Standing Together in the Eye of the Storm
Shortly before Christmas last year, when dance in Berlin was literally on the brink of disaster due to the cuts that had been announced, the Freelance Dance Ensemble Berlin was founded. The initiators Claire Vivianne Sobottke, Jared Gradinger, Silke Bake, Siegmar Zacharias, Sheena McGrandles, Martin Hansen, Jule Flierl and Laurie Young were keen to make a statement and show politicians how the independent scene works and how these cuts would destroy an entire ecosystem. Their website presents the independent Berlin dance scene as an “ensemble” that stands together in its size and diversity and decisively shapes Berlin’s globally envied cultural scene as a source of inspiration.
Statement from Freelance Dance Ensemble:
The current budget cuts threaten the existence, continuity, and future prospects of freelance performing artists and other cultural workers, their infrastructure, and their venues. With the Freelance Dance Ensemble Berlin, we aim to create visibility for the expertise, local and international relevance, and interconnectedness of the dynamic performing arts landscape in Berlin.
Each project application requires time-consuming preparation, which includes the creation of complex time and budget plans and the careful composition of artistic teams. In the last funding round, only around 5 % of applications for individual project funding were approved. The conditions and amount of funding do not do justice to the qualitative and creative potential of Berlin’s internationally respected contemporary dance / performance art. According to the BFDK system check 2021–23 / TanzAgenda24, 92 % of dance professionals are solo self-employed. A yearly income of around 15.000 € is common.
We demand a restructuring of Berlin’s funding system in dialogue with the performing arts community—a forwardlooking update that fosters a generative future rather than uninspired cuts that undo the progress of the scene.
In addition to reversing the cuts, we call for improved working conditions, including:
● Better (or: adapted) social security provisions.
● Simplified labor market access regulations for foreign artists.
● Continued payment of wages in the event of illness or accidents at work from day 1 and access to unemployment insurance adapted to the complex reality of employment.
● Adequately formulated retirement provision, even in the case of changing employment relationships.
● A commitment from the Berliner Senat to establish sustainable conditions for Berlin based performing artists and the freelance scene to professionalize their infrastructures.
The planned cuts and their unilateral implementation — without consulting the people most affected — are, in our eyes, not only a symptom of ignorance towards our already precarious working conditions but also evidence of a lack of understanding of the complex structures that underpin our work.
These structures are the foundation for our often interdisciplinary, collaborative, and highly engaged political, social, and performative practices. We hereby invite Berlin’s cultural senator and other relevant politicians to engage in a dialogue with us to gain a deeper understanding of how we work and what our work requires to thrive.
Being active and self-employed in the performing arts today means much more than creating stage works, rehearsing and touring. It also includes artistic research, practices of care, social work, education, political work, grant writing, accounting, organizational and production work, continuous learning, teaching, mentoring and management. The drastic defunding of structures — such as the Diversity Fund, or Berlin Mondiale, which cultural workers have built over decades — is an act of destruction and disrespect, particularly toward marginalized groups. However, there are examples of how cultural work can be structured more sustainably. In neighboring countries like France and Belgium, freelance artists have access to the “status d’intermittence”, a system that provides support during periods of unemployment or injury. In an economically strong country like Germany, it is disproportionate that freelance artists work a 40-hour week yet have no prospects of a pension. Artistic expertise is the result of the dedicated work of many people: competent and highly educated teams that support long creation processes and the continuous financial investment in artistic research and work. The city of Berlin and its residents deserve a thriving arts scene and artists who are not trapped in precarity.
In light of these funding cuts, we propose initiating a process to formalize our labor, needs, and rights through the development of a union. This would provide a collective voice for an often solitary and fragmented field.
Three questions to the Freelance Dance Ensemble
1. What was the starting signal to found the Freelance Dance Ensemble?
As an affinity based group, we’d all worked together in different constellations over the course of several years. We had conversations about working structures and of imagining alternatives for a long time. With the impending cuts set to be finalized in December, it was time to come together in a more meaningful way. So we gathered in Silke’s kitchen for an epic brunch.
We decided to take action — to make a bold statement that would highlight to both the public and the politicians how the freelance scene operates and how these cuts would disrupt an entire interdependent ecosystem. Our hope was to create a format that reveals the intricate connections among freelance cultural workers in the dance field — dancers, choreographers, set- and costume designers, musicians, dramaturgs, producers, curators, mediators, and so on. Rather than promoting individual artworks, the focus of our webpage is to present Berlin’s freelance dance scene as an ‘ensemble’ — an ecosystem in its own right. This initiative emerged out of urgency and was developed rapidly, quickly drawing the support of over 200 cultural workers by December 19th.
2. What do you think is special about Berlin’s independent dance scene, and how does urban society benefit from it?
Culture is integral to Berlin’s economy and the city is internationally renowned as a home to artists. It thrives on its subcultures, artist-led initiatives and artistic venues, all shaped by a diverse international dance scene with a wide range of aesthetics, production methods and practices. But what really ties it together is its self-reflective, discursive and critical ways of thinking. We’re trying to work better with one another by establishing inclusive codes of conduct, resource sharing or collective practices. And this is happening despite, or even in spite of, the sense of competition that can arise when transparency and funding is lacking. The scene has grown due to the facts of affordable rent, studio spaces and a city that values culture. But all of this is under threat.
3. What are you planning next?
Since January, we have been a working group within the ZTB e. V. framework, joining forces with other organizations to share our discussions and strengthen our efforts. We are actively reaching out to local, national and international legal frameworks that could offer insights on structural support for freelance dance work in Berlin. We have held two meetings so far and are planning on holding regular monthly gatherings. Our last meeting produced several working groups on topics like: mutual aid, union / association work, political actions and dance funding structures.
How can such a diverse and expansive scene hold its own? How can existing infrastructures like the KSK be improved to better reflect the realities of our working situation? How can we as self-employed workers receive financial support during contract gaps? How can we build productive relationships between artists, funding bodies, venues, art organizations, and cultural workers? What can we learn from choreographic ways of working and thinking?
Our goal is not just to survive, but also to build a thriving, sustainable art scene — one driven by collaboration, not bureaucracy. The Freelance Dance Ensemble Berlin is a long-term initiative addressing both immediate challenges and systemic change. The more of us there are, the stronger we become. Let’s create shared horizons and move beyond the supplicant role.
www.freelancedanceensembleberlin.weebly.com