Dance and Theatre

Doppelpass – Theatre Cooperation Fund

Around 150 municipal and state theatres in Germany contribute greatly to the country’s performing arts scene. But it wouldn’t be as rich and diverse without the efforts of some 1,000 independent theatre and dance groups. In recent years, the Federal Cultural Foundation has particularly supported municipal theatres with major funding programmes, such as Home Game (62 productions) and Wanderlust (28 projects). Now with the Doppelpass Fund, it hopes to promote cooperation between independent groups and standing theatres of dance and dramatic arts. The Foundation’s goal is to encourage Germany’s theatre and dance artists from both the independent scene and the theatre establishment to work together and explore new forms of artistic production.

The central component of the Doppelpass Fund is a two-year residency programme. The programme will finance up to 20 new partnerships between established theatres and independent groups which have an equal say in their artistic collaboration. At the end of the residence period, the partners can apply for additional funding for their guest-performance tour.

Funding guidelines - in german

Application form - in german
 

Performing Arts Fund

The Performing Arts Fund is a registered association that supports outstanding projects in the fields of dramatic arts, musical theatre, dance, dance theatre, puppet theatre, youth theatre, performance, multimedia projects with a strong focus on the performing arts, satirical revues, circus and acrobatics, and theatre and dance pedagogy. The jury tends to award funding to projects that are marked by an especially high degree of quality and artistic innovation.
The Performing Arts Fund focuses its funding efforts on four main areas: 1) experimental projects with a model character; 2) larger, also longer-term model projects that provide significant impulses for the further artistic development of the performing arts; 3) events and projects which encourage a high degree of artistic exchange, e.g., festivals, conferences, publications and workshops; 4) projects that focus on active artistic education and encourage cooperation between the performing arts and other related institutions and professional fields, e.g., educational institutions, cultural centres, media firms and publishers. The jury meets twice a year to award funding to new projects. Established independent groups, ensembles created specifically for a project, private institutions and organizations, as well as individual artists can apply for funding and are given priority over public-sector applicants (such as municipal organizations).
The Performing Arts Fund has expanded its funding activities to include theme-based projects based on calls for proposals. Third-party financing is not required as the applicants are awarded sufficient funding to realize these projects.
 

National Performance Network

The National Performance Network (NPN) is a funding programme which promotes the exchange of contemporary dance and theatre productions and increases their prevalence in Germany. The guest performance funding programme for dance was established in 1999 by six German dance event organizers – Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin), JOINT ADVENTURES (Munich), Kampnagel Internationale Kulturfabrik (Hamburg), Künstlerhaus Mousonturm (Frankfurt am Main), Theater im Pfalzbau (Ludwigshafen) and tanzhaus nrw (Düsseldorf). The goal of the programme has been to present international dance productions to German audiences and make them accessible to as many people as possible. The NPN guest performance funding programme for dance served as a model for the NPN guest performance programme for theatre which began in 2009.
Publicly funded event organizers can apply for NPN funding to finance 25% of the cost of guest performances. Privately funded organizers are eligible to receive funding totalling 35% of the cost of guest performances. Additional stimulus funding is awarded to a different German state each year. Event organizers in that state can apply for stimulus funding to cover 50% of the cost of guest performances. Likewise, event organizers in other German states may also receive stimulus funding to cover the cost of guest performances by artists and groups from the selected state.

As part of the Dance Plan Germany, a five-year programme initiated by the Federal Cultural Foundation, the NPN guest performance funding programme for dance was expanded in 2005 to include co-production funding. With the conclusion of the Dance Plan Germany in 2010, the funding programme also ended, but was extended by one year with the support of the Federal Cultural Foundation.