The CFB and Dance Base, the Scottish National Centre for Dance, are collaborating on a professional exchange between the two organizations aimed at fostering dialogue regarding their respective cultural approaches and creating opportunities for future collaborations.
Both organizations are committed to developing events around community health and well-being through cultural and involving activities. They explore, in their own unique ways, the potential of intergenerational practices.
The CFB, in particular, is leading the S.K.A.T. (Senior*innen Kunst Akademie für Tanz) project, which aims to bring intergenerational dance conversations to life. This program introduces individuals who may initially be distant from culture and performing arts to contemporary dance.
The first phase of the exchange took place from June 27th to July 2nd in Berlin, where Emma Smith, Director of Health, Well-being, and Engagement at Dance Base, attended performances and workshops alongside Julia Cozic, Cultural Project Manager at CFB. They also engaged in various meetings with partners and associated artists. In the second phase of the exchange, Julia Cozic will discover projects and meet partners in Edinburgh and Aberdeen during the DanceLive Festival of Dance from October 16th to October 21st, 2023.
The projet
The goal of the project is to explore common and distinct approaches to cultural and involving activities within the CFB and Dance Base through a knowledge exchange between the two organizations. These visits espacially enable potentials future collaborations. The CFB and Dance Base are visiting each other’s organizations and cities to establish a close relationship, explore common and divergent approaches and perspectives, and develop future knowledge exchange opportunities.
The context
The two entities, CFB and Dance Base, came together during a delegation trip to Edinburgh, organized by the Performing Arts Program Berlin and funded by Creative Scotland. They both acknowledged a shared interest in developing involving and community dance activities. Each organization, in its own way, explores the potential and challenges of intergenerational practices. This proposal is rooted in their common interest of exploring these issues through different perspectives and in different contexts.
The CFB has organized artistic projects and two series of events that bring together independent dance artists and a senior community: the KÖRPERSPUREN BALL and the Seniorinnen Kunst Akademie für Tanz (S.K.A.T.). As part of the KÖRPERSPUREN BALL project from 2019 to 2021, the CFB team organized ten rounds for an older and isolated audience to introduce them to contemporary dance and create moments of communal interaction. In 2022, the continuation and expansion of this programming led to S.K.A.T. (Senior*innen Kunst Akademie für Tanz), which also targets an older audience with the aim of facilitating intergenerational conversations. People who are initially distant from culture, especially the performing arts, can become familiar with the themes of various dance styles associated with each event and interact with younger artists and audiences, including students from HZT (Hochschule für zeitgenössischen Tanz), as students also participate in these events.
The CFB invited Dance Base to meet with partners and Berlin-based actors in this field, such as Dance On and establish connections with them.
Dance Base’s work in the community focuses on promoting health and well-being through dance and creative activities. For many years, Dance Base has been running programs in care centers, hospitals, and for people living with Parkinson’s disease. The organization explores how community culture and well-being cross and how artistic organizations can contribute to them. Dance Base’s public program focuses on a varied weekly offering of open-access dance classes, including ones specifically designed for people with disabilities, older adults, and young people. For many years, Dance Base has offered an intergenerational dance platform as part of the Fringe Festival to showcase its involving activities.
Dance Base also has two in-house dance companies: PRIME is designed for a senior audience and the members have been training, creating, and performing together for many years. The Lothian Youth Dance Company (LYDC) offers a one-year training and performance opportunity for young people aged 14 to 21. In October 2023, the youth company will come together for a one-week residency to create a new piece with a choreographer. PRIME meets weekly and will also be hosted at Dance Base during that week. Julia Cozic, will spend time with both performance companies and other groups at Dance Base.
We hope that this exchange project can evolve even more. This marks our first collaborative project, and we aspire for it to enable both the CFB and Dance Base to continue beeing relevant, engaged, and connected to local communities. Ideally, a successful exchange would transform into regular opportunities for both organizations—and also for the artists with whom we work—to visit and/or associate eachother within other practices, artistic approaches, and potential performance platforms.
Partners
Dance Base is Scotland’s National Centre for Dance and offers a programme of professional support, including residencies, for professional artists as well as a range of courses for the public and targeted health and well-being projects with partners in Scotland and the UK.
The CFB is a French-German and international cultural centre based in Berlin-Wedding, offering a wide range of activities in the terms education, youth and professional mobility. For a decade, its cultural teams has been developing an artistic programme in collaboration with partners from Berlin’s independent scene. Alongside the inhabitants of the Wedding neighbourdhood and partners, the CFB is committed to fight discrimination, promoting sustainable development, strengthening social links and developing projects that benefits the community in a context marked by diversity.
This project is funded by the British Council’s Momentum Scotland Follow-up Grant 2022.
