THE EMPATHIC BODY

WORKSHOPS FOR STUDENTS

The mediation program DanceMediation – THE EMPATHIC BODY is centrally based on the transfer of choreographic methods on the topics of empathy (2020-2023), distance (2021), imitation (2022) and manipulation (2023), which will be taught in workshops and advanced training courses to students and teachers in schools in Cologne and NRW as well as in Munich.

The educational program will take place alongside the stage productions by Silke Z. and the ensemble die metabolisten.

Students are invited to attend the professional rehearsal processes and to participate in the development of material (movement and texts). In this way, the U20 generation “advises” the artistic team and becomes part of the creative-artistic output.

The content is communicated to students and teachers in schools and in cooperation with other institutions in Cologne with the help of analog and digital workshops. If there are further school closures due to the pandemic, we will switch to purely digital teaching and reflection. In these formats, the students and teachers will nevertheless gain practical, dance-based experience on the topic and work together. The project also includes participation in rehearsals and performances as part of the productions, possibly in the form of live stream formats.

Many of the current social problems are caused by people experiencing a lack of self-worth, self-efficacy and social recognition. Especially in times of pandemic, isolation and “social distancing” exacerbate this problem. What is one’s own – and idiosyncratic – must be constantly hemmed in to predetermined guidelines. As a result, the richness of individual potential and confidence in one’s own abilities and needs are lost. The resulting feelings of alienation are in turn compensated for by devaluing other perspectives and life plans. A vicious circle with visibly destructive consequences for democratic and solidary coexistence: isolation, narcissism and feelings of loss of meaning increase. Empathy falls by the proverbial wayside.

The large-scale participation project DanceMediation THE EMPATHIC BODY   is based – instead of external performance requirements – on the stubbornness and potential of each individual. Thus, this concept initiates a fundamental change of perspective towards a contemporary understanding of education, which is able to promote a more social cooperation in the sense of strengthening community and self-efficacy.

The main target group for the outreach program are students (children and young people), teachers and the lecturers who would like to participate in workshops between 2021 and 2023.

#1 WE (THE EMPATHIC BODY)

# 1 WE is a dance laboratory with artistic working methods. The workshop is led by choreographer Silke Z.

In the workshop, choreographer Silke Z. presents her artistic working method in the context of her production WE which is the first part of the multi-year project THE EMPATHIC BODY.

The performance WE deals with the question of personal qualities as a precondition for an encounter. In the workshop, the participants will be guided in developing biographical movement material and exploring it in different interpersonal and choreographic contexts. In a playful and performative setting, labels, self- descriptions and attributions to others will be explored and developed. The practical result will be transformed into a common vocabulary on empathy through different methods of reflection.