Oct 12, 2023
"We wanted to inspire people to awaken their own creativity, to think outside the box, and to get talking with each other." It was a great pleasure to create this beautiful festival together with such exciting artists.
Below is the translation of the media report about the festival:
Why this festival?
"The festival aims to awaken curiosity about other cultures and bring people closer together through dance and art, regardless of age, nationality, or skin color," says Evelyne Krüger-Maitrel about her concept for Body-Art-Culture. Together with director Isabella Freilinger, the festival became a reality: "We wanted to inspire people to awaken their own creativity, to think outside the box, and to engage in exchange with each other."
Dance, Cinema & Conversations
For two days, people danced around the world with workshops in contemporary dance, hip-hop, combo dance, Afro-Caribbean jazz, and classical ballet. Throughout the day, music from many eras and countries filled the Citizen's Hall, ranging from European classical to American jazz, Caribbean rhythms, and Latin beats. Dancers Médelice Ode-Krüger Maitrel, Katharina Geyer, and Evelyne Krüger-Maitrel introduced the enthusiastic audience to their individual styles of dance. In the evenings, the "creative cinema" was something special. Here, it was about both interaction and exchange among the audience, as well as collectively watching films.
Enthusiastic Audience
"We are finally really talking to each other again. There are so few spaces for real exchange," says Susanne, a press officer from Heidelberg. "I traveled from Berlin specifically for the festival. My friends and I immediately asked if there will be more events like this? We would come back right away!" says Felicitas, a doctoral student.
The audience comprised people of all age groups, from families with children to seniors. Among them is Vivienne: "I had certain expectations. But my expectations were already exceeded." "People here care about community, and you can feel it," beams Helga, an entrepreneur. "Just an incredibly beautiful weekend!" concludes Lawen, an actor.
Dance Workshops from Various Cultures
In line with the festival's name, these were not just dance classes but rather dance journeys. Participants learned about the fundamentals of certain figures and movements in the respective dances, but above all about their cultural origins. According to professional dancer and dance teacher Katharina Geyer, the atmosphere in the workshops was "first-class." There were up to 30 participants per workshop.
Creative Cinema Evenings
The creative cinema evenings were something very special. The film could wait; first, under the guidance of Isabella Freilinger, the participants exchanged thoughts on the themes of the short films that would be shown later, and got to know each other better. From the beginning, deep topics were discussed, no small talk. Listening was just as important as sharing one's own experiences with the themes. Before they knew it, they were immersed in the film. Through the preceding exchange of experiences, the films were perceived much more personally.
In "Sound of You," members of the Deutsche Stadtphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz meet other people from Ludwigshafen for a "blind date." In the first part of Tyfanie and Daniel, questions such as "What is home," "What drives you," and "What gives you the strength to get up and keep going?" were discussed.
The four already highly acclaimed short films "Dancing with Monsters," "Water Wings," "A Few More things to Dislike you," and "Muse" also addressed central themes such as "What can creativity achieve," "What is fear," "How far does despair go," and "How long does true friendship last?"
After the films, the audience was not left alone with these themes. During the subsequent panel discussion, the audience could ask all their questions directly to the filmmakers. This included both questions about the content and about the background of the respective films. The discussion was moderated by Mirko Vianello.
"We wanted to try something new," says Thorsten Hupperts and Mirko Vianello from the board of the neighborhood association. "And it paid off!" The concept of Evelyne Krüger-Maitrel (choreographer and director of the Académie de Ballet Heidelberg) and Isabella Freilinger (author, director, and actress) was gratefully accepted by the Bahnstadtverein.