Festival Programme
WEDNESDAY 19.06.
20:30
Experimentiertheater
Ceremonial opening with greetings from the patrons and opening speech by the ARENA team.
Afterwards from 9 pm: ‘Talk’ combines the harmonious fusion of human movement with cutting-edge technology in a captivating contemporary dance performance. Central to this artistic realisation is an AI-embedded interactive music system that creates a sophisticated connection between technology and art. As the dancers move across the stage, their movements are captured and translated into an atmospheric soundscape by the AI system. This creates a symphony that is as diverse and fluid as the dance itself.
22:00
Festival Centre
Following the opening performance, we invite you to a reception with a musical kick-off to the ARENA week with the band Empty Eden in our festival centre! Their repertoire includes pure rock, rattling metalcore, as well as influences from punk, hardcore and nu metal. Calm vocals alternate with beastly breakdowns, hard guitar riffs and electro elements.
THURSDAY 20.06.
11:00
Festival Centre
The group exhibition ‘Dark Patterns’ shows artistic strategies that deal with the beautiful surface, the dark forces underneath and the associated despair in order to find a foothold in a disintegrating reality. The exhibition can be visited from the opening until the end of the festival. The opening will be followed by a discussion with the artists in the festival centre.
12:00
Festival Centre
Do you want to try your hand at playing with words? Do you want to compete in a poetry contest? Or dedicate your voice to a topic that is close to your heart? Then the PoetrySlam workshop is just the thing for you! In this workshop, you will be given the time and space that is often lacking in everyday life to engage creatively with writing. We use various writing impulses and ideas to express what is on our minds, what is driving us and what moves us.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
14:00
Experimentiertheater
‘Talk’ combines the harmonious fusion of human movement with cutting-edge technology in a captivating contemporary dance performance. Central to this artistic realisation is an AI-embedded interactive music system that creates a sophisticated connection between technology and art. As the dancers move across the stage, their movements are captured and translated into an atmospheric soundscape by the AI system. This creates a symphony that is as diverse and fluid as the dance itself.
14:30
Experimentiertheater
Immerse yourself in exciting discussions with artists and experts. Learn about the background to productions and discuss current cultural topics. Inspiring dialogue and new perspectives at the ARENA Festival.
15:30
Clubbühne E-Werk
An interactive theatre piece that dares to imagine a post-capitalist society. Through a karaoke evening with pop songs from the 80s - the audience has to get active! - our uncertain future is recreated. Anne Marina Fidler deals with polyvagal theory and participatory performances. She uses vocal techniques, vulnerability and failure to influence the nervous system of the participants. This creates a sense of collective security and excitement.
19:00
Clubbühne E-Werk
An interactive theatre piece that dares to imagine a post-capitalist society. Through a karaoke evening with pop songs from the 80s - the audience has to get active! - our uncertain future is recreated. Anne Marina Fidler deals with polyvagal theory and participatory performances. She uses vocal techniques, vulnerability and failure to influence the nervous system of the participants. This creates a sense of collective security and excitement.
20:30
Festival Centre
Sing your favourite songs and celebrate an unforgettable night full of music and fun together with other festival visitors at the festival centre. Whether you're a pro or a beginner - the joy of singing is what counts here.
FRIDAY 21.06.
15:00
Festival Centre
FLINTA* can defend themselves and protect themselves from physical and verbal attacks! WenDo is an easy-to-learn self-defence technique for emergencies. However, it is not only helpful in emergency situations, but also in everyday life to take good care of yourself and set boundaries. Age and athletic ability are not important, FLINTA* with disabilities or little knowledge of German are welcome! (FLINTA* stands for women, lesbians, intersex, non-binary, trans and agender people)
17:00
CVJM Rittersaal
The co-production is a collaboration between the ARENA Festival and young artists. We support them in developing the project. This results in a play that celebrates its premiere at our festival. This year, the ARENA Festival team has decided in favour of the production ‘Female Friendship’ by Yinfu Gao & Ana Clara Montenegro.
The two performers explore the theme of ‘female friendship’ in the two completely different cultures they come from, Brazilian and Chinese. Practices that have been passed down through generations are examined and the question of their place in today's world is explored.
19:30
Experimentiertheater
A voucher for a free drink leads three strangers to the bar ‘Zum offenen Herzen’. There they are told the barkeeper's tragic lesbian love story, as she has lost her own voice. Marina relives her own past through the guests: Marina meets Sonja, they fall in love, but in 1920 in Russia it is impossible to live out their love in public. Marina has to watch her story again and again to confirm to herself that her love must always die. In the bar, the three guests embark on a journey into the past, encounter moments of hopelessness and lose themselves in the belief that love is the basis of their existence.
20:30
Experimentiertheater
Immerse yourself in exciting discussions with artists and experts. Learn about the background to productions and discuss current cultural topics. Inspiring dialogue and new perspectives at the ARENA Festival.
SATURDAY 22.06.
10:00
Festival Centre
The Saturday morning of the festival is dedicated entirely to exchange and dialogue. Everyone is invited to come to our festival centre from 10 a.m. and talk to us, our invited and regional artists and important cultural institutions in the metropolitan region in a relaxed atmosphere. Exchange ideas about performances you have seen over the past week, get to know each other and ask questions that have not yet been answered.
11:00
CVJM Rittersaal
The co-production is a collaboration between the ARENA Festival and young artists. We support them in developing the project. This results in a play that celebrates its premiere at our festival. This year, the ARENA Festival team has decided in favour of the production ‘Female Friendship’ by Yinfu Gao & Ana Clara Montenegro.
The two performers explore the theme of ‘female friendship’ in the two completely different cultures they come from, Brazilian and Chinese. Practices that have been passed down through generations are examined and the question of their place in today's world is explored.
11:00
Festival Centre
Immerse yourself in exciting discussions with artists and experts. Learn about the background to productions and discuss current cultural topics. Inspiring dialogue and new perspectives at the ARENA Festival.
19:30
Mensa Langemarckplatz
‘Inbetween Cakes’ is a powerful dance piece that explores the relationship between femininity and power. The performances parody typical male movement patterns and at the same time expose themselves to the ‘male gaze’ without submitting. The piece illuminates the secrets and abysses of those in power and calls for those who have too much of everything to be called to account.
21:00
Festival Centre
This year, the ARENA Festival will once again award the Audience Award. As a festival of Erlangen's independent theatre and cultural scene, mediating between art and society as well as artists and audiences is an important concern for us. The Audience Award is an integral part of the festival and enables visitors to help shape what happens at the festival.
22:00
Festival Centre
Let's go out with a bang! On the penultimate day of the festival, we cordially invite everyone to celebrate the final evening of the 34th ARENA Festival. Come along and celebrate with us. Bring the festival to a musical close. Bring friends, dance and enjoy the evening.
SUNDAY 23.06.
10:00
Mensa Langemarckplatz
This workshop is aimed at anyone who wants to expand their physical and theatrical expression. Laura and Viviane will teach choreographic tools and basic principles that they also used for their piece ‘Inbetween Cakes’. They focus on collective choreography and the repeatability of movement sequences outside the traditional dance vocabulary. With ‘Automatic Writing’ tasks, i.e. self-written texts, a thematic focus is initially set, playfully linking spoken text and movement.
16:00
Mensa Langemarckplatz
‘Inbetween Cakes’ is a powerful dance piece that explores the relationship between femininity and power. The performances parody typical male movement patterns and at the same time expose themselves to the ‘male gaze’ without submitting. The piece illuminates the secrets and abysses of those in power and calls for those who have too much of everything to be called to account.
