BURN/OUT
Diskurs festival pre-event
10.11 & 11.11.2023
Gießen
INVITATION TO BURN / OUT
You are warmly welcomed to visit BURN / OUT, the pre-event of DISKURS festival, which stands on the border line between art and theory and is organized by students of the applied theater studies program at Justus Liebig University in Gießen. The focus of the event is on the intersection of cultural production and mental health. It is meant to be a safer space for expressing feelings, exploring physical tension, grounding oneself and finding each other in this overwhelming state of burnout a lot of us are in. It doesn’t matter whether one is a freelancer or is having a stable working place from 8 to 5, there should be a way to make a living without sacrificing one’s mental and physical health. Absence of the social structures to support one’s (well)being comes with a price – the body in a constant fight and flight mode produces stress hormones and reacts with muscle tension and psychosomatic illnesses. That’s why most people wish for a sense of safety, belonging & cohesion, especially living life accompanied by various political and socio-economic disasters. We could not suggest any easy way out, but an honest conversation about our current state. We want to create a space for connection and exchange for those inside and outside of the art field, who feel unwell. We want to provide a space to work with emotions, finding where they are in the body and expressing and releasing them through movement.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
People from marginalized groups are especially affected by chronic stress and burnout. That’s why after a short introduction on Friday, we would like to dedicate the first day of our pre-event to a workshop about sensibility, accessibility and anti-ableism in theater production which will happen in Theaterlabor. This workshop is led by theater professionals Agnieszka Habraschka (she/her or they/them) and Gina Jeske (she/her).
On Saturday we will have a soft beginning of the day, offering „recreation station I“, a session led by Annu (they/them) at Bühnchen in the morning. Then we will move to a workshop about nervous system learning: „How to build safety in our bodies“, led by Malin. After the break, there will be an „Authentic Movement“ workshop led by Olen (he/him), followed by „recreation station ll“ led by Annu, which will close our workshop program.
In the evening we invite you to MuK, an electronic club in Giessen. Before the party starts, there will be a presentation and collective listening of the podcast: „Wer macht eigentlich die Kunst, wenn die Künstler:innen sich ausruhen?” from Paula Elena Noack and Greta Katharina Klein, featuring Agnieszka Habraschka, Bojana Kunst, Ruth Noack and Tolja Haß. Afterwards there will be a party from 20:00 on. Apart from dancing, there will be a calm space available, which will offer various activities that one can do alone or with a small group of people.
FRIDAY (10.11)
- 14:00 Introduction (Foyer)
- 15:00 – 21:00 Workshop about sensibility, accessibility & anti-ableism in theater production (PB3)
SATURDAY (11.11)
- 10:00 – 11:00 recreation station I (Bühnchen)
- 11:15 – 12:15 Nervous system learnings: How to build safety in our bodies (Bühnchen)
- 12:15 – 12:45 Break
- 12:45 – 14:45 Authentic Movement (Bühnchen)
- 15:00 – 16:00 recreation station ll (Bühnchen)
- 18:00 – 19:00 Introduction Podcast Episode: „Who actually makes the art when the artists are resting?“ (MuK)
- 20:00 Party (MuK)
LOCATIONS
Theaterlabor from Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, Bismarckstraße 24A, 35390 Gießen
Music and Kunstverein Gießen (MuK), An d. Automeile 16, 35394 Gießen
INDIVIDUAL DESCRIPTIONS OF WORKSHOPS & EVENTS
In the first part of the one-day workshop, we will develop an understanding ofdisability and ableism. We will learn why accessibility is not only a good offer, but a human right and why this is primarily a matter of attitude. We learn to uncover ableist norms, expectations and stereotypes and explore the question of what is actually meant, when we talk about „inclusion“. In the second part of the workshop, we will discuss how we can make spaces in our events, our work culture and our program structure, safe(r) and welcoming for people with disabilities and how these intentions can be practically implemented.
AGNIESZKA HABRASCHKA (they/them or she/her) is a production manager, consultant and dramaturg with a focus on accessibility and anti-ableist cultural work / performance art and intersectional anti-discrimination. Agnieszka is neurodivergent, has invisible disabilities and has experiences of migration and poverty.
