The Acker Stadt Palast in Berlin's Mitte district is a place where established artists and newcomers meet to experiment and reflect upon contemporary discourses. The focus of the venue, established in 2012, is on the connection between contemporary dance and new music. The Acker Stadt Palast offers the independent sector a novel interface between these art forms while also being interested in diverse aesthetic forms of dance and theatre.

The initiative ACUD MACHT NEU operates three spaces at Kunsthaus ACUD: the Club, Studio and Gallery. The aim is to offer room for discourse, exchange and experimental artistic formats. The program is developed by a team of creatives, curators, filmmakers and authors. Fundamentally, the programming is open to submissions. The criteria is their quality and relevance.

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The ACUD Theatre is a place for young, innovative and diverse theatre, building bridges between acting, dance, performing art, clowning and puppetry. As an independent theatre, it supports national and international theatre pieces by young groups and solo artists. Each year around 120 performances take place in the 70-seat theatre, around 90% of them new productions, Berlin premieres or world premieres.

ACUD MACHT NEU is an art collective based in Berlin. In 2014, the initiative saved the Kunsthaus ACUD from bankruptcy and has since set in motion interdisciplinary projects on the intersection of art, music, performance and digital media in their spaces Studio, Club and Gallery.

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Created in order to provide space for artists in a post-gentried environment, 2 OG is an experimental center for independent culture production in Alte Münze in Berlin Mitte. 2 OG allows independent culture production free from commercial pressures and concentrates on interdisciplinary ideas for a better future, city and society.

The Astrid Lindgren stage team is indebted to its namesake's credo: as an homage to the world-famous Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002), Swedish author of children's and youngsters' books, our performances whisk the young audience away into a fantasy world full of adventure, poetry and music. Just like the singers and actors on stage, the whole team wants to encourage the children to be themselves and follow their fantasies and curiosity freely. The Astrid Lindgren stage has 559 seats and hosts a range of musical, dance and puppet shows but predominantly puts on its own repertory interpretations of Lindgren classics such as "Pippi Longstocking" and "Mio, My Son", or Otfried Preußler's "Little Aquarius".

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ausland is an independent venue for music, film, literature, performance and other artistic endeavours. We also offer our infrastructure for artists and projects for rehearsals, recordings, and workshops, as well as a number of residencies. Inaugurated in 2002, ausland is run by a collective of volunteers (= ausländers): Artists themselves and/or culture & DIY-enthusiasts from different backgrounds and countries. Our genre-spanning programme is curated through the individual initiative of ausländers or in cooperation with external partners in the independent arts scene or institutions in Berlin and from abroad.

We have the freedom to host any formats and artists which we deem exciting and interesting without regard to commercial interests or hypes and trends. The program is partly structured by long running series focussing on specific artistic (sub-)genres.

Located in the souterrain of a formerly squatted, currently collectively owned house and rooted in the 1990's squatters subculture of Berlin we do not bridge but are the gap between underground and mainstream, DIY-subculture and the art establishment.

Events at ausland are often realized without a budget, in other words they are made possible through volunteer efforts with the artists receiving only the takings from the door. Some of the events hosted at ausland receive project related funding from various partners for whose support we are grateful.
 

Since its re-opening as a trans-local theatre by Shermin Langhoff in 2008, Ballhaus Naunynstraße is a focal point for artists who in the majority position themselves as migrants or post-migrants. In recent years the search for new aesthetic and content-related impulses at Ballhaus induced a discourse on post-migrant cultural production which has had a lasting impact on the German-speaking theatre scene.

Wagner Carvalho is the new director at Ballhaus Naunynstraße (together with Tunçay Kulaoglu from the season 12/13 until november 2014). Carvalho had a determining influence on the artistic practice at Ballhaus right from the start, and, being pioneer of post-migrant artistic production, he represents continuity and diversification of content-related and aesthetic perspectives. He is not only dedicated to the continuation of post-migrant narratives but also set new priorities through focusing on diverse perspectives and positions like blackness, queerness or gender.

The promotion of young artists and the aim of creating new fields for experimentation for innovative artistic approaches by young talents within the akademie der autodiktaten is another important focus of work at Ballhaus Naunynstraße.

Ballhaus Ost is a production space for independent theatre, performance and dance.
Located in the former celebration and assembly hall of a Berlin Free Church Community, built in 1907, Ballhaus Ost cooperates with groups and artists from all fields of the performing arts, including well established groups and artists as well as newcomers and so far not well known participants of the independent theater scene.
As an experimental stage for various forms of contemporary theatre, Ballhaus Ost invites to experience and discover new ways of artistic debates with today's reality of life.

Before the venue was reestablished as theatre, in the GDR, the ballroom was used as „Casino des Handwerks“, after the breakdown oft he wall it was a pool hall and a night club. Ballhaus Ost was established by the directors Uwe-Moritz Eichler, Philipp Reuter and the actress Anne Tismer in 2006. Since 2011 Daniel Schrader and Tina Pfurr have been the artistic directors.

Ballhaus Prinzenallee is a venue for theater, dance, performance, music and community projects. The artistic programming brings a variety of forms together that deal with current societal topics and concentrates especially on interdisciplinary projects. The programming calls classical production methods into question, turns them on their head or interprets them anew. As a partner for local theater and dance artists, Ballhaus Prinzenallee provides space for artistic research and collaborative work. Ballhaus Prinzenallee concentrates on its in-house productions and works with artists and theaters for their productions as well.

