Two residency fellowships from Produktionszentrum Tanz + Performance e.V. and Akademie Schloss Solitude were awarded in the context of TANZPAKT Stuttgart

Within the framework of TANZPAKT Stuttgart, an initiative of the Cultural Office of the State Capital of Stuttgart, the Produktionszentrum Tanz + Performance has collaborated with Akademie Schloss Solitude for the second time, awarding two residency fellowships to contemporary dancers and performers who work outside the administrative district of Stuttgart. From 179 international applications from 47 countries, the jury selected the dancer and choreographer Rósa Ómarsdóttir (Iceland/Belgium) and the performance artist Carlos Monroy (Colombia/Brazil) as fellowship recipients.
The fellowship is intended to improve networking and collaboration in the Stuttgart freelance dance scene and to enable the fellows to work on their own choreographic practice. It is designed to create space for research and artistic production.

The Icelandic dancer and choreographer Rósa Ómarsdóttir, whose work has taken her around the world, has already received several awards. She lives in Brussels, where she leads the research project »Second-hand Knowledge«, which focuses on peripheral dance communities, their relationship to dance history as well as second-hand knowledge. Justifying its decision to award the fellowship to Rósa Ómarsdóttir, the jury wrote: »In her work, Rósa Ómarsdóttir makes the ecology tangible in a sensual way. On stage, she creates ecosystems in which bodies, sound and stage elements made of natural materials (such as wood, salt and water) act and react interdependently. During her residency in Stuttgart, she will explore the different areas of her choreographic practice in media including installation, concert and performance in greater depth, placing particular focus on a group performance featuring Stuttgart-based dancers lasting several hours. This, together with the urgency, concentration and sensuality of her work, as well as the seriousness of the concern and the desire for an in-depth analysis of and reflection on the methodology, convinced the jury.«
Rósa Ómarsdóttir will be a fellow in the context of Tanzpakt Stuttgart for six months in 2021.

In his work, Colombian performance artist, researcher and lecturer Carlos Monroy questions the boundaries between the so-called repertoires of high, popular and mass culture, with the aim of exposing persistent colonial power structures. He has lived in São Paulo/Brazil since 2006. Upon awarding the fellowship to Carlos Monroy, the jury wrote: »Carlos Monroy’s work is based on strategies of appropriation. He investigates the influence of colonial transit, established over centuries, on local and global identities, revealing the subtle relationship between tradition, the behavior of the body and capitalism, as well as the effects of contemporary colonialism. During his fellowship period, Carlos Monroy will explore the historical demonology and origins of the »Alemannic Fasnet« dating back to the 13th century. He creates connections between ancient nautical charts, Catholic imagery and Greek mythology and links them to the realization of these ideas as found in the carnivals of Kye-Marn in Haiti, Rio Sucio in Colombia, Yare in Venezuela and Pancuartamo in Peru.«

Carlos Monroy will be a fellow in the context of Tanzpakt Stuttgart for six months in 2021.
The two fellowship holders will receive a monthly stipend of EUR 1,200 and ancillary funds of EUR 3,500. Both fellows will live at Akademie Schloss Solitude during their stay and will be able to use a rehearsal room at the Produktionszentrum Tanz + Performance. They can also lead and participate in the weekly professional training at the Produktionszentrum and in take part in workshops.

At the end of each residency, the results are presented in a format chosen by the fellows themselves. Participation in festivals that may take place is also offered (such as »SEEDS Dance Laboratory« in September 2021).

The jury consisted of Elke aus dem Moore (director, Akademie Schloss Solitude), Isabell Ohst (CEO, Produktionszentrum Tanz und Performance e.V.), Ash Bulayev (curator, artist and director of the Onassis residency program in Athens), and Karin Kirchhoff (curator of the Tanz! Heilbronn festival at Theater Heilbronn).

The residency fellowships are the result of a collaboration between Akademie Schloss Solitude and Produktionszentrum Tanz + Performance within the context of TANZPAKT Stuttgart. The alliance of the Cultural Office of the State Capital of Stuttgart, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Freie Tanz- und Theaterszene Stuttgart, Musik der Jahrhunderte, Produktionszentrum Tanz und Performance and Theater Rampe establishes and consolidates sustainable structures for continuous international exchange on the subject of artistic production at the highest level, qualitatively expanding the dance network in Stuttgart.
The fellowships are funded by the TANZPAKT Stadt-Land-Bund with the support of the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), the special program »NEUSTART KULTUR« (BKM) and the State Capital of Stuttgart.