In addition to work facilities, Spacelab offers a regular programme of workshops and lectures for members of IG Tanz Essen and interested artists from the region - the Spacelab encounters (2021), The flow work (2022) and space|lab is running (2022/23). We also organise festivals and other events and help coordinate the activities of IG Tanz Essen.

The project "space | lab connects" connects places in the Essen Nord neighborhood and artists from the Ruhr area through artistic collaborations on the topic of "Future Land - How do we want to live together?".

After the summer festival "space | lab is running" in 2022, where we created an artistic parcours through the neighborhood with dance and performances, and a talk format in 2023, where we invited different perspectives on a topic, we want to work 2024 with venues from our immediate neighborhood.

PROGRAM FOR 22.06.2024:

• space | lab, Kreuzeskirchstraße 25, Meeting Point/ Info Point. Open from 11:30 AM on. A documentary by Andrés Hilarión Madariaga about the project will be shown.
• Amaya Sweet Home Restaurant [Kastanienallee 92, 45127 Essen] 12-3 PM

“Icebreaker”; by: Rebecca De Toro and Gregor Leiprecht. In everyday life, we often forget the value of a friendly interaction with our fellow human beings and how beautiful genuine interest can be. To connect with people, we offer homemade ice cream in exchange for a round of card playing with us. We enjoy Scopa and Kaboom, but we would love to learn a new game that our counterpart brings!

• Comic Zentrum [Kreuzeskirchstraße 31, 45127 Essen] 12-3 PM

“Night of the Fawns or the Liberation of the Clowns”; by: Baptiste Bersoux. In a chaotic one-man show that combines clowning and dance theater, Baptiste tells a story inspired by childhood figures. He mixes their characteristics with the help of the audience, records, and a wooden bust. Baptiste chose the figure of a clown because clowns, despite their whimsical appearance, represent deep humanity and a variety of characters influenced by everyday events and the state of the world. With their "neutral" position and naivety, they claim the right to be different. [Concept and Performer: Baptiste Bersoux. External Perspective and Choreographic Dramaturgy: Narumi Saso @les_enfants_du_pain_perdu]

• Post Office 577 [Erste Weberstraße 12, 45127 Essen] 12-3 PM. Performance at 2 PM

“Bridges of Belonging”; by: Ching-Mei Huang. Using the media of dance, film, music, and light design, this project aims to overcome language barriers and cultural differences, offering a powerful and impressive platform for storytelling and connection.

• Divine Bar [Viehofer Straße 39, 45127 Essen] Installation open from 12 PM. Performances at 1 PM and 3 PM.

“Sensuality in Heavenly Blue”; by: Camila Scholtbach Sánchez and Emelyn Yábar Tito. A multimedia performance as a sensual, erotic proposal for healing the addiction trauma of pornography.

• lernHAUS, Venue: Weberplatz [45127 Essen]; Slots at 12 PM and 1 PM

“My Future Land” - Preview; by: Polymer DMT/ Fang Yun Lo. The project is an experiment – there is no finished piece and no audience: each performance starts anew. We are interested in the democratic process and a unique vision of community – working together, making decisions together, and creating together. In collaboration with illustrator Agnes Gunawan, musician Marie Schulze, costume designer Cristina Lelli, and choreographer Fang Yun Lo, we develop, in a participatory format of about 45 minutes, a large picture with a small group that unites personal perspectives of a country where we would like to live together.

„A DIGITAL HABITAT FOR (MEMORIES OF) MOVEMENTS PAST – loading“

The remains of the dance – showing and sharing event of a work in-progress with artist talk in space | lab, on Friday, 15 December 2023, at 6pm

a project by Foteini Papadopoulou

Funded by Kulturamt der Stadt Essen (Cultural Affairs Office of the City of Essen)

cooperation partners: Deutsches Tanzarchiv Köln (German Dance Archive Cologne); space | lab – Forschungs- und Co-Working-Raum in Essen (space | lab – research and co-working space in Essen)

Artistic direction, choreography, exhibition concept: Foteini Papadopoulou

Photography: Christian Clarke

Design of the website prototype: Uwe Ernst

Curatorial and dramaturgical dialogue partner: Florence Freitag

Graphic design: Valentina Boneva

Press and public relations: Daniela Endrulat

“It’s more than Bilingual”

In space | lab on Saturday 16 December at 18:30 for a screening with snacks and drinks!

from December 16th to December 30th on Youtube

In their dance film "It's more than Bilingual" Nene Okada and Ching-Mei Huang explore their differing artistic processes and singular perspectives influenced by their distinct cultural upbringings.

Individually choreographed but recorded in the same space and on the same piece of music, intertwining and overlapping their movements, the artists bridge the gap between their cultures while the set design quite literally offers a frame in which to reflect on their individual histories and find a common narrative.

"space|lab is running 23 - one theme, two perspectives".

In this series of talks in space|lab and in our immediate neighbourhood, we want to talk to artists and specialists from teaching, research and science about their expertise and socially relevant topics. Which parallels exist in art and science, how and what can we learn from each other?

