbrella organization has conducted a nationwide survey on the loss of income in the dance sector. More than 600 tables were evaluated: "We reckon with more than 130 million euros in lost revenue for independents, ensembles, schools and institutions in the dance sector alone."

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