GINA JESKE (she/her) does press and public relations for performance and dance. She is also an audio description writer and a consultant and workshop leader for anti-ableist cultural work and accessibility in theater. Gina is white, hearing, and non-disabled. Gina sees her own work as a continuous learning process of reflecting on and using one’s own privileges to reduce barriers and exclusions.
ACCESSIBILITY: Due to the space limitations, 15 – 20 people can sign up for the workshop. The workshop will be held in English. Different seating options will be available. There is wheelchair access. There will be snacks and drinks available.
SIGN UP SHEET: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfqyrpP93bmQrKMyNgBrUiNsYIFtYHzSO5KqlWQ7qQ3pd_zhQ/viewform?usp=share_link
recreation station is a shelter to rest and digest. Composed of exercises that invite you to linger, play and be cozy, it offers a space of transition into- and out of the workshop day.
recreation station l offers a gentle transition into the day, a time to attune, arrive, wake up the cells and prepare the bodymind for new sensations and information.
ANNU (they/them) is a performance and movement artist who is passionate about intersecting disciplines and unraveling in-between spaces in a playful way. Their work revolves around zooming into subtleties, shifting parameters of perception and caring for dreams, rhythms and tiny details. Annu holds a BA in Theater Studies from Universität Leipzig and is currently enrolled in the Choreography and Performance Master at Justus Liebig Universität Gießen. They completed a dance and movement pedagogy certification training at Seneca Intensiv Berlin in 2022 and since then have been developing their own teaching practice. In 2017 and 2019, Annu was awarded the Darmasiswa Scholarship at the Indonesian Institute of Arts in Yogyakarta, where they worked and studied for two years. Since 2018, they have attended four 10-Day courses of Vipassana Meditation, which has strongly influenced their artistic- and teaching practice.
ACCESSIBILITY: Due to the space limitations, only 10 people can sign up for the workshop. The workshop will be held in English. Translation to Ukrainian is possible. There is wheelchair access. There will be snacks and drinks available.
SIGN UP SHEET:
This workshop consists of two parts. The first part will be a lecture in which we look at the different branches of our human nervous system, their function and the way in which the nervous system communicates with us. What does it mean to feel neuronal safe? The second part of the workshop is oriented to work with the nervous system in a somatic way. We will learn to sense into different states of the nervous system and see how we can expand it to build inner safety for the body through guided exercises. What does it mean to your body to feel safe? How does that feel like? And how do we perceive the outside world from that state in our body?
MALIN SASHA HARFF (she/her) is a choreograph and anthropologist working with collective emotions and environmental topics through the perspective of hydrofeminism, neuroscience and biology. Her artworks are situated between site-specific choreographic works and Installations. She is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. For the last ten years she has been working with Youth and Women with war trauma through Somatic Work and Dance in Jordan, Syria and Palestine.
ACCESSIBILITY: Due to the space limitations, only 10 people can sign up for the workshop. The workshop will be held in English. There is wheelchair access. There will be snacks and drinks available.
SIGN UP SHEET:
The workshop will consist of grounding exercises, working with breath, center and gravity, following with the improvisation in pairs. There will be an Authentic Movement segment, during which part of the group will move with the closed eyes, while the other part will witness the movement. The offered practice is not aiming to master certain dance techniques, but rather to explore the relation between emotions and movement, bringing attention to the body, loosening tension and body and mind restrictions.
OLEN MAMAI (he/him) is a Ukrainian performer and has been studying at the Institute of Applied Theatre Studies Giessen (International Program) since 2019. He is participating in social work, being in contact with different marginalized groups. He is currently training as a Dance/movement therapy specialist. First experience leading workshops with DMT elements Olen had during SUCK MY BRAIN at Theatermaschine 2023.
ACCESSIBILITY: Due to the space limitations, only 10 people can sign up for the workshop. The workshop will be held in English. Translation to Ukrainian is possible. There is wheelchair access. There will be snacks and drinks available.
SIGN UP SHEET:
recreation station is a shelter to rest and digest. Composed of exercises that invite you to linger, play and be cozy, it offers a space of transition into- and out of the workshop day.
In recreation station ll, we let the day integrate and move towards the evening with excited fascia, tingling receptors and relaxed muscles.
ACCESSIBILITY: Due to the space limitations, only 10 people can sign up for the workshop. In this session, we will work in pairs or groups and use physical touch. The workshop will be held in English. Translation to Ukrainian is possible. There is wheelchair access. There will be snacks and drinks available.