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The Brotfabrik Bühne (Bread Factory Theatre) in the Weissensee district of Berlin is an independent venue for touring shows and co-productions from Berlin's independent scene as well as national and international groups. The programme, comprising around 300 performances a year, evidence a diverse range of forms and genres, from plays, performance, dance and musical theatre to improvisation, puppet and object theatre. Young artists and groups regularly perform in the 40-80 seat auditorium alongside established theatre makers. Another focus of the programme is the productions for children.

The Centre Français de Berlin (CFB) is a french-german cultural centre in Berlin-Wedding with many different activities in the fields of education, youth and professional mobility. The cultural office has been developing an artistic programme in cooperation with partners from the independent scene in Berlin for several years. Furthermore, the CFB is a local actor in Wedding-Mitte, which, together with its residents and partners, works against discrimination, for sustainable development, for strengthening social coexistence and common projects in a context that is shaped by diversity. The CFB is also involved in professional integration as well as in intercultural learning and exchange.

The CHAMÄLEON Theater in Berlin Mitte stands for contemporary circus - a comparatively young form of the performing arts between acrobatics, dance, music and theater. Since 2004, the CHAMÄLEON has presented innovative international circus productions that question expectations and nourish our understanding of what circus is and what circus can be.

Circus Schatzinsel is a new circus in, with and for Berlin. Amidst the hustle and bustle of Kreuzberg, there is a circus tent where professional circus artists within Berlin as well as members of the international circus community can rehearse in the mornings and where children and young people can learn and create productions in the afternoon through circus education projects and classes. Circus Schatzinsel is an international place of exchange, inspiration and creative togetherness.

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The Wiesenburg is a cultural center in Berlin Wedding. With several studios, workshop spaces, recording and rehearsal rooms, as well as rooms used for events, festivals and exhibitions, the Wiesenburg remains as a place of art and culture in Wedding.

DOCK 11 EDEN ***** combines the areas of production, pedagogy and presentation in contemporary Dance spatially as well as structurally . Two places - DOCK11 at Kastanienallee and EDEN***** at Breite Straße in Pankow - offer over 90 courses for children, young people and adults from beginners to professionals. The long-standing success and the high quality of the weekly changing stage program has established DOCK11 EDEN ***** within the Berlin Theater, dance and art landscape. Main focus is the dance with further genre such as theater, film, performance, literature, fine arts and design. POOL Internationales Tanzfilmfestival takes place annually with over 600 submissions. POOL also offers portfolio courses in Videodance which are funded by the EU. In several studios in both places, national and international artists and companies of different divisions are producing their work; Furthermore different events such as the Healing Arts Festival AGAPE ZOE take place. Other festivals are Lithuania dance, Jerusalem meets Berlin, Hungarian dance Week, B!

DOCK ART, the performance space at DOCK 11, is part of Berlin's diverse theater landscape. As a permanent venue, the theater hall with up to 99 seats exists since 1998, successfully presenting a weekly changing stage program for more than 20 years. Its program focuses on dance, but theater, film, performance, literature, visual arts and design are also being curated. Important festivals include the international dance film festival POOL, MASH Dance Berlin, a joint festival with Machol Schalem Dance House in Jerusalem, B12, SoundDance, PLATAFORMA, SpeeDance and UN/polished a cooperation with Muzeum Susch / Switzerland. From 2020-23 DOCK ART receives concept funding from the Cultural Administration for Culture and Europe in the State of Berlin.

English Theatre Berlin | International Performing Arts Center is the German capital's only producing and presenting organization in the Hauptstadt expressly dedicated to English, the 21st century lingua franca, as the working language, as a bridge between cultures, countries and traditions. The theater collaborate with both English native speakers and non-native speakers in order to achieve a continuous exchange between artists of different backgrounds who mutually inspire and influence each other to create something new together.

The year-round programming comprises the Producing Series - Made in Berlin (in-house productions), the Presenting Series (selected international productions and work from Berlin's independent performing arts community), as well as the Performing Series (concerts, comedy and more from Berlin's English performing arts community) and Pedagogy Series (cultural and drama education).

The theater is a member of Berlin's freie Szene, the independent performing arts community, and is currently developing platforms to share the work within Germany and abroad. It consciously use theater and performance as living, discursive forms to bring artists and audiences into conversation with each other about our shared city and the greater world we live in.

The theater is located in the F40 Künstlerhöfe (F40 artists’ courtyard), a beautiful courtyard housing numerous studios and galleries, originally constructed as a brewery. It is part of the vibrant Bergmann Kiez, one of Berlin’s most popular neighborhoods and home to countless restaurants, cafés, bars and shops.

For more than 20 years, Expedition Metropolis (ExMe) has been on a voyage of discovery with plays, workshops and research laboratories. As a community theatre, it gathers seekers, learners and creators in equal measure and develops diverse, cross-generational and cross-cultural projects for people who want to participate. The diversity of languages, forms of expression, perspectives and experiences of its artists and audience are the most important impulse and drive for ExMe's dialogue-based theatre work. In this way, a diverse mix gives rise to numerous opportunities to find out in joint artistic production and experience: Who am I? What do I want? What can I do?

