Making a Difference meets…:
Tanja Erhart und Sophia Neises

Making a Difference meets... is a new series of conversations around the topic of dance and disability. In our second episode, Tanja Erhart and Sophia Neises are our guests. The two artists talk about their paths to dance and the confrontation with categories and ableism. They also talk about finding their own freedom outside normative standards and their utopia for a self-confident and self-determined disability culture. The discussion will be hosted by Noa Winter.

Tanja Erhart, an Austrian living in London, describes herself as a crip - chronically ill and disabled - dancer and cultural anthropologist. She has performed worldwide in pieces by Claire Cunningham, Michael Turinsky, Candoco Dance Company etc., is committed to individually accessible dance training (including co-directing the teacher training for Making a Difference), teaching and presenting at various events. Currently Tanja is exploring the movement languages of her 3 body-minds - using her wheelchair, one-legged or three-legged with her crutches - and herself as aPleasure Activist for disability justice in the areas of dance, Ableism, access and care.

Sophia Neises is a freelance performer, theater educator, and disability rights activist. Her artistic practice ranges from process-oriented project management in dance and theater projects with people of diverse lifestyles and experiences of discrimination to collaborations as a performer in dance performances (including with Zwoisy Mears-Clarke and Jess Curtis/Gravity). In 2019, as a visually impaired artist, she began an intense exploration around audio description as an accessibility offering and art form, which she is currently bringing to theater houses and independent artists in workshops. 

MAKING A DIFFERENCE is committed to creating a confident and visible community of disabled dancers, choreographers and performers to transform the Berlin dance scene. We invite emerging and established disabled dancers from Berlin and beyond to work together in workshops, residencies, talks and research labs to create more diversity in contemporary dance.

The talk will take place in German. The audience can participate and ask questions during the Q&A in English or German as well as in spoken and written form. An audio recording of the conversation and a transcript will be made available online afterwards. For questions or more information, please contact: making-a-difference@sophiensaele.com

Why Zoom?
We use Zoom because it is currently the most accessible platform for a diverse group. Those who register for the webinar agree to Zoom's privacy agreement and thus to the transfer of their own data to the US.