SIGN UP SHEET:
Before the party starts, there will be a presentation and collective listening of the podcast „Wer macht eigentlich die Kunst, wenn die Künstler:innen sich ausruhen?” from Paula Elena Noack and Greta Katharina Klein, featuring Agnieszka Habraschka, Bojana Kunst, Ruth Noack and Tolja Haß.
The podcast episode is part of the podcast series: „Aufgetischt! Der Freie Szene Podcast“, which is designed as a self-reflexive discussion format for the independent cultural scene. In each episode of the podcast, a controversial cultural-political or theater-scientific thesis is „dished up“. (https://spotify.link/RknGny1lVDb)
PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN HEADPHONES & LISTENING DEVICES IN CASE WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH THERE!
ACCESSIBILITY: The podcast will be mostly in German but we’ll try to get a written english translation ready! Different seating options will be available. There is no wheelchair access. There will be snacks and drinks available. The setup will be accessible the whole night in our Calm Down Space.
DANCE FLOOR
Our DJ sets will be played by the students of ATW. Apart from dancing, there will also be different seating options available for the break or if seating is more suitable for you while listening to the music.
CALM DJ SET
As part of the DJ sets, there will be a calm DJ set called „In Waveform i Trust“ from Shitfuckilostmykeyswith with more gentle music. Bean bags will be available to rest on during the calm DJ set.
CALM DOWN SPACE
There will be different seating & sleeping options available like blankets, cushions & beanbags. You can listen to the podcast episode or to your chosen music / audiobook while resting here. There will be snacks & drinks available as well as some boarding games. Unfortunately there is no wheelchair access to this room. Let us know in advance if you need wheelchair access & we’ll try to find a solution so everyone has access to the Calm Down Space.
TAROT
There will be a few rounds of tarot sessions available in the Calm Down Space.
SCREAMING ROOM
There will be a certain space in MuK for you to be as loud as you want. Entering the space is only possible if you are alone. There will be a person to guide you in, who will wait for you until the end of the session and will bring you back to the dancing area.
BURN/OUT
Diskurs festival pre-event
10.11 & 11.11.2023
Gießen
INVITATION TO BURN / OUT
You are warmly welcomed to visit BURN / OUT, the pre-event of DISKURS festival, which stands on the border line between art and theory and is organized by students of the applied theater studies program at Justus Liebig University in Gießen. The focus of the event is on the intersection of cultural production and mental health. It is meant to be a safer space for expressing feelings, exploring physical tension, grounding oneself and finding each other in this overwhelming state of burnout a lot of us are in. It doesn’t matter whether one is a freelancer or is having a stable working place from 8 to 5, there should be a way to make a living without sacrificing one’s mental and physical health. Absence of the social structures to support one’s (well)being comes with a price – the body in a constant fight and flight mode produces stress hormones and reacts with muscle tension and psychosomatic illnesses. That’s why most people wish for a sense of safety, belonging & cohesion, especially living life accompanied by various political and socio-economic disasters. We could not suggest any easy way out, but an honest conversation about our current state. We want to create a space for connection and exchange for those inside and outside of the art field, who feel unwell. We want to provide a space to work with emotions, finding where they are in the body and expressing and releasing them through movement.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
People from marginalized groups are especially affected by chronic stress and burnout. That’s why after a short introduction on Friday, we would like to dedicate the first day of our pre-event to a workshop about sensibility, accessibility and anti-ableism in theater production which will happen in Theaterlabor. This workshop is led by theater professionals Agnieszka Habraschka (she/her or they/them) and Gina Jeske (she/her).
On Saturday we will have a soft beginning of the day, offering „recreation station I“, a session led by Annu (they/them) at Bühnchen in the morning. Then we will move to a workshop about nervous system learning: „How to build safety in our bodies“, led by Malin. After the break, there will be an „Authentic Movement“ workshop led by Olen (he/him), followed by „recreation station ll“ led by Annu, which will close our workshop program.
