The 2025 Mentoring Program "Newcomers" is intended for artists and culture makers of all ages who are planning to begin working within the independent performing arts community in Berlin. Experienced mentors, including, amongst others, artists, dramaturgs and producers as well as representatives of established performance venues and institutions within Berlin’s independent performing arts community support newcomers from all work areas and genres within the independent performing arts. Within each group, 12 mentees will benefit from the experience of their mentors, who will provide them with intense support in individual sessions over the course of 8 months.

The 2025 Mentoring Program "Newcomers" includes:

• Advisement from experienced mentors in the form of regular individual sessions during the program period of 8 months
• A two-day seminar over the course of the program on project development and realization as well as further topics relevant to production and distribution
• Three network meetings over the course of the program in which the mentees have the opportunity to present their projects and network within the Group; chances to meet and exchange with the alumni network are also provided.
• Access to a high-quality and open network for the independent performing arts community as well as additional open networking meetings
• Additional support from the coordinators of the Mentoring Program
• Access to the additional offers of the Berlin Performing Arts Program

Requirements for Participation

A mandatory prerequisite for taking part in the 2025 Mentoring Program Newcomers is that the participants have their work based in Berlin for the next 8 months and understand being a part of the program as a priority. Following their first experiences in the their artistic field, potential participants in the program should be planning to become a part of the independent performing arts community in Berlin. The working language in the group events is English, which is why applicants should have a good knowledge of the English language. We expect that the mentees are able to work on their own initiative and that they will independently coordinate the individual coaching sessions with the mentors as well as continuously take part in all opportunities offered by the Mentoring Program (individual coaching sessions, seminars as well as a networking meeting) for the entire duration of the program.

Application

The representation of the diversity of society within our opportunities is our goal. As a result, we expressly invite representatives of marginalized perspectives to apply. We are happy to discuss what we can do in order to remove any barriers that still exist.

We ask you to please submit a resume that clearly illustrates your previous professional/artistic development as well as a statement of motivation that clarifies your outlook and plans for the coming 8 months as well as your desire for participating in the program: What do I want to work on? What aspects do I need support in? What do I expect from the mentoring and from the additional parts of the program? What do I desire from my exchanges with the group as well as the networking with alumni and professionals? What artistic and professional goals am I following in the long-term?
In addition, you are welcome to provide additional references.

If you are unable to meet the submission deadline due to a disability or a chronic illness, please send us a brief notification of interest. In these cases, it may be possible for the application to be submitted later and/or sent as an audio file (max. 2 minutes) or as a video file (max. 2 minutes) via WeTransfer. After the end of the application process, the coordinators and the director of the program will make an initial selection. The mentors themselves are responsible for the subsequent ultimate selections of the members of the group.

After the kick-off event in January 2025, the seminar at the end of March, a network meeting at the beginning of June and the final meeting in August will follow as additional events in the program. The exact dates will be announced at the beginning of the program.

All applicants should note the following dates:

• Application deadline for the 2025 Mentoring Program Newcomers: November 6, 2024
• Ultimate selection of the mentees: by December 19, 2024
• Official start of the program and kick-off event of the Mentoring Program with mentees, mentors and the coordinators of the program: January 14, 2025

Applications must be submitted exclusively in the form of an email with attached application form (resume included) and possible additional references or as an audio or video file upon request and sent to: mentoringprogramm2025 [at] pap-berlin.de.