FRATZ International 2024
Encounters – Symposium – Festival for the very young

FRATZ International was created in 2013 by Theater o.N. in Berlin and has since invited the international children’s theater community to Berlin six times. Every two years, FRATZ presents remarkable guest performances in Berlin. It also hosts a symposium to discuss and explore the latest developments in dance and theater for very young audiences. Colleagues from all over the world meet in Berlin for this international exchange.

English Theatre Berlin | International Performing Arts Center is very pleased to partner with FRATZ International for the 2024 edition of the festival, serving as the venue for performances of Fields of Tender, an immersive durational dance performance for babies and children with disabilities as well as Luft, a dance performance for all ages. On October 13, at 6pm, we will also host a lecture by Dalija Acin Thelander, the artist behind Fields of Tender, exploring her research.

Fields of Tender | Dalija Acin Thelander | Sweden

An Immersive Durational Dance Performance for Babies and Children with Disabilities

Fields of Tender is an enchanting and playful, dance performance, which immerses you in an imaginary world of tenderness, affection and love. Within this awe-inspiring, sensual world, the extravagant and peculiar events interlace with ethereal and gentle ones. The performance flow welcomes the audience’s curiosity as well as provides them with a calm and intimate space for relaxation.

Duration: durational (150 minutes)

Tickets for Fields of Tender are available on Sunday, October 13 at 11am and at 3pm and on Monday, October 14 at 2:30pm

The performances on October 13 at 11am and on October 14 at 2:30pm are intended for neurotypical babies from 6 months to 24 months as well as neurodivergent babies & children and children with disabilities up to 4 years of age.

The performance October 13 at 3pm is intended for neurodivergent children and children with disabilities from 5 to 10 years of age.

On Sunday, October 13 at 6pm, Dalija Acin Thelander will present a lecture on her research Towards Sensuous Ecologies, Rethinking Ableism in Choreographic and Movement Practices, focused on developing new transdisciplinary artistic methods that are attuned to neurodivergent perception, enabling the experience of communality, inclusiveness and empowerment through immersion, choreography and body practices.

Admission to the lecture is free of charge.

Luft | Nir de Volff & Theater o.N. | Germany

A Dance Performance for All Ages

What happens to the air we breathe into our bodies? How can we use our own breath to find freedom in the body and connect with others? The breath is the simplest and yet most complex personal tool to express our self. All of our joy, happiness, fears, emotional heaviness, and traumas reside in our chest, not just in our brain or under our skin.

Tickets for Luft are available on Wednesday, October 16 at 10am and on Thursday, October 17 at 10am

Concept and Choreography by Nir de Volff | Performed by Medhat Aldaabl, Mouafak Aldoabl and Renan Manhães | Costume Design by Moran Sanderovich | Music Composed by Daniel Benyamin

Children's Theater

Homepage of the 2024 Edition of FRATZ International