Summer School: Out Into the Fresh Air. Site-Specific Producing in Rural Areas

June 20 to 22, all day

How does working in public spaces work in the country? How can the performing arts be integrated into rural life? How can site-specific projects be produced, how can places far from the theater be transformed into stages? What audiences do we encounter when we leave the theater, and what discourses are relevant to them? And because it's always a question of money: what funding and cooperation opportunities are there for working in rural areas and what bureaucratic hurdles have to be overcome?

After we explored site-specific work in the city in the first Summer School in 2024 under the title Out Into the Fresh Air, this year's edition takes us out into the countryside: in cooperation with Mecklenburg-Vorpommern tanzt an, an initiative of Perform[d]ance, schloss bröllin e. V. and Theater Vorpommern, this year we are bringing together actors from various branches of Berlin's independent scene with dance professionals from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and other federal states at Schloss Bröllin to explore production processes in site-specific work in the countryside.

Over the course of three days, the instructors will provide insights into their many years of experience as cultural actors and project managers of site-specific events in rural areas. They will share their experience and knowledge on production-related issues such as financing, planning and organizing projects beyond traditional theater spaces and taking site-specific audiences into account. They will give practical tips on the concrete implementation of different formats and present various best-practice examples.

The participants will get to know potential locations in rural areas in field studies and further develop their ideas and concepts on the basis of a concrete examination of the locations, their conditions and their potential audiences.

In German spoken language, it is possible to ask questions and make comments using English spoken language
 

How to apply

Applicants should apply with a short letter of motivation describing their motivation for participating in the Summer School as well as their concept or idea for a site-specific project in public space.
Application deadline: Mai 16, 2025
Contact: beratung [at] pap-berlin.de ()

Costs

Participation in the workshop as well as accommodation and meals are free of charge.

Accommodation & Meals

Accommodation is in single rooms, some with shared bathrooms.
A deposit of €50.00 is requested in advance for the accommodation at Schloss Bröllin, which will be refunded after participation in the workshop. In the event of short-term, unjustified cancellation, the deposit will be retained.
Full vegetarian meals will be provided free of charge.

Arrival and Departure

Arrival and departure must be organized independently, travel costs to Pasewalk will not be covered. It is possible to travel by DB Regio or ICE (Berlin Hbf – Pasewalk) and then by bicycle or large capacity taxi (Pasewalk – Bröllin). The costs for the taxi from Pasewalk to Schloss Bröllin will be covered. Alternatively, it is possible to travel by car.

We encourage the use of public transportation. We are happy to help with carpooling (Berlin – Bröllin or Pasewalk – Bröllin with a large capacity taxi).

 

Overview of the Schedule of Events

Day 1 – Friday, June 20

Arrival by 12:15 pm in Pasewalk or by 12:45 pm at Schloss Bröllin 

1:00 pm Backpacks Off: Getting to Know Each Other Over Lunch 
We will introduce ourselves as well as our project ideas during a shared lunch.
Following this: we will move into our room and we may take a walk across the grounds

2:30 pm: Site-Specific Work – Why Are We Doing This Again?
We will get things started with ourselves: what am I actually planning – a performance, an intervention, an installation, an audio walk? Why have I chosen this format, why is this actually being offered as a site-specific performance and/or a performance in public space? And what has driven me to do this especially in a rural place? To kick things off, we will take a look at how the procedures and planning of site-specific productions differ from projects which take place in traditional theater spaces and the special ways in which the different formats can distinguish themselves. 
We will ask ourselves about our motivations in wanting to work with public sapces and audiences in the countryside. We will take a look at the partners we have and/or need on-site and, using Bröllin as an example case, we will also see what cooperation options and co-financing options exist. 

6:30 pm: Dinner 

7:30 pm: Partner Up: An Exchange About Networking and Partnerships
Alongside the communication of all of the course contents, an additional goal of the summer school is the networking of artists and culture makers from different German federal states working in different genres of the independent performing arts: for example, the project will bring together, on the one hand, culture makers from Berlin and artists from MV and other German federal states as well as experts who realize and present their work in rural spaces and, on the other, choreographers and dancers will meet artists who are working in other genres. 
With this in mind, the round of networking around the campfire serves, most of all, the very practical exchange between all of the participants with an eye toward potential future cooperations and goes further to demonstrate the significance of partnerships with civic society partners such as farmers and the fire department, youth sports associations and local businesspeople in rural areas – including tips and field reports. 

Day 2 – Saturday, June 21

8:30 am: Breakfast 

10:00 am: What’s Possible, What Isn’t?! – On Hurdles, Challenges and Hacks 
With Ursula Maria Berzborn (artistic director, Grotest Maru)

To get the day started, we will immersive ourselves in a world of site-specific special topics – from approvals to insurance all the way to (occupational) safety for our team as well as the audience. We will take a look at which planning and organizational steps are new and always different – especially when we are working outdoor and, with that, also exposed to the weather – and how we can deal with technical requirements and questions regarding the supply of electricity and water, mobility and the protection of the equipment as well as managing the audience on-site. On the basis of a variety of best practice examples, they will learn how to overcome the special organizational hurdles of site-specific work.