FRI, 10 FEBRUARY 2023, 19:00 [Start in Kunstraum jETZT, Weberstraße 8, Essen]
Archives - A task for eternity? - with Foteini Papadopoulou, freelance choreographer & Dr. Claudia Kauertz, head of Haus der Essener Geschichte/ Stadtarchiv

WED, 05 APRIL 2023, 19:00
AI - About Cyborgs, Chatbots and Chthuluzän - with Till Bödeker, visual artist & Anne Küper, Researcher in the DFG post-graduate programme “The Documentary. Excess and Withdrawal”, Ruhr-University Bochum

WED, 03 MAY, 2023, 19:00
Sounds of Our City - Noise or Signal? With Anna-Luella Zahner, dramaturge and translator & Frank Niehusmann, composer

Fri, 02 JUNE, 2023, 19:00
Assembly - How do we want to live together?

• We invite you to a dinner where different perspectives on a future life in the city will have space. How do we want to live? How do we imagine the city and urban society in the future?
• Admission free, pre-registration requested: spacelab@polymerdmt.com

space | lab is running 2022

The summer festival of IG Tanz Essen

DAY 1: JULY 29, 2022 - to start.

• 11:00 - 16:00, space | lab [not public] – Internal Sharing of the IG Tanz artists and the space | lab residents with representatives of the art and culture scene NRW. With: Alberto Curci, Marlene Helling, Marie-Lena Kaiser, Josephine Kalies, Gustavo Leite, Fang Yun Lo, Kati Masami Menze, Foteini Papadopoulou, Robert Schulz, Giovanni Zazzera Z Art Dance Company mit Enora Gemin
• 18:00, Gitterraum – Opening space | lab is running, drinks and food
• 19:00 - 21:00, Gitterraum – DJ Set

DAY 2: JULY 30, 2022 - we are running.

A tour through Essen's City Nord, transformed through dance, performance, music, film and exhibitions by dance and performance artists from IG Tanz.

• 14:00 START (in the order of the tour)
  • space | lab: “Octupus.” by Pin-Chen Hsu, “Salz ||: im Blut” by Camila Scholtbach, “STAND BY” by Lara Pilloni/ music by Alvaro Severino (video works)
  • Gitterraum: “now we're talking” by Josephine Kalies in collaboration with Kati Masami Menze, Paloma García de Juan, Elisa Spina and Tristan Berger (performative tryout / photo work)
  • Weberplatz: “Frauen.Frieden.Flügel” by Anca Huma (dance performance)
  • Konsumforum 2nd floor: “Untouch” by Alexandra Krutikova and Jan Chris Pollert (dance performance)
  • Gitterraum: experimental concert by Marco Girardin
  • Kopstadtplatz: “Zwei alte Damen” by Claudia Mauerer and Mariela Rossi (street performance)
  • Kunstraum jETZT: “MOVEMENT JOURNALS/MOVING JOURNALS” by Foteini Papadopoulou and Christian Clarke (photo work)
  • former Restaurant Mayflower: “Asia Restaurant” by Polymer DMT/Fang Yun Lo (video installation)
• 16:45 Picnic at the Weberplatz

DAY 3: JULY 31, 2022 - to finish.

Film screenings and discussions about choreographers' and dancers' engagement with film

• 11:00 - 14:00, space | lab
  • Talk about the video installation "Asia Restaurant" with the artists of Polymer DMT/Fang Yun Lo
  • Film screening "Die Erde ist gewaltig schön, doch sicher ist sie nicht" by SKORONEL RELOADED
  • Film screening "Vale of shadow" by Annalisa Palmieri and Stsiapan Hurski

the flow work - unsere Veranstaltungsreihe 2022

2 APRIL 2022

Documentary theatre research workshop - with Fang Yun Lo

10 JUNE 2022

Improvisation with principles of Feldenkrais method - with Mu-Yi Kuo

16 SEPTEMBER 2022

There is always a way: a workshop on freelancing as an artist - with Robert Schulz

4 NOVEMBER 2022

dance & writing - Workshop with Judith Ayuso

Spacelab encounters - our digital event series 2021

28 OCTOBER 2021
Encounter #6 - Methods of inclusion for dance/performance art, with Elisa Kneisel

4 JULY 2021

Encounter #5 - Mobile audio recording techniques for choreographers, with Marius Kirch, Dipl. Audio Engineer

25 JUNE 2021

Encounter #4 - Transforming reality into art - techniques of research and interviewing, with Khuê Phạm, ZEITmagazin

17 MAY 2021

Encounter #3 - The Art Sector and Sustainability, with Iris Ping-Chi Hung, Taipei

29 APRIL 2021

Encounter #2 - Precarious Art, with Prof. Dr Bojana Kunst, Frankfurt/M., Gießen

22 MARCH 2021

Encounter #1 - Building a regional artists' network, with Cindy Hammer, Magdalena Weniger / TanzNetzDresden e.V.

Spacelab is an initiative of Polymer DMT / Fang Yun Lo, in co-operation with IG Tanz Essen and Sabina Stücker Kulturproduktion, supported by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia - Spitzenförderung Tanz, and the Cultural Office of the City of Essen - institutional funding.

Individual projects in Spacelab are supported by Kreativ.Quartiere Ruhr (funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, conducted by ecce GmbH).

The founding of Spacelab was substantially supported by the programme TANZPAKT RECONNECT, conducted by BUREAU RITTER, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of the NEUSTART KULTUR initiative. Hilfsprogramm Tanz