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Figurentheater Grashüpfer is a small, intimate performance venue in the middle of Treptower Park. Since 1997, up to 16,000 visitors have found their way to the cozy venue each year. Over fifty puppet theater solo artists and groups have now performed on the Grashüpfer stage. They realize their productions with marionettes, shadow or stick puppets, with tradition hand puppets or state-of-the-art free animation of objects.

Fliegendes Theater is a modern figure theater in Berlin. Since its founding in 1978, the theater has produced more than 40 plays for children and adults and has directed productions of other theaters. The multi-media productions are a combination of straightforward acting with puppets and objects, projections and live music. They tour regularly in Germany and the "rest of the world". "Die Mondtücher" (2006) and "Das Höhlenkind" (2016) was presended with the IKARUS Award in Berlin.

The Galli Theater Berlin is a popular place for art, culture and encounters in the center of the capital. It is located in the charming ambience of the creative quarter HECKMANN HÖFE, right next to the Jewish synagogue in Berlin-Mitte. The Galli Theater is an integral part of Berlin's cultural landscape and has established itself as a Berlin cabaret stage. The 100-seat stage features comedies and award-winning evening plays penned by founder Johannes Galli. For 30 years, the Galli Theater has also offered play space for children and young people with fairy tale performances, prevention theater for day-care centers and schools and the Galli Children's Theater School.

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The Halle Tanzbühne Berlin is the production and performance venue of the cie. toula limnaios and its guests. In 2000, choreographer Toula Limnaios and composer Ralf R. Ollertz established a rehearsal space of their own in the protected historical building, which has since also become a workplace for a large number of other artists. In 2003, the Halle Tanzbühne became a self-financed theater and has since established an international reputation for itself as an important venue for contemporary dance.

The Halle Tanzbühne Berlin and cie. toula limnaios present dance, which keenly, critically and bravely takes a stand for humankind, made by and for humankind.

HAU Hebbel am Ufer, with its three venues HAU1, HAU2 und HAU3 and the digital stage HAU4 is a paragon of current artistic positions at the interface of theatre, dance and performance. In addition, music, visual art and theoretical debates are a constant component of the wide-ranging programme. Since 2012 under the direction of Annemie Vanackere and her team, HAU is one of the most highly regarded and well-connected of international production houses. Both co-productions and touring productions by renowned artists and groups from all over the world are produced and shown here, as well as projects coming from the German and Berlin independent theatre and dance scenes. HAU provides production and touring management for selected artists. HAU stands for innovative formats that frequently attract attention far beyond Berlin, and provides impulse and inspiration for other art and culture producers. Festivals and thematic focal points are also a part of the programme, as is the Houseclub, especially targeting young people, where artists and students regularly work together side by side. With artist talks, introductions for groups and cooperation projects, HAU to connect creates a variety of connections. In addition, HAU Hebbel am Ufer puts on one of Europe’s most renowned dance festival every year, “Tanz im August”.

HAU Hebbel am Ufer operates three stages in three neighboring houses as well as one digital stage: HAU1 is a Art Nouveau building from 1908. The auditorium has 2 tiers with around 550 seats. The HAU2 and the HAU3 are black box stages with a capacity of 200 and 100 seats. The digital stage HAU4 can be reached at www.HAU4.de

HAU Hebbel am Ufer, with its three venues HAU1, HAU2 und HAU3 and the digital stage HAU4 is a paragon of current artistic positions at the interface of theatre, dance and performance. In addition, music, visual art and theoretical debates are a constant component of the wide-ranging programme. Since 2012 under the direction of Annemie Vanackere and her team, HAU is one of the most highly regarded and well-connected of international production houses. Both co-productions and touring productions by renowned artists and groups from all over the world are produced and shown here, as well as projects coming from the German and Berlin independent theatre and dance scenes. HAU provides production and touring management for selected artists. HAU stands for innovative formats that frequently attract attention far beyond Berlin, and provides impulse and inspiration for other art and culture producers. Festivals and thematic focal points are also a part of the programme, as is the Houseclub, especially targeting young people, where artists and students regularly work together side by side. With artist talks, introductions for groups and cooperation projects, HAU to connect creates a variety of connections. In addition, HAU Hebbel am Ufer puts on one of Europe’s most renowned dance festival every year, “Tanz im August”.

HAU Hebbel am Ufer operates three stages in three neighboring houses as well as one digital stage: HAU1 is a Art Nouveau building from 1908. The auditorium has 2 tiers with around 550 seats. The HAU2 and the HAU3 are black box stages with a capacity of 200 and 100 seats. The digital stage HAU4 can be reached at www.HAU4.de

HAU Hebbel am Ufer, with its three venues HAU1, HAU2 und HAU3 and the digital stage HAU4 is a paragon of current artistic positions at the interface of theatre, dance and performance. In addition, music, visual art and theoretical debates are a constant component of the wide-ranging programme. Since 2012 under the direction of Annemie Vanackere and her team, HAU is one of the most highly regarded and well-connected of international production houses. Both co-productions and touring productions by renowned artists and groups from all over the world are produced and shown here, as well as projects coming from the German and Berlin independent theatre and dance scenes. HAU provides production and touring management for selected artists. HAU stands for innovative formats that frequently attract attention far beyond Berlin, and provides impulse and inspiration for other art and culture producers. Festivals and thematic focal points are also a part of the programme, as is the Houseclub, especially targeting young people, where artists and students regularly work together side by side. With artist talks, introductions for groups and cooperation projects, HAU to connect creates a variety of connections. In addition, HAU Hebbel am Ufer puts on one of Europe’s most renowned dance festival every year, “Tanz im August”.

