Half-Virtual And Half As Long

Text: Elena Philipp

A summer without festivals? Almost, but not quite. Tanz im August, Berlin’s international dance festival, will be presented in a partly digital, partly analog festival version, which was still being worked on when this issue of tanzraumberlin went online. Something that has already been decided upon at the end of June: International artistic approaches will be presented online; the contributions will be created especially for the Berlin festival – a job opportunity for artists who have been hard hit by the pandemic restrictions. An international conference in cooperation with European festival partners will also take place online; the topic will probably be the consequences following the Coronavirus pandemic. At selected shows in public space, spectators will have the opportunity to meet each other live, but while employing the necessary safe distancing, of course. Renowned names are being discussed, but nothing can be revealed just yet. In the temporarily empty WAU Wirtshaus am Ufer, the Bibliothek im August library will be set up. Details of the adapted festival schedule will be published between mid-July and the beginning of August. While nothing can truly replace the real thing, even a little bit of festival is better than a summer without any at all.