About us

The year 2018 will go down in the annals of Berlin dance history. For the first time, more than 200 representatives from cultural policy and administration sat around a table with the Berlin dance scene at the Round Table Dance (RTT). In working groups and plenary sessions funded with 100,000 euros, the situation of dance in Berlin was discussed for months and perspectives were developed and agreed upon. The result: a Dance Development Plan 2019 – 2025, published in 2019 in a 78-page final report.

The discussions in the Research & Mediation (Forschung & Vermittlung) working group focused on the history of dance in Berlin, which is still stored in people‘s heads, flats and offices all over the city (and beyond). There is no archive that has collected, processed and researched this history, including the many stories of dance makers in destroyed, divided and united Berlin. Everyone agreed that it was high time to change this as the number of witnesses who can still report on the early years is dwindling! Private archives are at risk of being destroyed at any time. Collections in publicly funded venues are often just stored somewhere. In the organizations of Berlin’s “independent scene”, resources for archiving are limited or non-existent. Never mind the digitization of existing collections or the interlinking of sources.

In 2020, the TanzArchiv Berlin steering committee was appointed by the Berlin Senate of Culture with the task to, between 2020 and 2025, develop a concept for an archive. Claudia Feest, Claudia Henne, Alex Hennig, Christine Henniger and Doris Kolde, five women from different generations and with different professional experiences, set to work. It all began with a survey: do we need a dance archive? Yes, was the overwhelming opinion; and the need was stated very clearly and comprehensively. What should it look like? Definitely different from the existing archives. In addition to archiving physical material, a Berlin dance archive should also focus on embodied movement knowledge and the special ‘in-process’ and eventful nature of dance. It should be a place of information, communication, exchange, scientific and artistic research – open to all those who work with and for dance or simply love it and want to know more.

A central concern is the idea of self-empowerment: artists, dance scholars, and dance critics should have a say in shaping their heritage and have access to the necessary resources. At the same time, the archive must be an open space where everyone is welcome, able to access content, and actively participate.

Through numerous discussions, the necessity of a dedicated physical space became evident—a place for collecting, researching, artistically engaging with, and discussing archival materials: a House for Dance and Choreography. As of 2025, its realization is more urgent than ever, yet its future remains deeply uncertain.

At the end of 2021, Doris Kolde had to leave the steering group, followed by Alex Hennig in the spring of 2022. Both had made significant contributions to the project’s development through their dedication and ideas. In 2022, Agnes Kern joined us as project manager and Johanna Withelm became responsible for editing/communication. In 2024, Jette Büchsenschütz took over the editorial tasks, while Sven Neumann assumed project management.

However, drastic budget cuts in the cultural sector are also affecting the Steering Group Dance Archive Berlin. The future of a Berlin dance archive is more uncertain than ever.

Berlin needs an institution dedicated to preserving and sharing its rich dance history—one deeply intertwined with the city’s political past. This history reflects the impact of the Nazi era, the tensions of the Cold War, the division between East and West, reunification, and the ongoing evolution of dance in Berlin.

Now more than ever, a dynamic, future-oriented archive is essential—one that not only safeguards the past but also shapes the future of dance. Because dance history is not just remembered—it is continually being made.