HAU Hebbel am Ufer operates three stages in three neighboring houses as well as one digital stage: HAU1 is a Art Nouveau building from 1908. The auditorium has 2 tiers with around 550 seats. The HAU2 and the HAU3 are black box stages with a capacity of 200 and 100 seats. The digital stage HAU4 can be reached at www.HAU4.de

HAU Hebbel am Ufer, with its three venues HAU1, HAU2 und HAU3 and the digital stage HAU4 is a paragon of current artistic positions at the interface of theatre, dance and performance. In addition, music, visual art and theoretical debates are a constant component of the wide-ranging programme. Since 2012 under the direction of Annemie Vanackere and her team, HAU is one of the most highly regarded and well-connected of international production houses. Both co-productions and touring productions by renowned artists and groups from all over the world are produced and shown here, as well as projects coming from the German and Berlin independent theatre and dance scenes. HAU provides production and touring management for selected artists. HAU stands for innovative formats that frequently attract attention far beyond Berlin, and provides impulse and inspiration for other art and culture producers. Festivals and thematic focal points are also a part of the programme, as is the Houseclub, especially targeting young people, where artists and students regularly work together side by side. With artist talks, introductions for groups and cooperation projects, HAU to connect creates a variety of connections. In addition, HAU Hebbel am Ufer puts on one of Europe’s most renowned dance festival every year, “Tanz im August”.

HAU Hebbel am Ufer operates three stages in three neighboring houses as well as one digital stage: HAU1 is a Art Nouveau building from 1908. The auditorium has 2 tiers with around 550 seats. The HAU2 and the HAU3 are black box stages with a capacity of 200 and 100 seats. The digital stage HAU4 can be reached at www.HAU4.de

In 2009 the theatre company Heimathafen Neukölln launched a new folk theatre in Berlin´s most multi-cultural district Neukölln. With the motto "We are the people's theatre" and a diverse program of theatre productions, concerts, lectures and new show formats, Heimathafen Neukölln has given the district of Neukölln a new lively voice – made up by a crossover of styles, genres and cultures.

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Hotel Continental - Art Space in Exile is a project to support refuge-seeking artists from Ukraine and other countries where people suffer from war and prosecution. It offers spaces to create and show your creative work, a platform to connect to the Berlin audience and a network for artistic cooperation and exchange.

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The K77 is a small studio and venue in Prenzlauer Berg in a formerly occupied house, which still exists today as a house project. The studio is known for the first contact jams, establishing itself as CI in Berlin. The bearer of the studio is a non-profit association whose active members are involved in the program. The studio acts as both a place to teach; regular classes and workshops, weekly CI Jam and Open Morning, rehearsal space, residencies and as a stage and venue where artists have the opportunity to present their works.

It has a wide networking and works in cooperation with Ponderosa, the Lichtblick Kino, the Proberaumplattform Berlin, the Tanzscout Berlin and the Tanzraum Berlin.

Katalpult is a studio for the contemporary performing arts in Berlin. It is organized by and for artists and is agile as well as flexible with a do-it-yourself mentality: it offers residencies, workshops and open training sessions for artists, aerial artists, culture makers and self-starters. Katapult is also a venue for cultural events, photo shoots and video productions.

Katapult is dedicated to the further development of the performing arts in Berlin and beyond. Its doors are open for everyone who wants to continue to train themselves and create something new - regardless of whether they are amateurs or pros.

Photo (C) Jörn Hartmann

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LAKE Studios Berlin is a shared living and dance production space for 9 diverse residents (short and long term). They are primarily freelance movement artists working in diverse styles and methods of dance, yet there is a constant reflection which takes place between them daily; in form of dinner conversations, showings/discussions and other methods of exchange. 

The studios have existed as an artist run community living and dance space since May of 2013. Along with the two sprung wooden floor studios, there are diverse facilities alongside one another including a large garden, a wood workshop for set and prop building, sewing machines, a media lab/library, as well as some technical equipment -- such as a beamer, theater light set up, piano, cameras, mixer, and sound system. The space is unique because of its calm and concentrated working atmosphere as well as the friendly community of artists supporting the creation of work. Opportunities for showings are organized monthly, as well as professional trainings and curated workshops to support the movement of ideas and choreographic research.

Born in 2011 somewhere in the core of Berlin Friedrichshain, Liebig12 is an atelier & community oriented initiative run by Allegra Solitude in collaboration with numerous and diverse local and international actors. Inspired by empirical approaches, Liebig12 acts as a cross disciplinary laboratory encouraging the exchange between artists, curators, researchers, cultural activists & flaneurs. A work-in-progress Wunderkammer within a private & public identity, individual & collective, interacting within its surrounding social-urban context.

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As a free stage, we want to be host to a wide variety of national and international groups and artists. We stand for event series that offer the creative cultural scene a platform to present it to a diverse audience and to help shape social discourse through our panels and networking events. Our doors are open to interested artists who want to actively shape our space through their projects.

We offer a place for bold and contemporary actors from all performing arts disciplines. In the future, our multilingual and interdisciplinary theater program will be joined by poetry slams, impro programs, workshops and panels, as well as talks on socially relevant topics.