1:00 pm: Lunch 

2:00 pm to 5:00 pm: Hands On – Field Studies at Schloss Bröllin and in Pasewalk 
After receiving some input, things will get practical: we will conduct some field studies in two groups – in and around the manor hours and in the small city of Pasewalk. While the manor house group will explore the opportunities of site-specific work in village churches, gardens or on the open fields, the Pasewalk group will conduct research into working in the public spaces of the small city – pedestrian zones, parking lots, supermarkets and other places of daily life. 
While the “Brölliners” will ponder how to deal with natural challenges such as rain, heat, mud and mosquitos, but also how to find an audience, the “Pasewalkers” will consider what places are suitable for interventions, how interaction with an audience that is not even an audience yet can be managed and which spectrum of reactions one has to take into account. 
Following the field studies, both groups will present their respective experiences.

6:30 pm: Dinner 

7:30 pm: Dos and Don’ts for Working in Public Space
With Lina Gomez (choreographer of the site-specific production WIRRUNGEN – SAPATOS CEGOS, 2024 production residency MV tanzt an) 

Anyone who is coming from a city knows: you can get used to all sorts of things in urban spaces. In the city, artistic intervention often have to reach deeply into their wallets in order to get attention. How do things work in small cities in the countryside? What kinds of audiences can I find there and do I have a feeling for them? What is their point of view on the places in which I perform, what do they stand for? And, let’s be honest, am I really incorporating their interests and lived realities into my project planning? What relationship am I entering into with my audience in public space – how do I reach them, but also: how do I set boundaries? How do I protect myself, in extreme cases, from attacks? 

On the basis of the choreographic intervention into public space WIRRUNGEN, which was created at Schloss Bröllin in 2024 through the production residency of MV tanzt an, we will look at the specific placement of projects and explore how one can take a project as well as the target groups and audiences on-site into account from the very beginning.

Day 3 – Sunday, June 22

8:30 am: Breakfast 

10:00 am: Underway Digitally in Rural Space
On the basis of the audio walk example SCHRITTE (STEPS) (MV tanzt an, 2021), we will explore formats in public space in which different locations are performed in and during which the performers and audiences travel together. What special characteristics do mobile formats such as audio walks, audio rides, performative walks and processions bring with them in terms of the planning and organization? What do you have to keep in mind if audiences have to be moved from point A to point B? What technical challenges can arise here? And, how do I find suitable partners with whom mobile formats can be made public and maybe even made available on a long-term basis?

12:00 pm – How Do I Get In There?
With Dörte Wolter (management of Perform[d]ance, Team MV tanzt an) 

From the perspective of production and management, we will learn what paths, strategies and communication are necessary in order to gain access to and get into places that are not usually used for theater:  how can one establish cooperations, for example, with art schools for young people? Is it possible to perform in places over the course of interim usages? What kinds of stories do locations bring with them? Drawing from her many years of experience with Perform[d]ance from Stralsund, Dörte Wolter will show us how it can become possible to produce on a wharf, in the Ahrenshoop art musuem or around Prora.

1:00 pm: Lunch 

followed by or until at latest at 2:00 pm: Cleaning the Rooms

2:00 pm: Wrap Up: 

To close things out, the participants will once again receive the opportunity to incorporate everything that they have learned into their concepts, present the final status to the group and receive feedback from the instructor as well as from the group.

4:00 pm: Departure: independently or at 5:15 pm with a high-capacity taxi from Schloss Bröllin to Pasewalk

The summer school Out Into the Fresh Air. Site-Specific Producing in Rural Areas is a cooperation between the Belin Performing Arts Program and MV TANZT AN (a joint initiative of Perform[d]ance, schloss bröllin e.V. and Theater Vorpommern). One of the central goals of MV TANZT AN is to encourage artists to come and/or to stay in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and to produce dance and theater in the state. Beyond its theater spaces, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has a wide variety of interesting production locations to offer: Public squares, beaches, harbors, pedestrian shopping areas, churches, barns or empty factory buildings can all become stages here. 

Many artists, including those from the region, are leaving traditional theater spaces in order to experiment with new, in part participatory formats in public space, be these on the periphery of the cities or in the countryside. In doing so, dance and performance create experiences that foster a sense of community, receive a new visibility and reach diverse local audiences. With this in mind, and alongside the primary goal of specific communicating knowledge regarding site-specific work in rural public space, the big objective of the summer school is the achievement of a sustainable networking of national artists and culture makers working in a variety of genres within the independent performing arts as well as an explorative exchange of the potentials of local features. 

This project is a cooperation between the Performing Arts Program of LAFT Berlin and the initiative MV tanzt an.

MV TANZT AN is a joint initiative of Perform[d]ance, Schloss Bröllin and Theater Vorpommern. It is funded by the Ministry of Science, Culture, German Federal and European Affairs of the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.