Kids in Dance

Dear visitors to Gessnerallee, dear artists

The Kids in Dance project has been coming to Gessnerallee for seven years. Once again this year, young people aged 12 to 18 from Zurich and the surrounding area move in for a fortnight during the sports holidays and make the cultural institution their home. During this time, they develop a dance piece that is presented to the public at the end.

The final phase of the rehearsal days is now underway and the premiere of the new dance production will take place in just two days, on 21 February at 7 pm in the north wing. This year, the group is focussing on the theme of ‘fragments’ in the sense of pieces. Fragments of a life, a biography, moments, fleeting instances, memories. The stories of the participating young people are told through choreography and dance.

Anyone who does not yet have tickets can register directly at tickets@kidsindance.ch and reserve a place. The dates: Friday 21 February, 7pm, Saturday 22 February, 3pm and 5.30pm. Duration: 45 minutes. The performances are free of charge.

The two heads behind Kids in Dance are choreographer and dance teacher Sabine Schindler and social pedagogue Bettina Aremu. They make dance accessible as a form of expression for young people in our society. They give workshops and develop dance projects together with the young people. The free programmes promote cultural participation and inclusion, giving young people the opportunity to take part in artistic projects and gain insights into institutions such as the Gessnerallee. If you would like to find out more about Kids in Dance, you can find all the relevant information on the website: https://kidsindance.ch/. And in the article on Kids in Dance was just published in the city magazine Tsüri entitled: Dancing children: ‘Art that should be taken seriously’.

An already established ritual highlight of the two weeks is the lunch cooked by the Gessnerallee team for the young people. This year, the cooks Isabel Gatzke (dramaturgy), Manuel Gerst (diversity agent) and Miriam Walther (theatre direction) prepared vegetable Bolognese. All credits for the recipe go to Chat GPT. The young people's assessment was quite okay. There is definitely room for improvement.

Now for the weekly overview of programme items, newspaper articles, news and everything we want to share with you:

Programme recommendations in February

21 and 22 February

‘Fragmente’ by Kids in Dance

The dance project organised by the Kids in Dance association brings together young people from Zurich and the surrounding area. The new production is about fragments of a life, a biography, moments, fleeting moments, memories. More information

28 February, 9.30 pm

Modulaw - ‘The Songweaver’

Between concert and installation, Modulaw's ‘The Songweaver’ is dedicated to contemporary electronic music, rap and dancehall and weaves its very own story. More information

Newspaper

‘Den Jungen fehlt die Bühne’

Zurich's theatre scene is flourishing, but children and young people have some catching up to do. More support and new ways of reaching young people are needed. Journalist Jenny Bargetzi has researched this topic. To the article (only in German)

Furthermore

We are very happy about the great article by Isabel Brun, which appeared at Tsüri about Kids in Dance.

So cheers to the youths!

The Gessnerallee team

PS: Do you enjoy good cultural stories? Or do you know someone who doesn't like going to the theatre so much, but loves reading? Then we recommend a subscription to our printed newspaper, which is published four times a season. It costs CHF 20 (excl. postage) and you can order it directly at zeitung@gessnerallee.ch.