Berlin's fourth Opera House is unique in the diverse cultural scene of the capital and looks back on a productivity of 220 world premieres and debut performances in all genres in only 40 years. The Neukölln Opera is market leader and trademark for a vital, committed, and “deviced” musical theatre – opera is more than new productions of a known and limited repertory to which a few new commissioned works are occasionally added. The Opera is living proof that musical theatre can and needs to be self-made in order to bring our own life experience and subject-matters onto the stage, thus making mutual experience and exchange possible. 

As mentioned above, a theatre of that kind is a unique trendsetter in the operatic landscape of Berlin and Germany that is rich with forms, institutions, and subsidy. While the institutions commit themselves to answering the unchanging questions – meaning the interpretation of known works -, the Neukölln Opera goes the other way, asking new questions (inventing new pieces) and toying with possible answers.

Oyoun conducts sociocultural and artistic perspectives that emphasize neurodiverse and class-critical perspectives throughout Berlin and internationally with the goal of creating an intersectional platform for excellent diasporic, migrant and international art and culture. Intersectionality is an essential guiding principle for Oyoun and a practice it lives by, as can be seen in its artistic and sociocultural programming. In its programming, a wide variety of lived realities and their artistic and cultural forms of expression are made visible and empowered. Oyoun is a place that supports an artistic dialogue on topics that are relevant locally, nationally and internationally.

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Q Space is a physical arts space for circus, dance, martial arts and bodywork. The aim is to provide a place for technique, creativity and self-development to flourish.

It was started in 2017 by Howard Katz and Liz Williams in order to create a home for their artistic projects and partners. Since then, Q Space has developed in wonderful ways. It is the home of Q Kids Circus, a children's Circus Program serving over 150 children with the opportunity to learn physically, mentally, socially and creatively. Q-Culture eV offers evening courses for adults in aerial acrobatics, yoga, dance and Feldenkrais. Q Space provides rehearsal and performance space for professional circus artists and performers and is the home of MAD Projects- Music Acrobatics Dance, a Berlin based Performance Company, working in the genres of circus, dance, music, theater and media.

Since its opening in September 2006, Radialsystem V has established itself on an international scale as a privately funded, innovative space for artistic encounters. It sees itself not only as an event location, which offers its spaces for performances, but also as a center of creative production for the development of new programs and event concepts. Artistic as well as current social trends, innovations and sentiments are taken up, then brought into dialogue and transmitted into artistic action.

From the beginning, Radialsystem V has been a place for experiments and is recognized worldwide as a pioneer, especially in terms of new performance formats. In 2018/2019, for the first time, Radialsystem V receives infrastructural funding to substantially support the project needs of the independent scene in Berlin.

Commercial renting (conferences, media productions etc.), however, continues to account for the majority of the operational financing. This entails a combination of current developments in art, science, economy and society.

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The Ratibor Theater is the home of Die Gorillas – a 15-person improv ensemble founded in 1997 at the intimate venue in Kreuzberg's Cuvry Str. They perform multiple improvised shows a week in various formats. The Ratibor Theater is also the homebase for Die Gorillas' now world-renowned Impro Festival. The festival is held every spring and invites groups from around the world to share their techniques for and perspectives on improvised theater.

In October 2014 the Ratibor began hosting the Impro Embassy: English-language shows with guest performers on the first tuesday of every month.

As a Senate-sponsored venue for the theater of things, the Schaubude Berlin has become a central platform of the genre and garnered international attention since it was founded in 1993. The programme unites different aesthetic approaches to contemporary puppet, figure and object theatre and presents the work of Berlin-based theatre artists alongside national and international guest productions, especially during the international puppet and object theatre festival Theatre of Things. There is also a strong focus on supporting the next generation of artists, with collaborations with the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts and its Contemporary Puppetry degree programme, a special Young Scene programme section and the international festival for emerging artists in figure theater, Temptation.

In addition to presenting some 300 performances per season in the children’s and evening programmes, as well as staging festivals, the Schaubude Berlin offers a broad range of theatre education activities and discursive formats to teach artistic processes. Beyond this, the theatre also initiates numerous cross-genre encounters and thematic focuses.

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The Sophiensæle is one of the most important locations for German-speaking independent art-production. Artists from Berlin, as well as the national and international theatre-scene are invited to produce and present their works here. They are selected on the basis of their artistic concepts, contents, and working schemes. The theatre is home to cultural discourse and a vast mix of artistic genres – from theatre, dance and music, to performance and visual art - which complement each other and enjoy a productive dialogue.

Alongside many young artists searching for new theatrical languages and forms of expression, a number of established artists and companies have longstanding partnerships with the Sophiensæle.

SPREEHALLE Berlin provides high-voltage art with internationally known musicians from the fields of electronic music to jazz and all the way to the contemporary avant-garde. Berlin’s newest production and performance venue for transmedial and intercultural music, art and performing arts electrifies with immersive sound experiences thanks to a 360° sound installation it developed itself and focuses on connections beyond borders - musical, medial and human.

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Studio LaborGras is a forum for artists. Established in Berlin-Kreuzberg since 2002, the studio is a research, production and performance venue for contemporary dance. The studio is used by LaborGras and guests to develop and present their work. Daily training, regular workshops and the Impro on Stage series make up the primary points of encounter for professionals and the public. These exchanges are accompanied by workshop presentations, open rehearsals and performances.

