ABOUT PASSAGES
The PASSAGEN project was initiated and brought to life in 2013 by Heiner Buchen, Deanery of Saarbrücken.
Once a year, a dance camp is organised where the participating youths and young adults from five different countries come together. The participants live together in the camp for a fortnight. Guided by a team of international choreographers, dance and content workshops, a full-length dance theatre piece is developed together.
Important basic ideas of the project are to create a place of intercultural encounter, to commemorate the European past, to reflect critically on the present and to inspire for a common European future. Urban dance serves as a medium and a universal language that connects people across national borders and language barriers. The dance camps take place alternately at important sites in European history. The resulting dance theatre pieces are therefore closely interwoven with the history of their places of origin. The first performance takes place at the place of origin. A revival and second performance of the piece usually takes place the following year as part of Perspectives - a Franco-German cultural festival in Saarbrücken.
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DANCE EMBLE "OHNE STIMME" - "WITHOUT VOICE"
Over the years, numerous young people have participated as dancers in the PASSAGEN projects. Some of them have been involved from the beginning, others are now choreographers of the dance pieces themselves or support the project series in the background. However, they are and remain part of the international youth dance ensemble "Ohne Stimme" - "Without Voice".
"Ohne Stimme" sees itself as an open dance collective that now includes more than 60 youths and young adults from Germany, France, Romania, Bosnia and Spain.
Through the medium of dance, the ensemble gives a voice to all those who have had to remain silent in the history of Europe and to those who are not (or do not want to be) heard even today.