move berlim The second Festival of Contemporary Brazilian Dance in Berlin

In 2003, move berlim amazed and enlivened Berlin. This first festival of contemporary Brazilian dance was dedicated to the diversity and roots of this young, lively dance scene far from the big city centers and exemplified the revitalization of this cultural nation after the years of military dictatorship. The feedback from the festival was so encouraging that we decided to continue our work in another festival that would suitably reflect Brazil’s current rapidly changing realities. The workers´ party PT, elected into power in the fall of 2002, is the first “government of the people“ in Brazilian history. The whole world was expectantly watching Brazil’s start into a new era and the changes everyone longed for. In the meantime, some of the government programs have begun to take effect. But the main thing that has been changing in the last few years is the attitude towards living standards. No more fatalism, but instead an atmosphere of impending change, a willingness to invest energy into advancing the country and their own lives. New questions are gaining relevancy in the contemporary dance field: what is the Brazilian body? How can the movement legacy of the individual regions and their people, who with their different origins and histories form this nation, be handled responsibly? How are the social realities and the political upheaval reflected in the performing arts? Brazilian dance draws its strength from its regional roots and the cultural heritage of the inhabitants of Brazil. And it is based on extreme existential realities. It took quite some time after re-democratization until explicit political themes and the radical reflection of recent Brazilian history and of the extreme social differences began to reappear in the work of dancers and choreographers. This multifarious spectrum and the politicization of dance are reflected in work that has been selected for the festival. It will also deepen and encourage the knowledge and interest in this lively dance scenes in lectures, podium discussions, workshops, an introduction to Brazilian video dance - and the first Brazilian dance film. Two important partners, the Hauptstadtkulturfonds and the Brazilian Ministry of Culture, the main funding bodies of the festival, keep on believing firmly in this “dance” between the cultures. Hebbel am Ufer as coproducer as well as former and new members of the team keep on contributing to the task to develop a “choreography” for this cultural exchange. Therefore we would like to invite everybody to watch, listen, think and dance with us! Wagner Carvalho, Björn Dirk Schlüter We are very moved to now be facing the second festival edition of “move berlim“. Brazil and the whole world is currently experiencing radical change. It therefore seems more than appropriate for this festival to once again show the excellent work of our dance companies. They are the protagonists of a process that the Ministry of Culture is willing to follow by developing a politics of reevaluation and support for this work all over the country. The “move berlim“ dance festival reinforces and deepens the relationship between Brazil and Germany into a firm and productive partnership that allows for a great degree of exchange of both countries and that leaves scope for the multitude of tendencies and dance languages in Brazil today. We would like to invite you all to share this experience with us. We extend this invitation from the bottom of our heart and our Brazilian soul, which swing in time with the movements of our dancers. We applaud this great event and would herewith also like to heartily thank you for this renewed and wonderful possibility. Sérgio Mamberti, State Secretary in the Brazilian Ministry of Culture Patron of the Festival