The studio strives to offer artists a venue that corresponds to the current production demands of the independent dance scene. The entire infrastructure: studio, studio stage, foyer area, sound system, lights and lighting system, and computer with internet access, is made available with minimum bureaucratic effort.

LaborGras seeks intensive collaboration with other artists. The nature of each collaboration is newly defined with every project and takes into account the artistic and practical needs of all parties involved. As a production venue that strives for public outreach, the studio is unable to host touring productions in the conventional sense.

Since january 2018 artists and artist collectives kainkollektiv (Bochum), suite42 (Berlin), France-Elena Damian (Berlin) and Anna Koch/Moritz Pankok (tak e.V. Berlin/Mülheim) came together with the shared idea of establishing a collective management model for an independent theater led by several groups on an equal basis; tak Theater Aufbau Kreuzberg. The groups and artists have been consistently developing and fulfilling a myriad of cross-border projects for many years between Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Romania, Syria and the USA as well as with Roma artists with different backgrounds. A part of this process has also been the creation of partnerships with artists who live in Germany in exile, which will be developed further in the new tak.

Tanzfabrik Berlin works as an internationally known centre for Contemporary Dance. It offers space for rehearsals, production, artistic and theoretic research, advanced training, further education, workshops and regular classes. Its main aim is to focus on development, presentation and agency of contemporary dance in all of its diversity of choreographic and performative approaches. This includes the promotion of young artists, the connection of theory and practice and international exchange.

4 studios and an incorporated studio stage in Kreuzberg have accommodated continous artistic and educational practice. The studio stage offers an intimate character and ideal frame for the visualisation of artistic processes. The studios host choreographers, dancers, performers and amateurs and a diverse range of advanced education projects (regular dance classes, performance projects, professional contemporary training, intensive workshops and the 10 month dance intensive programme).

Since 2010 additional spaces in Wedding at Uferstudios (14 studios) offer structural advancement to artistic production. Two new studios, rented by Tanzfabrik Berlin host our artists in residence. The bigger Uferstudio 14 enables more complex presentations. It hosts the yearly program series and the Biennale Tanznacht Berlin.

Tanzfabrik Berlin works as an internationally known centre for Contemporary Dance. It offers space for rehearsals, production, artistic and theoretic research, advanced training, further education, workshops and regular classes. Its main aim is to focus on development, presentation and agency of contemporary dance in all of its diversity of choreographic and performative approaches. This includes the promotion of young artists, the connection of theory and practice and international exchange.

4 studios and an incorporated studio stage in Kreuzberg have accommodated continous artistic and educational practice. The studio stage offers an intimate character and ideal frame for the visualisation of artistic processes. The studios host choreographers, dancers, performers and amateurs and a diverse range of advanced education projects (regular dance classes, performance projects, professional contemporary training, intensive workshops and the 10 month dance intensive programme).

Since 2010 additional spaces in Wedding at Uferstudios (14 studios) offer structural advancement to artistic production. Two new studios, rented by Tanzfabrik Berlin host our artists in residence. The bigger Uferstudio 14 enables more complex presentations. It hosts the yearly program series and the Biennale Tanznacht Berlin.

TANZKOMPLIZEN is the first performance and production venue in Berlin that exclusively and continuously brings dance for young audiences to the stage. In Podewil in Berlin-Mitte, TANZKOMPLIZEN develops new productions in a variety of dance genres with international choreographers, presents guest performances and pieces from the repertory and includes all productions in interactive dance education formats.

Tatwerk | Performative Forschung is a production centre and studio for the performing arts in Berlin. The artistic research focus in physical theatre, dance and performance with a particular attention to interdisciplinary projects. Tatwerk is a crossing point for artists who chose the body as material and the research as a tool for their work. The work consists in offering an artisic exchange platform for ideas, artistic practices and projects.

The main interest of Tatwerk concentrates on multidisciplinary, political and poetic projects in the field of the performing arts. It is particulary interested in the research of thematic and aestheitc tension fields beween different artistic, social and scientific disciplines. The resulting program consisting of classes, workshops and performance projects is completed by events and festivals where chosen artists present their work in form of previews, work in progress or ready productions. Furthermore, Tatwerk offers support in technical questions, in the production and PR. It opens our network and activate new, unexpected connections.

Tatwerk | Performative Forschung responds to the need of many artists for an open space and pursues long term work relationships.

TD Berlin is a theater in the middle of the city, centrally located between Alexanderplatz and the Spree river. It features programming that alternates weekly, consisting of new productions and performances that work with current societal topics. TD Berlin presents well over 30 different theater productions and related formats each year. As a production location, TD Berlin is an important partner for independent companies and artists within local, national and international networks. TD Berlin cooperates with professional theater makers and talented newcomers to develop their projects. The focus of the programming rests on the further development of contemporary spoken word theater as well as on festival and city-related outdoor events.

