Programme 2025

Workshops

How is movement created? What inspires artistic work in dance? This year, artists once again opened windows into their working methods and movement practices – and invited you to experience the festival programme first-hand.

For one thing, we again offered a workshop in collaboration with Tanzfabrik Berlin on 23.8. – open to all levels of experience. This year, the workshop was held by choreographer Yara Boustany, whose work “The Valley of Sleep” was shown at the festival.

We were also delighted to have Making a Difference and Berlin Mondiale as new strong partners at our side, whose expertise brought important impulses to the programme.

In collaboration with Making a Difference, we offered both a workshop on 16.8. led by Treacle Holasz (responsible for the production “I am rooted but I flow”) and a workshop held by J Neve Harrington (“Screensaver Series: Sleeper Softwares”). Both were aimed at neurodivergent people and were free of charge.

We were also pleased to be able to offer further free workshops together with Berlin Mondiale. For example, and as part of the production “When the Bleeding Stops”, by Lovísa Ósk Gunnarsdóttir, we invited you to a workshop on the menopause. This workshop also formed the basis for possible participation in the performances of the production in Berlin.

As part of “Outbox Me Battle x Tanz im August”, another workshop by Tanit Cobas invited everyone who wanted to move in the open air on the Tempelhofer Feld on 17.8.

Below you will find all the detailed information.

 

Workshop in the run up to “I am rooted but I flow” with Treacle Holasz

 

"Producing through a Neurodivergent Lense" – Workshop and Conversation on Accessible Producing in the Performing Arts

  • Date: 16.08.2025
  • Location: HAU2 Studio, Hallesches Ufer 34, 10963 Berlin
  • 11:00 Soft Arrival
  • 11:30–13:00 Workshop incl. breaks
  • 13:00 Optional lunch together at WAU

This informal workshop explores what ‘producing’ actually means in the context of dance and the performing arts – and how production processes can be made more inclusive and accessible. Participants can expect open conversations, practical tips and useful templates.

The workshop is especially intended for self-producing artists, emerging producers and experienced producers who are interested in access-based approaches and who identify as disabled or neurodivergent.

The workshop is led by Treacle Holasz (she/her) – a neurodivergent producer based in London. Treacle works freelance as a producer across dance, theatre, contemporary circus, exhibitions, and live events,and is in Berlin with the production “I am rooted but I flow” as part of Tanz im August 2025.

What does the workshop include?

  • An introduction: What does a producer actually do?
  • Shaping communication through a neurodivergent lens
  • Access Riders – templates, what to include, how to share and implement them
  • Budgeting with accessibility in mind – real-world examples from Treacle and her clients
  • Building access into the production – touring logistics: timelines, easy-to-read templates, responsibilities
  • Open discussions and Q&A
  • Optional: Networking lunch

The workshop topics will be explored through a gentle interaction between participants and the workshop facilitator, following this structure:

  • Definition, input, and examples provided by Treacle Holasz
  • Discussion and exchange in pairs or small groups, sketching out helpful approaches for a template

As a result, all aspects of the workshop involve active listening, hands-on engagement and mutual exchange.

The workshop will take place on 16.8.2025 from 11:30 to 13:00 in the HAU2 Studio, Hallesches Ufer 34, 10963 Berlin, and will be held in spoken English. Soft arrival starts at 11:00. An optional lunch together at WAU will follow.

HAU2 Studio is a relaxed space with a variety of seating options including chairs, beanbags, and yoga mats. Just outside the studio is a quieter area with eye masks, headphones and stimming toys. The space is movement-friendly – all forms of movement are welcome. There will be regular breaks. The studio is accessible via elevator.

For detailed access information, please contact Alina Lauer (she/no pronouns) at: access@tanzimaugust.de

Registration for the workshop is no longer possible.

In cooperation with Making a Difference.

TreacleHolasz works both freelance and within teams at larger organisations – including The Place (theatre and outreach teams), the ArtsCross International Arts Festival in collaboration with Middlesex University, Hackney Showroom (productions and family programming), and the Royal Opera House reopening in 2018–19, where she produced and programmed public festivals and events. Since 2019, she has been freelancing in consulting, programming, and creative producing – supporting both large institutions and independent projects or solo artists. On average, she manages 5–7 projects simultaneously. Treacle is passionate about supporting artists and organisations in creating creative spaces that are welcoming to people who don’t feel represented in the traditional arts world or who haven’t had natural access to creative industries.

More about her work and clients can be found at: www.treaclemakes.com/clients

To download the workshop description as a PDF, click here.

Workshop in the run up to “Outbox Me Battle x Tanz im August” with Tanit Cobas

 

“Unleash the Sensitivity” - Workshop by Tanit Cobas

This dance workshop is built around the idea of connection: connecting to our bodies, to the floor beneath us, to the space, the music, and the people around us. It serves as a warm up for both dancers and audience that want to take part in the “Outbox Me Battle x Tanz im August” and it welcomes all levels and body forms. 

We will begin with a gentle warm-up to prepare the body and allow ourselves to fully arrive. From there, we’ll transition into floorwork, where we will explore our relationship with gravity and the support of the ground through strength and softness. After that, we will then open the space for partner and group explorations, encouraging active listening, awareness, and sensitivity.

The workshop will be held in spoken English and it is free to attend. 

The workshop will take place on 17.8. at Tempelhofer Feld from 14:30–15:30.

To register for the workshop: Please register via email to festival@tanzimaugust.de

 

 

 

Imaginary Bodies Workshop in the run up to “The Valley of Sleep” with Yara Boustany

 

Imaginary Bodies is a choreographic workshop that explores the poetics of physicality through embodied imagination. Through movement, sound and imagery, we stimulate the discovery of the body and its untamed potentials.

