Festival FRAGILE 2023

A premiere: The first ever FRAGILE – International Youth DanceMusicTheatre Festival will take place in Wuppertal from 20 September to 1 October 2023. Many national and international initiatives, producers and artists applied to have their productions presented in the festival. Out of these applicants, a panel of experts selected seven fantastic productions from seven countries on three continents, which will be announced shortly. Members of the panel were: Melanie Zimmermann, Tobias Staab, Fridays for Future Wuppertal and Bettina Milz.

The festival revolves around climate-neutral production methods, sustainability, and the social, ecological and economic footprint of cultural performances. How have climate-neutral productions created a new aesthetic of sustainability in youth theatre? How can the stage become a field of experimentation for sustainable practices? What special powers do art forms such as circus, dance, theatre, performance and workshops have in fostering global empathy?

We are looking forward to a diverse programme that will address the challenges of collaborating internationally in a sustainable way, and thus offer new perspectives on how to build alliances, express unity and explore new narratives, spaces, materials and production methods. The concept of climate neutrality not only underpins the productions themselves, but the entire festival organisation.

The productions will be presented in and around the former Schauspielhaus and future Pina Bausch Centre in Wuppertal. FRAGILE is a collaboration with the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Ecology and Energy and Fridays for Future Wuppertal, under the artistic direction of Bettina Milz. It is supported by the German Federal Cultural Foundation’s programme “Zero – Climate-neutral artistic and cultural projects”, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

We look forward to seeing you there!

To find out more:

Email: fragile@pina-bausch.de