Since 2006 we have been doing children's theater in Berlin-Friedrichshain. The name is program: "the small form". In our inviting, family rooms we can accommodate 50 spectators. The initiator, Evelyn Geller, has fulfilled a dream with this theater, which she had since her puppetry studies at the Academy of Dramatic Arts "Ernst Busch". Our actors excel in sizes ranging from 20 cm to 2 m in plays written for viewers over the age of 3, and in such a way that even adults can enjoy it. We prefer modern fairy tales and texts, such as "The Very Unfriendly Crocodile" by Faustin Charles, or "Circus Schardam" by Daniil Charms. For more than 20 years we have been playing for this "most demanding and sensitive and critical audience", as the writer Franz Fühmann called the children's audience. During the week we play in the morning for day-care and school groups and on weekends for family audiences. In addition to our own repertoire guests and colleagues appear on us, so that we can present a diverse and varied program.

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The Delphi is a former silent movie theater from the year 1929 that has been reopened as an international center for art and culture. As a production and performance venue, the theater offers a unique place for performing arts productions of all kinds, with excellent acoustics and breathtaking aesthetics. The artistic leadership of Per Aspera focuses on music theater and site-specific projects.

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Theater im Kino (nord) was opened at the end of 2006 and, thanks to its location, offers excellent accessibility to its audience. Since its opening, the performance venue has established itself as a place for encounters for the residents of the district. TIK nord has also assigned itself the task of serving the cultural life of the surrounding area. Alongside theater performances, the schedule of programming is also full of readings, concerts and parties.

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Theater Jaro is a theatre for children between two and nine and their families. All of Jaro's plays are written and produced by the theatre's proprietors themselves. The theatre group has had its own facilities since 2011. Jaro's repertoire comprises 15 plays, among them the classic "A Dinosaur in the Fridge", which has already been watched by 156,000 children. The plays combine the performance of actors and puppets in delightful and funny plays which are highly visual and contain lots of catchy original songs sung live on stage, many accompanied by on-stage musical instruments. Performances are in the afternoon on weekends as well as in the morning on weekdays, which is especially suitable for daycare and school groups. The theatre also has a café and toys for playing before and after the shows.

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The Theater o.N. is an almost 40-year old association of actors and puppeteers, directors, musicians and writers. Founded in 1979/80 under the name Zinnober, it was the first independent theater in the former GDR. Since 2010 the theater located at the famous Kollwitzplatz is focusing on the exploration and advancement of theater for audiences 2 years and up. Since 2013 it is presenting the biannual “FRATZ International: Encounters – Symposium - Festival for the Very Young”. Since 2016 the regional 0-6-festival „Berlin Showcase“ is completing the program for young audiences.

In addition the theater is developing productions with children and teenagers in socially disadvantaged areas. The program for adults is dedicated to new play development using the methods of biographical theater and puppet theater.

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Founded in 1987 as an independent theatre group, Strahl has performed on two permanent stages in Berlin-Schöneberg since the end of the 1999s and has an additional venue, STRAHL.Halle Ostkreuz since 2013. Strahl offers guest performances all through Germany and aboard, is invited to children’s and youth theatre festivals and is regularly nominated for and awarded theatre prizes. Strahl provides space for new artistic formats and ideas, plays with media, music and masks, abducts the audience in the interaction, combines dance with theatre and produces modern versions of classics.

Since 2013, Strahl has produced contemporary dance pieces for young audiences with international artists. Dance productions are a fixed part of repertory. The piece and programming developed by STRAHL are intended for audiences ages 12 and up and provide an access point to theatre for first timers. Young people are included into the play selection and development. The realities of their lives are explored on stage in a wide variety of aesthetic forms.

Founded in 1987 as an independent theatre group, Strahl has performed on two permanent stages in Berlin-Schöneberg since the end of the 1999s and has an additional venue, STRAHL.Halle Ostkreuz since 2013. Strahl offers guest performances all through Germany and aboard, is invited to children’s and youth theatre festivals and is regularly nominated for and awarded theatre prizes. Strahl provides space for new artistic formats and ideas, plays with media, music and masks, abducts the audience in the interaction, combines dance with theatre and produces modern versions of classics.

Since 2013, Strahl has produced contemporary dance pieces for young audiences with international artists. Dance productions are a fixed part of repertory. The piece and programming developed by STRAHL are intended for audiences ages 12 and up and provide an access point to theatre for first timers. Young people are included into the play selection and development. The realities of their lives are explored on stage in a wide variety of aesthetic forms.

Founded in 1987 as an independent theatre group, Strahl has performed on two permanent stages in Berlin-Schöneberg since the end of the 1999s and has an additional venue, STRAHL.Halle Ostkreuz since 2013. Strahl offers guest performances all through Germany and aboard, is invited to children’s and youth theatre festivals and is regularly nominated for and awarded theatre prizes. Strahl provides space for new artistic formats and ideas, plays with media, music and masks, abducts the audience in the interaction, combines dance with theatre and produces modern versions of classics.

Since 2013, Strahl has produced contemporary dance pieces for young audiences with international artists. Dance productions are a fixed part of repertory. The piece and programming developed by STRAHL are intended for audiences ages 12 and up and provide an access point to theatre for first timers. Young people are included into the play selection and development. The realities of their lives are explored on stage in a wide variety of aesthetic forms.

Theater Thikwa is one of the outstanding integrative theaters in the German-speaking world. These pioneers of inclusion celebrated their 25-year anniversary in 2016. Artists with and without officially recognized disabilities create dance and spoken-word performances in which comedy meets the experimental. The foundation of this "miracle of stage" (newspaper „Der Tagesspiegel“) is the first training center in Germany where the performing and visual arts can be chosen as a profession within a workshop for the differently-abled. Theater Thikwa engages to a very large extent with the particular personalities of its ensemble members. Adequate forms for the artistic expression are sought and developed. Thikwa is in constant touch with all kind of artists. Artistic exchange is being on continuously in Germany as well as internationally by collaboration, co-producing and intercultural projects.

