The artistic director of the Radialsystem, Matthias Mohr, was from the beginning very open to a pilot test for family-friendly design around an event at the house. The anniversary event of the children’s dance company of Sasha Waltz & Guests on 17.9.2023 with the performance “In C – next generation”, for which a young audience was expected, was suitable for this.
The Radialsystem already has experience with strategies to address children as an audience. The program includes targeted events for young audiences as well as accompanying programs for young viewers. These include targeted childcare or a walk-through installation in the form of a labyrinth.
“However, Matthias Mohr sums up in conversation, there needs to be more continuity in the conception of such offers in order to be able to bind families even better to the house as a target audience and, above all, reliable plannability in the means.”
There is enough space at the house for children to relax before and after events. In summer, the lawn outside the foyer can be used, there is a changing table in the handicapped restroom, and a room on the second floor accessible by elevator is frequently used for workshops or childcare and similar accompanying programs.
For our pilot project, Ag Tanz and Elternschaft equipped the “playground” with comics, Duplo-Lego, bubbles and crayons on several picnic blankets. On the glass wall of the foyer, young visitors were able to sign the “creative guest book” on a large paper wall or design it with paintings. The cube on the 2nd floor was converted into a “breastfeeding and chill-out area” and the changing table was re-equipped thanks to a sponsorship from the drugstore chain dm.
Some material was already available at the house, some was contributed as a loan from the Ag Dance and parents. With a manageable material outlay, a relaxed atmosphere could be created in which children and their companions had the space before and after the event to reflect on what they had experienced and to let it have an effect, perhaps also to enter into conversation or play with other visitors.
In the interview, we learned from Matthias Mohr that the Radialsystem is only partially subsidized and has to finance part of its season through rentals and third-party funding from visiting artists and collectives. The lead time for planning an event is usually at least half a year, which is why we were all the more grateful for the openness of the house to plan the pilot format together with a short lead time and in the middle of the summer vacations.
With thanks to:
- Matthias Mohr (artistic direction) and Jule Sievert (production) – Radialsystems
- Company Sasha Waltz and Guests
- dm drugstore market
- Alma and Ruth for coming along
Planning and management of the pilot event: Anja Kolmanics and Steffi Sembdner-Erfurt
- Mitwirkende Ag-Mitglieder: Isabel Mohn, Saskia Oidtmann
- Kamera: Nora Wetzel
Artist Lab / Get labeled: Parents in Theaters!
an evaluation lab of the Ag Tanz und Elternschaft in sponsorship of the ZTB e.V..
The nationwide Artist Labs are a measure of the Fonds Darstellende Künste, financed with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media within the framework of NEUSTART KULTUR.
