Dig it!

Many of the works presented at rodeo 2026 explore the uncovering of hidden stories, the making visible of suppressed experiences, and the amplification of marginalized perspectives. The Dig it! day of talks and workshops takes up these themes: over the course of a morning, we will explore questions of preservation, remembrance, and storytelling through workshops, talks, and short presentations.

Whose stories are told—in public, and in the theatre? And which ones are not? What gaps exist in our collective memory, and how can we tell stories differently, more effectively, and in more diverse ways—not only through words and images, but also through our bodies?

These questions also concern the independent performing arts themselves: How can the (sub)cultural heritage of this ephemeral art form be preserved? From the politics of the archive to art as counter-memory, the search for resistant forms of remembrance is also a challenge to the politics of representation and historical memory promoted by the New Right, which seeks to legitimize violence and render diversity invisible. Together with writers, dance and theatre practitioners, and scholars, we will enter this field of tension and bring history and stories to life through our voices and our bodies.

We’ll kick things off at 11 a.m. with a short, group session at the Festival Treff in the schwere reiter foyer. Afterward, we’ll split up, and everyone can attend one of the following two-hour workshops. The workshops will run concurrently from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. To wrap things up, everyone will come back together for a meal.

The event is open to all interested visitors. Admission is free. No prior knowledge is required. Please register for the individual workshops via the ticket link.

Workshop Overview

1. Denijen Pauljević: What You Remember of Me (Writing Workshop)

What happens to a story when we tell it to another person? What remains, what changes, and what is added? Starting from personal memories, objects, photographs, words, or a song, we will write and tell stories, pass them on, and temporarily make other people’s stories our own. Two memories eventually become a third story created collectively—a story that belongs to no one person alone. In this way, we will create a small alternative archive made up of things experienced and imagined, of listening, remembering, translating, and continuing to write.

No previous experience is required. You are welcome to bring an object, photograph, sentence, word, song, or short story connected to a memory.

2. Dancing Memory: Cumbia Colombiana as a Body Archive (Dance Workshop)

In this workshop, Yolanda Morales and Nicolás Vignolo invite participants to discover Cumbia Colombiana from Monterrey as a living body archive. The dance style, which has acquired a particular cultural significance between Mexico and the United States, serves as a starting point for exploring migration, belonging, and collective identity. Especially within marginalized communities, dance can carry stories and knowledge across generations, making individual and collective memories tangible through the body.

The workshop builds on Yolanda Morales & Team’s current project, which draws on documentary material to explore the living and working conditions of the former coal-mining region of Lota in Chile. Together, we will explore how movement, images, and interviews can give rise to intergenerational practices of remembering.

No previous experience is required. Please wear comfortable clothing.

3. Nora Binder and Dr. des. Beatrice Wichmann: The Digital Archive of the Independent Performing Arts (Practical Introduction)

Earlier this year, the Digital Archive of the Independent Performing Arts went online—a platform for documents and materials relating to the history and present of the independent performing arts scene, initiated by Initiative für die Archive der Freien Darstellenden Künste e. V. Artists, collectors, and institutions can create their own entries and upload materials.

To make it easier to get started, the Deutsches Theatermuseum invites you to a workshop. Following an introductory talk by Dr. des. Beatrice Wichmann on archival work and collection strategies, participants will receive an introduction to the Digital Archive. There will then be plenty of time to create your own first entries, exchange ideas, and clarify questions on site.

Please bring your own laptop and material to catalogue. This could include, for example, programmes, video or text files, photographs, or images of props and stage sets.

4. Carla Lou Schäfer and Caroline Anne Kapp: The First Last Case (Pottery Workshop)

In this workshop, Carla Lou Schäfer and Caroline Anne Kapp will explore the Externsteine, a striking rock formation in the Teutoburg Forest located next to the Hermannsdenkmal monument. Esoteric and fascist groups regard the rocks as a “place of power” with extraordinary geomantic and spiritual properties. In the workshop, we will create anti-fascist models of the rocks out of clay and Carla and Caroline will introduce you to their artistic working process.

Their current project, The First Last Case, is an installation-based performance that examines the book burning that took place on 18 October 2025 at the anti-fascist memorial on Wilhelmsplatz in Görlitz.

5. Sandra Chatterjee: CHAKKAR’s Table Conversations – Munich Dance (Hi)Stories (Conversations)

Munich has been dancing for decades—on stages, in studios, clubs, dance clubs, cultural centers, parks, and public spaces. This edition of Table Conversations broadens the perspective on Munich’s dance history beyond established institutions and traditional dance-historical narratives: Three key figures in Munich’s dance history share personal memories of dance practices, places, communities, encounters, and self-created spaces in an oral history format. Based on their stories and insights, a dialogue emerges with the audience, who move to the next table after 30 minutes. In this way, individual memories come together to form a multifaceted picture of Munich’s dance history—as a history of migration, urban history, and a history of encounters, relationships, and self-created spaces.