Thikwa is also regularly invited to festivals, one-off performances, workshops and conferences throughout the world. The home base of this singular theatre company is F40 in Kreuzberg - the first completely barrier-free theatre in Berlin.

The Theater unterm Dach is a production and performance location for theater projects produced within the independent performing arts community and thus does not have a permanent ensemble. The support of the next generation of directors as the constituting moment of work has been received by the public, both in the world of professionals as well as by “normal” theatergoers, with a great deal of resonance and esteem. Numerous prizes and invitations to festivals attest to the continuous, high-quality work.

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Theaterhaus Berlin Mitte has been the central production location and communication platform for independent performing artists in Berlin for 26 years. It was founded as Theaterprobenhaus on Rosenthaler Straße in 1992. The goal was to support independent theater makers by offering inexpensive rehearsal spaces. After several interim locations, Theaterhaus Berlin Mitte has been located on Wallstraße since 2009.

With its 24 rehearsal rooms, Theaterhaus Mitte has been a central production location and communication platform for the independent performing arts in Berlin for nearly 30 years. With the new location in Schöneweide, currently being used provisionally, an additional “theater house” will join it, with plans to make 36 rehearsal stages available after extensive renovations. Work has been being conducted intensely here since 2021.

Theaterhaus Berlin is a project of the cultural initiative Förderband gGmbH and is funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe of the State of Berlin.

ufaFabrik is a public interdisciplinary space for culture in the south of Berlin. Culture, art, ecology and social togetherness have been researched, tested, lived, dream and realized here since 1979. Internationale Kultur Centrum (IKC) ufaFabrik is responsible for its year-round local, national and international schedule of cultural programming on three stages and in the summer garden with an open-air stage that is programmed from June to September.

The Uferstudios for contemporary dance are a rehearsal, event and training venue at the same time - created for and performed by artists from Berlin's independent scene. A varied program, ranging from first work presentations to lectures and discussions, premieres and performances of choreographies and performances to festivals, invites to the 16 studios of the spacious area on the banks of the river Panke.

Photo (c) Markus Rock

UNI.T – the theatre of the Berlin University of the Arts is unlike any other theatre in Berlin.

As the venue of an institution where education in the various theatre-related professions takes center stage, it offers a unique experience for the theatre-goer.

At the College of Performing Arts, degree programmes are offered for aspiring actors, opera, Lied and concert singers, performers in musicals and shows, stage or costume designers, and theatre educators and authors. The theatre provides the students with the invaluable opportunity to practice both on and behind the stage and to present themselves to an audience. In turn the audience gains insight into the education offered at the University of the Arts.

Urbanraum is a space for dance, workshops, performances, rehearsals, and more. Contemporary, open, in Berlin Kreuzberg.

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In 2010, the actors group Lubricat initiated the founding of Vierte Welt at Kottbusser Tor, located in the Neues Zentrum Kreuzberg. Vierte Welt is a production platform organised by the artists themselves, as a performative space of thinking, as a cutting edge between discourse & art and as a location for events. The central aim is the development of new collaborative work situations. Vierte Welt tries to develop a production practice that is based on exchange with other artists and formations out of which “programmes” can emerge. Performances, political plenums, philosopher talks and exhibitions are filled up by the task to learn a new culture of negotiation, questions and an open exchange are enabled.

Villa Elisabeth

Villa Elisabeth, a historical protected building, impresses with its spaciousness. Through a foyer and via a wide staircase with wrought-iron banisters, one reaches the gallery hall. Stuccoed columns and arches support the gallery, the characteristic parquet flooring, half-height wooden panels and heavy double-leaf wooden doors emphasize the historic charm of this carefully renovated ballroom.

As an independent venue, Villa Elisabeth offers space for wide-ranging, curated cultural programming; the focus is placed on contemporary and early music, experimental and cross-disciplinary formats, as well as classical chamber music series, vocal music in smaller ensembles, modern music and dance theater. It also includes experimental performances and young artists' projects.

St. Elisabeth-Church

The St. Elisabeth Church is a place where history is palpable. Its large hall provides an open space for artists and artistic uses of various kinds, right in the city center. It is a place of artistic exploration, of improvisation, concentration and of dialogue between Culture and the Church. Our focus lies primarily in Early Music and Contemporary Classical Music, as well as in contemporary musical, spoken or dance theater, and art, especially in regards to experimental as well as interdisciplinary and multimedia projects. The Church’s park grounds, also a historical monument and a verdant gem in Berlin-Mitte, offer the visitor a place for rest and reflection.

Photos (C) Kultur Büro Elisabeth

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ZK/U seeks to develop projects, co-produce knowledge and share values created through exchanges. ZK/U does not offer a fixed set of ideas and principles for its fellows. Rather, individual projects and needs shape what could be described as a continuous formation. Instead of letting the ‘final product’ constrain the possible routes that a practice might take, ZK/U focuses on the processes that come from, and feed into, the particular contexts of the fellows’ practice, whether they be locally-defined situations or international discourses.