Production manual "Join", #1 - 2025

HELLERAU - The European Centre for the Arts and the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company have realised the joint production "Join" as part of the "Zero" funding project of the German Federal Cultural Foundation (premiere in September 2024 in HELLERAU). The result is an opera-sized dance production that combines artistic excellence with the challenges of environmental sustainability.

The experiences and findings of the project were documented in a comprehensive production manual, which has just been published. It offers detailed insights into the work processes, the challenges and the solutions for reducing the carbon footprint. It is aimed at artists, production partners and cultural institutions pursuing similar goals.

"Sustainable production is a goal that the event industry has firmly set its sights on. Concrete projects are needed to learn how to achieve this. With the support of the German Federal Cultural Foundation and in a team with the DFDC and other partners, we have gathered important knowledge in the project. We have documented this and want to draw on it with our artistic partners in the future," says Martin Heering, Commercial Director of HELLERAU. "Questioning routines and changing paths is never easy. We have learnt that the be-all and end-all of sustainable production is to be prepared to learn."

"Through our experience with 'Join', we can make better decisions, see things in a different light and have created structures to further advance our sustainability goals. We want to participate in the social task of actively counteracting climate change and make our contribution to the global challenges," adds Annika Glose, Commercial Director of DFDC.