In the evening we invite you to MuK, an electronic club in Giessen. Before the party starts, there will be a presentation and collective listening of the podcast: „Wer macht eigentlich die Kunst, wenn die Künstler:innen sich ausruhen?” from Paula Elena Noack and Greta Katharina Klein, featuring Agnieszka Habraschka, Bojana Kunst, Ruth Noack and Tolja Haß. Afterwards there will be a party from 20:00 on. Apart from dancing, there will be a calm space available, which will offer various activities that one can do alone or with a small group of people.
FRIDAY (10.11)
- 14:00 Introduction (Foyer)
- 15:00 – 21:00 Workshop about sensibility, accessibility & anti-ableism in theater production (PB3)
SATURDAY (11.11)
- 10:00 – 11:00 recreation station I (Bühnchen)
- 11:15 – 12:15 Nervous system learnings: How to build safety in our bodies (Bühnchen)
- 12:15 – 12:45 Break
- 12:45 – 14:45 Authentic Movement (Bühnchen)
- 15:00 – 16:00 recreation station ll (Bühnchen)
- 18:00 – 19:00 Introduction Podcast Episode: „Who actually makes the art when the artists are resting?“ (MuK)
- 20:00 Party (MuK)
LOCATIONS
Theaterlabor from Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, Bismarckstraße 24A, 35390 Gießen
Music and Kunstverein Gießen (MuK), An d. Automeile 16, 35394 Gießen
INDIVIDUAL DESCRIPTIONS OF WORKSHOPS & EVENTS
In the first part of the one-day workshop, we will develop an understanding ofdisability and ableism. We will learn why accessibility is not only a good offer, but a human right and why this is primarily a matter of attitude. We learn to uncover ableist norms, expectations and stereotypes and explore the question of what is actually meant, when we talk about „inclusion“. In the second part of the workshop, we will discuss how we can make spaces in our events, our work culture and our program structure, safe(r) and welcoming for people with disabilities and how these intentions can be practically implemented.
AGNIESZKA HABRASCHKA (they/them or she/her) is a production manager, consultant and dramaturg with a focus on accessibility and anti-ableist cultural work / performance art and intersectional anti-discrimination. Agnieszka is neurodivergent, has invisible disabilities and has experiences of migration and poverty.
GINA JESKE (she/her) does press and public relations for performance and dance. She is also an audio description writer and a consultant and workshop leader for anti-ableist cultural work and accessibility in theater. Gina is white, hearing, and non-disabled. Gina sees her own work as a continuous learning process of reflecting on and using one’s own privileges to reduce barriers and exclusions.
ACCESSIBILITY: Due to the space limitations, 15 – 20 people can sign up for the workshop. The workshop will be held in English. Different seating options will be available. There is wheelchair access. There will be snacks and drinks available.
SIGN UP SHEET: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfqyrpP93bmQrKMyNgBrUiNsYIFtYHzSO5KqlWQ7qQ3pd_zhQ/viewform?usp=share_link
recreation station is a shelter to rest and digest. Composed of exercises that invite you to linger, play and be cozy, it offers a space of transition into- and out of the workshop day.
recreation station l offers a gentle transition into the day, a time to attune, arrive, wake up the cells and prepare the bodymind for new sensations and information.
ANNU (they/them) is a performance and movement artist who is passionate about intersecting disciplines and unraveling in-between spaces in a playful way. Their work revolves around zooming into subtleties, shifting parameters of perception and caring for dreams, rhythms and tiny details. Annu holds a BA in Theater Studies from Universität Leipzig and is currently enrolled in the Choreography and Performance Master at Justus Liebig Universität Gießen. They completed a dance and movement pedagogy certification training at Seneca Intensiv Berlin in 2022 and since then have been developing their own teaching practice. In 2017 and 2019, Annu was awarded the Darmasiswa Scholarship at the Indonesian Institute of Arts in Yogyakarta, where they worked and studied for two years. Since 2018, they have attended four 10-Day courses of Vipassana Meditation, which has strongly influenced their artistic- and teaching practice.
ACCESSIBILITY: Due to the space limitations, only 10 people can sign up for the workshop. The workshop will be held in English. Translation to Ukrainian is possible. There is wheelchair access. There will be snacks and drinks available.
SIGN UP SHEET:
This workshop consists of two parts. The first part will be a lecture in which we look at the different branches of our human nervous system, their function and the way in which the nervous system communicates with us. What does it mean to feel neuronal safe? The second part of the workshop is oriented to work with the nervous system in a somatic way. We will learn to sense into different states of the nervous system and see how we can expand it to build inner safety for the body through guided exercises. What does it mean to your body to feel safe? How does that feel like? And how do we perceive the outside world from that state in our body?
