
The Dance Arena board has appointed Kerstin Schroth as the new artistic director of Moving in November festival for a 3-year fixed-term position. Schroth will curate the festival programme of 2020–2022.
Kerstin Schroth is a performing arts manager and curator based in Paris and Berlin. From 2006 to 2019 she acted as company manager of Great Investment, the organizational structure for choreographer Mette Ingvartsen. In 2006 Schroth initiated the sommer.bar festival within Tanz im August, Berlin and curated it for six years.
Schroth lectures, among others, at DOCH (Stockholm), Universität der Künste/ Sommerakademie (Berlin) and University of Gießen on production management, finances, curating, communication, time management, organization, and working conditions within the performing arts.
“Kerstin’s belief in the potential of contemporary dance and performing arts is inspiring. She has strong strategic skills and an extensive knowledge of the international performing arts scene and its networks. We believe that with Kerstin as its artistic director, Moving in November festival will continue to develop locally and to strengthen its position internationally,” states Liisa Pentti, chairman of the board of Dance Arena and Isabel González, executive producer of Moving in November festival, who oversaw the recruitment process.
“I believe there is a real need for the performing arts community to open up more, and it is up to us to reflect and discuss collectively what art and culture represents, in all their diversity, complexity and richness. We must feed ourselves with difference, scarcity, the unknown, contradiction, and resist the temptation to secure existing models and systems,” says Kerstin Schroth.
In total 16 persons and 5 teams from the local and international field applied for the position. The 2019 festival is curated by Mikael Aaltonen, who will join the programming team of Dance House Helsinki in September 2019.