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FRIEDRICHSTADTPALAST : |
Berlin's biggest tourist attraction, the only Revue theatre in Germany and the largest in Europe. Every evening the huge stage is a showcase for perfectly staged feasts of the senses. When the curtain goes up a firework display of breathtaking artistry, demanding choreography and unique stage sets are released.
It is not only its 100 year history with many of the greats in show business, its dancers, singers and artists that have made it famous - it is also its revues that attract audiences from all over the world.
The international dance ensemble under the direction of Roland Gawlik is made up 44 women and 22 men from nine different countries. Although the revue is an atmospheric mixture of different styles, the ensemble is rooted in the classical dance tradition. In spite of this each of the choreographers have their own individual artistic style to which the dancers have to adapt. Making the complicated steps, the exact movements and the synchronization within the group all appear light and playful is what makes it an art form.
The orchestra of the FreidrichstadtPalast is one of the largest revue orchestras in the world. Just like the members of the ballet the orchestra's musicians are expected to perform to the highest artistic standards. "What is called for here," says the orchestra leader Detlef Klemm, "is a tightrope walk between electronic and acoustic music."
Address: Friedrichstrasse 107
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THE DEUTSCHE OPER BERLIN : |
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In 1945 both of Berlin's large opera houses, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and the Deutsches Opernhaus in the Bismarckstrasse, lay in ruins. It is impossible for us now to realize what theater and music meant for the populace of the time. The hunger for artistic stimulation which, to a large degree surpassed the hunger for food and creature comforts could not be better satisfied than in the theater and, best of all, in the music theater. The ensembles of both opera houses were, by and large, intact, and they found refuge in the few theaters that were only partially destroyed. These were rapidly repaired, if only provisionally, by the populace and even by the artists themselves. The Staatsoper installed itself in the Admiralspalast next to the Friedrichstrasse railway station (it is the present site of the Metropol Theater) in which both the Staatsoper and the Deutsches Opernhaus had found an alternative stage during the war when it was impossible to perform in their own houses. But the city was now divided into four sectors and there was a city commandant who had to put his seal of approval on everything. The Deutsches Opernhaus in the British sector was able to house its ensemble in the Theater des Westens which had - during the war - housed the Volksoper, an almost completely Nazi organization propagating the principle of »Strength through Joy« (»Kraft durch Freude«). Plans for the reconstruction of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden (known as the »Lindenoper«) were given priority and the house, so rich in its traditions, could be re- opened in 1955, two months before the Vienna Staatsoper.
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HEBBEL THEATER : |
In 1988 the "Werkstatt Berlin" paved the way for the Hebbel-Theater's pilot experiment. According to Volker Hassemer, the cultural senator of Berlin at the time, the "Werkstatt Berlin" was to carve West Berlin into the public consciousness as the "Cultural Capital of Europe". Under the direction of Nele Hertling, a rather unconventional programme was especially developed, dedicated almost exclusively to the production and presentation of contemporary culture. The central idea was to invite artists from around the world to Berlin in order to give creative life in the city new impetus. The creation of a network was underway. Thanks to the contacts gained through this project, the Hebbel-Theater was able to continue working on its image as a theatre offering an international programme almost seamlessly.
The concept with which the team at the Hebbel-Theater began in January 1989 was regarded as unusual and highly risky not only in Berlin, but in Germany in general: the theatre was without its own company, without a special repertoire or extensive administrative body, and with only a small team of regular employees and an artistic budget which was very limited in comparison with that of the usual state and city theatres. "When we began here, to see a pedestrian on the Stresemannstrasse was a rarity", remembers Nele Hertling today. Situated amongst post-war apartment blocks in the vicinity of the Berlin Wall, the Hebbel-Theater was at the time located in a rather desolate part of Berlin. This situation changed dramatically with the fall of the Wall in November 1989: "Suddenly we were in the middle of the city; we quickly hooked up with people from the East, and discovered great interest for contemporary dance and musical theatre."
Address: Stresemannstr. 29
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