Mehr als 60 Teilnehmer aus 9 Ländern trafen sich im Mai beim Theartic-Workshop
Großes Interesse weckte die Straßentheater-Aktion im Stadtzentrum
Alle waren sich einig: Ein herzliches Miteinander ohne Berührungsängste - das zeichnete den Workshop in Emden aus.
Und dann war es so weit: Das nicht nur aus Theartic-Sicht mit besonderer Spannung erwartete zweite Workshop-Treffen konnte beginnen! Mehr als 60 Teilnehmer aus allen 9 Ländern begegneten sich im Theartic-Theaterworkshop – die einen, um die so erfolgreiche Arbeit von Theartic kennenzulernen, und die anderen, um sie zu zeigen und gemeinsam mit den Partnern auf neue Art und Weise zu erleben.
Und das funktionierte von Anfang an so wunderbar, daß sich alle Beteiligten am letzten Tag des Workshops mit einer Straßentheater-Aktion im Stadtzentrum präsentieren konnten – was nicht nur sie selbst, sondern auch das Publikum und die Presse begeisterte.
Im Theaterworkshop konnten sich die europäischen Gäste davon überzeugen, dass und wie ein wirklich gleichberechtigtes Arbeiten von Menschen mit und ohne Behinderungen tatsächlich möglich ist, und in einer Probe des Erwachsenenensembles zu dem Stück „Die bessere Gesellschaft“ zeigten sie sich beeindruckt von der Qualität sowohl des Stückes als auch der schauspielerischen Leistungen. Das galt ebenso für die offenen Proben mit dem Theartic junior-Ensemble und dem TheartiChor.
Umgekehrt genossen alle Theartic-Teilnehmer die Zusammenarbeit mit den Gästen in wunderbar freundschaftlicher und herzlicher Atmosphäre.
Auch die Diskussionsrunden und Nachbesprechungen waren ausgesprochen lebhaft und engagiert. Ein Empfang der Stadt Emden und eine kleine Ostfriesland-Tour rundeten das Workshop-Treffen ab, von dem ausnahmslos alle begeistert waren.
Aber lassen wir unsere europäischen Freunde und natürlich Bilder sprechen … (siehe unten). Theartic freut sich jedenfalls schon jetzt auf Prag im November!
Ulrike Heymann
Fotos vom Europa-Workshop in Emden: KLICK!
Einige Stimmen der Workshop-Teilnehmer:
Kris De Visscher, Demos, Brüssel, Belgien:
„What struck me was, as I said, that what makes Theartic ’special‘ is the fact that you do nothing special at all. The selection of the exercises and the structure of the workshop enables every person to participate in an equal way. The facilitators treat the participants both in a supportive and a challenging way, and this equally so for everyone. It was also wonderful to see how people with and without so-called disabilities take care for each other and develop tight bounds. And this in a natural and spontaneous way. This creates a very warm, relaxed, considerate and harmonic atmosphere that gets the best out of everyone involved. I hope that the local community of Emden and its representatives keep on cherishing and supporting your wonderful work. Its a pity your organization is so unique. I hope that your participation in the GUIA project will enable you to spread this great example of good practice across Europe.“
Ljiljana Perišić, Centar za kulturu „Trešnjevka“, Zagreb, Kroatien:
„First of all I want to thank Ulrike and Beate and the all artists from Theartic. For me it was a pleasure and work together. I would say that I havn’t seen so much passion and devotion to work in every aspect. I think we all filled our batteries to go on with our project.“
Chris Ledger, Arts & Disability, Belfast, Nordirland:
„I have loved this event. I have great respect for Ulrike’s skills as a disabled artist and, unexspectedly I found great personal enjoyment in the drama workshops. Drama is not my art form of choice but the exercises were well considered and well executed and they drew participants closer together. For me they also acted as a shortcut to build quick relationships with some of the german disabled participants in Theartic.
Theartic’s faciliators are dedicated and have empathy. I like that disabled people are pushed to achieve – but pushed with a softness that encourages them out of their shells and enables them to flourish. We must not settle for small achievements because people are disabled – always I want to see disabled people decelop to their best potential. For you, there are individuals involved in the company who have great talent and to see people with learning difficulties improving with such confidence – this has been a delight to me.
Yesterday one of the participants moved me to tears by describing how her interaction with me had mede her feel. She said she still felt the effect two days later when we met during the rehearsal. Thias has left a strong impression on me – that a chance encounter can stay in the mind. To me this is the power of Guia – it’s often the small conversations in passing that have the most profound effect.
And by the way the people of Emden have all been remarkably helpful and welcoming! Thank you!“
William Longden, The Joy of Sound, London, England:
„Thank you for a wonderful and educational experience at Emden. The JOS team all had a fine experience and gained fresh perspectives concerning their interpretations and practice of inclusion. Your immediate and extended team are a very fine crew indeedand your Actors-All are exemplary. […] My immediate feelings concerning GUIA and our common theme if ‚inclusion‘ is that your approaches are very much contextually oriented and culturally determined. I feel that the real test of any inclusive approach is its transferability in the immediate.
I trust that we might find greater opportunity to reflect upon such considerations towards our shared inclusive practice development, at our future meetings. The pictures are great!
I thoroughly enjoyed your participatory workshops and street theatre, and also the opportunity of gaining such fresh insights into your creative methods, culture and environment. I will be looking forward to meeting again at Prague.“
Anita Szaboova, Ośrodek Kultury Ochoty, Warschau, Polen:
„i want thank you again for brilliant GUIA meeting. […] Ulrike and Beate, Claus, Arne, Kristina, Inge and all Theartic team THANK YOU MILLION TIMES for very good organized meeting and beautiful and useful workshops, rehearsals and whole program which you prepared for us. I found in Theartic new inspirations for my personal and professional life and i could see the same found the rest participants of my Polish group.“
Ilona Labutóvá, Inventura, Prag, Tschechien:
„[After the workshop] I also jumped immediately into work but I have to say I have a special energy to do all this because of this amazing experience in Emden. I loved it from the first second. Everyting we did was for us very
enriching!! On the way back to Prague we were singing the whole way :)“
Radu Pop & Irina Danielescu, Alteea, Bukarest, Rumänien:
„A late but very warm thank you for the great meeting you organized in Emden! For us it was a new, interesting experience to participate in the activities you prepared for us and to be able to attend the rehearsals for your future spectacles! We had a great time in our short but very intense Emden GUIA experience and we appreciate a lot your hospitality and friendship on one hand and the great work you are developing every single day at Theartic, on the other hand!
It was great to meet all the members of the GUIA team and to experience the diversity of the GUIA project and we really hope we will have the chance to meet again in one of the future project meetings! […] Best wishes from sunny and incredible warm (after our return from Germany…) Romania!“