MALIN SASHA HARFF (she/her) is a choreograph and anthropologist working with collective emotions and environmental topics through the perspective of hydrofeminism, neuroscience and biology. Her artworks are situated between site-specific choreographic works and Installations. She is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. For the last ten years she has been working with Youth and Women with war trauma through Somatic Work and Dance in Jordan, Syria and Palestine.
ACCESSIBILITY: Due to the space limitations, only 10 people can sign up for the workshop. The workshop will be held in English. There is wheelchair access. There will be snacks and drinks available.
SIGN UP SHEET:
The workshop will consist of grounding exercises, working with breath, center and gravity, following with the improvisation in pairs. There will be an Authentic Movement segment, during which part of the group will move with the closed eyes, while the other part will witness the movement. The offered practice is not aiming to master certain dance techniques, but rather to explore the relation between emotions and movement, bringing attention to the body, loosening tension and body and mind restrictions.
OLEN MAMAI (he/him) is a Ukrainian performer and has been studying at the Institute of Applied Theatre Studies Giessen (International Program) since 2019. He is participating in social work, being in contact with different marginalized groups. He is currently training as a Dance/movement therapy specialist. First experience leading workshops with DMT elements Olen had during SUCK MY BRAIN at Theatermaschine 2023.
ACCESSIBILITY: Due to the space limitations, only 10 people can sign up for the workshop. The workshop will be held in English. Translation to Ukrainian is possible. There is wheelchair access. There will be snacks and drinks available.
SIGN UP SHEET:
recreation station is a shelter to rest and digest. Composed of exercises that invite you to linger, play and be cozy, it offers a space of transition into- and out of the workshop day.
In recreation station ll, we let the day integrate and move towards the evening with excited fascia, tingling receptors and relaxed muscles.
ACCESSIBILITY: Due to the space limitations, only 10 people can sign up for the workshop. In this session, we will work in pairs or groups and use physical touch. The workshop will be held in English. Translation to Ukrainian is possible. There is wheelchair access. There will be snacks and drinks available.
SIGN UP SHEET:
Before the party starts, there will be a presentation and collective listening of the podcast „Wer macht eigentlich die Kunst, wenn die Künstler:innen sich ausruhen?” from Paula Elena Noack and Greta Katharina Klein, featuring Agnieszka Habraschka, Bojana Kunst, Ruth Noack and Tolja Haß.
The podcast episode is part of the podcast series: „Aufgetischt! Der Freie Szene Podcast“, which is designed as a self-reflexive discussion format for the independent cultural scene. In each episode of the podcast, a controversial cultural-political or theater-scientific thesis is „dished up“. (https://spotify.link/RknGny1lVDb)
PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN HEADPHONES & LISTENING DEVICES IN CASE WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH THERE!
ACCESSIBILITY: The podcast will be mostly in German but we’ll try to get a written english translation ready! Different seating options will be available. There is no wheelchair access. There will be snacks and drinks available. The setup will be accessible the whole night in our Calm Down Space.
DANCE FLOOR
Our DJ sets will be played by the students of ATW. Apart from dancing, there will also be different seating options available for the break or if seating is more suitable for you while listening to the music.
CALM DJ SET
As part of the DJ sets, there will be a calm DJ set called „In Waveform i Trust“ from Shitfuckilostmykeyswith with more gentle music. Bean bags will be available to rest on during the calm DJ set.
CALM DOWN SPACE
There will be different seating & sleeping options available like blankets, cushions & beanbags. You can listen to the podcast episode or to your chosen music / audiobook while resting here. There will be snacks & drinks available as well as some boarding games. Unfortunately there is no wheelchair access to this room. Let us know in advance if you need wheelchair access & we’ll try to find a solution so everyone has access to the Calm Down Space.
TAROT
There will be a few rounds of tarot sessions available in the Calm Down Space.
SCREAMING ROOM
There will be a certain space in MuK for you to be as loud as you want. Entering the space is only possible if you are alone. There will be a person to guide you in, who will wait for you until the end of the session and will bring you back to the dancing area.