Through this embodiment, we undo habitual patterns and explore primal impulses. The workshop invites participants to tap into unacquainted forces slumbering within their bodies—allowing the imaginary bodies to emerge.

Yara Boustany is a Lebanese multidisciplinary artist, choreographer, performer, and artistic researcher. Her work spans choreography, visual art, and performance, exploring sensorial stimuli that guide humans toward unexplored dimensions of existence - she looks for enchantment and disturbance. She is the founder of Amalgam Studio Beirut, one of the few remaining performing arts spaces in Beirut, dedicated to alternative artistic expression. She holds an MA in Choreography from Codarts and Fontys University of the Arts in the Netherlands, a diploma in Circus and Theater from CAU in Spain, and a BA in Cinema and Audiovisuals from ALBA in Beirut.

The workshop will take place on 23.8.2025 from 11:00 to 13:30 in the Tanzfabrik Berlin Schule and will be heldin English.

Participation in the workshop is open to experienced movers. Special subsidised price: 20€

Registration for the workshop is no longer possible.

The workshop is in collaboration with Tanzfabrik Berlin and as part of "The Valley of Sleep", a production by Yara Boustany, which will be presented at Tanz im August on 28-30 August at HAU3.

 

 

Zwei Tänzerinnen in Bewegungsunschärfe auf einer dunklen Bühne, eine ohne Hemd und die andere in einem hellen bauchfreien Top und einer Hose, wobei sich ihre Arme dynamisch bewegen und so ein Gefühl von Energie und Bewegung erzeugen.

Workshop in the run up to “Screensaver Series: Sleeper Softwares” with J Neve Harrington

 

“Scaffold and decoration” – Workshop by J Neve Harrington

  • Date: 29. August 2025
  • Location: St. Elisabeth-Kirche, Invalidenstraße 3, 10115 Berlin
  • 11:00 Soft Arrival
  • 11:30–13:00 Workshop incl. breaks

The workshop will introduce aspects of the research practice underlying Neve Harrington’s works and particularly the “Screensaver Series” score: a graphic, poetic and physical practice. 

We'll explore how imaginative materials and ways of working with attention shape our dancing. This includes pattern, texture, togetherness, and differentiation. We’ll work with images, touch, and sharing weight (for those who wish).

We’ll welcome relationships between: the habitual, training, desire, mood, and all the other multiple agencies in the room. There’ll be space for moving, drawing, watching, resting and talking.

The workshop is aimed at neurodivergent people who are interested in dance and movement.

Access 

The workshop takes place in the venue of the performances at St. Elisabeth church, a relaxed space with a variety of seating options including chairs, beanbags, and cushions. Next door in the Villa Elisabeth is a quieter area with eye masks, headphones, and stimming toys.

The space is movement-friendly – all forms of movement are welcome.

There will be regular breaks.

The church is accessible for wheelchairs via the sidedoor.

The workshop will be held in spoken English.

For detailed access information, please contact access@tanzimaugust.de

Registration for the workshop is no longer possible.

In cooperation with Making a Difference.

J Neve Harrington (London, UK) is an artist whose work includes writing, dance & choreography, video, installation, costume and space design. She works mainly in gallery and non-stage spaces where her work prioritises explorations around access, play, agency, confrontation by times/scales beyond the human, neuroqueer experiences of information processing and attention. 

“Screensaver Series” (premiere 2018, Dance Umbrella London) is a kaleidoscopic dance and sound work which explores a neurodivergent attentional space and has been presented at Uferstudios/ PURPLE Berlin, Inkonst Malmö, Wellcome Collection UK, Dance Umbrella UK, Dance North Scotland, Tanz in Winterthur Switzerland. Digital versions of the work including the video essay believe/been (2020) have been screened in various USA and UK contexts. 

She works to support other artists with access through grant-writing, and mentors around neurodiversity in dance. She was the first Artist Associate with The Place in 2024, is a mental health first aider and is alumni of Clore Leadership’s Inclusive Cultures course 2024.

More about her work can be found at: www.jnharrington.com

To download the workshop description as a PDF, click here.

 

Workshop in the run up to “When the Bleeding Stops” with Lovísa Ósk Gunnarsdóttir

 

“When the Bleeding Stops” by the dancer and choreographer Lovísa Ósk Gunnarsdóttir explores the silence and taboos surrounding menopause, as well as personal experiences of aging.

The performance opens a world of vulnerability, shame, empathy, and humor. It offers intimate insights into the lives of people and explores the many layers of female experiences related to menopause. “When the Bleeding Stops” is a celebration of life in all its phases.

No previous dance or stage experience is required. The project language is English, but all available translation tools may be used for written communication (such as personal E-Mail-exchanges with the choreographer). If you require additional support in terms of accessibility, please don’t hesitate to reach out via the email address below.

The project has started in the second half of June with a personal E-Mail-exchange with the choreographer and the creation of short dance videos filmed at home (e.g. in your living room). At the end of the process, selected parts of the videos – in consultation with the participants – will be integrated into the stage performance.

As part of the public performances in Berlin at HAU1, participants will be invited to become part of the performance and dance live on stage.

The preparation process will conclude with a free one-day workshop on Thursday, 21 August 2025 (afternoon) at HAU Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin-Kreuzberg. This usually does not require language. If language is used, all available translation tools can be used here as well. Whispered translations are also possible if necessary.

Run-throughs/rehearsals will take place on 22 August during the day before the first performance at HAU1.

The three public performances will take place from 22 to 24 August (evenings) as part of the Tanz im August festival at HAU1.

Registration for the Open Call is no longer possible.

Eine barfüßige Performer:in mit blondem Haar tanzt allein auf dunkler Bühne, im Hintergrund sind großformatige Videoausschnitte mit Innenraumszenen zu sehen.