Making a Difference

Workshop with Ben Evans – Beyond Essential Access

Together with our partner Tanz im August, we are offering a workshop exploring considerations for multi-partner projects and programmes when working with Deaf, disabled, neurodivergent and chronically ill artists.

August 22, 2026, 11:00-14:00h
HAU Hebbel am Ufer (HAU2 Studio)
       
10:30–11:00 Relaxed Arrivals and Access Orientation
11:00–14:00 Workshop, including breaks

Ben Evans, Director of the European project, Europe Beyond Access, will introduce some of the questions that arise specifically when working on multi-partner and international programmes which present and support Deaf, disabled, neurodivergent and chronically ill artists. Participants will work collaboratively to consider questions of access and GDPR, of safeguarding, and of organisational access riders. The workshop assumes some experience with the ‘basics’ of accessibility, and will focus on those topics where there is no obvious answer.

The workshop will be held in spoken English. Some supporting visual text will be supplied in German. The festival is working on a translation into German Sign Language (DGS), please check their website for the latest updates.

Target group:

The workshop is aimed at disabled artists and and disabled professionals in the performing arts, as well as those who work with them.

(Note: the session will include discussion of safeguarding responsibility, and will refer briefly to examples of abuse of power and financial, physical and sexual abuse)

Registration:

Please register under access@tanzimaugust.de and inform them, if you have any accessibility requirements or specific needs that they should know about.

Accessibility:

HAU2 is accessible without stairs. There are two designated parking spaces next to the building (on Großbeerenstraße). There is a ramp and a lift that can be operated without assistance. The doors to the box office and evening box office open and close with the touch of a button, located to the left of the door. There are sanitary facilities for people with disabilities. The entrance is at ground level. There is not tactile guiding system. Personal assistants do not need to be registered. You are welcome to bring your assistance animals. If you do so, we kindly ask you to notify us in advance.

Click here for the audio flyer

OPEN CALL: Teaching residency for a disabled, Deaf, or chronically ill artist

WHAT AND FOR WHOM

Making a Difference is offering a two-week residency at the Hochschule für Künste im Sozialen, Ottersberg (HKS) for a disabled, Deaf, or chronically ill artist from Berlin or Lower Saxony. The artists’ practice should be related to the field of dance and performance.

The residency comprises one week of independent research on a teaching topic and format, and one week of teaching at the university with students from the degree programme. The weeks can be arranged consecutively or in two blocks, depending on the artist’s preference.

Please apply with a description of your teaching practice. It does not need to be fully developed yet — it can also include approaches or questions you would like to explore further during the residency.

For this open call, we will only consider applications from disabled, Deaf, or chronically ill individuals.

TIMELINES

Option 1 (consecutive weeks)

October 11                           → Arrival
Until 16 October                  → 1 week of on-site research
19 to 23 October                 → 1 week of teaching
24 October                           → Departure

Option 2 (2 weeks in separate blocks)

7 September – 16 October             → 1 week on-site research (upon agreement)
18 October                           → Arrival
19 to 23 October                 → 1 week of teaching
24 October                           → Departure

WHAT WE OFFER

• At least one Studio for research
• Teaching space for classes
• Fee for 2 weeks for 1 person: €900/week
• Coverage of travel and accommodation costs
• Per diems
• Support from an access or communication assistant on site (scheduled upon agreement)

STUDIO & TEACHING SPACE

Space Description

• one large wooden floor studio with ballet barres and a mirror
• two smaller studios are with a black marley dance floor
• teaching rooms and studios all have monitors that can connect with laptops
• dance studios are equipped with sound systems that can connect with mobile phones, ipads, and laptops

Access

The dance and theater studios are located on the first floor. There is an elevator. The doors are touch based electronically and the flooring is cement.

Accessible bathrooms are located on the ground floor.

Wide, step-free accessible showers are right next to the studios, also on the first floor.

There is a tactile guidance system in the student areas of the university; however, it does not extend to the areas designated for teaching staff.

There is access to a kitchen room on the main entrance floor (below the dance studios). The Mensa (cafeteria) usually serves a Vegan menu from Monday until Wednesday at 1:30pm until 2:00pm.

The university is located in a quiet area with a big street in front and fields behind the building.

The nearest Super Market is Rewe and is 1.6 km from HKS-Ottersberg. There is an Italian and Greek Restaurant 1.3 km from the campus. Rossman, Aldi and Netto are 2.2 km from HKS.

TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION

Travel, accommodation and local transport will be arranged in consultation with Making a Difference, based on individual access needs and preferences.

The university is ca. 3,5 km away from Ottersberg railway station.

Information about how to arrive by car, train local bus or taxi can be found here: https://www.hks-ottersberg.de/EN/about_us/find_us.php

APPLICATION

Please include the following materials in your application:

1. A short teaching sketch

• Give us a brief insight into your artistic and/or pedagogical practice
• Describe the teaching topics you would like to develop from it and why
• Do you already have a facilitation/education practice, or ideas for what teaching formats you would like to develop?
• Do you work with theoretical or discursive references? If so, which ones?
• Address questions of access in/to your practice
• How many hours per day would you teach?
• What forms of feedback and/or documentation can you envision?
• Do you already know about the desired or required spatial setup and equipment?

2. A short bio
3. Optional: an access rider or information on your access needs

You may submit your application as:

• PDF text (max. 3 pages: teaching sketch + bio)
• Audio (max. 7 minutes)
• Video (max. 5 minutes)

DEADLINE

Submit applications via email or download link to mad@uferstudios.com.

Deadline: July 19, 2026, 23:59

Subject line: “Application Teaching Residency HKS”

Applicants may expect a response by August 7.

QUESTIONS AND CONTACT

If you do not fully see yourself reflected in the conditions of this open call, we encourage you to get in touch—we are open to conversation.

For access-related questions or to discuss your needs, please contact Making a Difference:

Email: mad@uferstudios.com

Phone: +49 30 460 60 887 (leave a message for us, we’ll call you back)

DGS Video of the Open Call:

Further funding through TANZPAKT Stadt-Land-Bund

Making a Difference has once again been selected for funding in the fourth round of applications for TANZPAKT Stadt-Land-Bund! Over the next three years, we will continue our work to empower disabled, Deaf, and chronically ill artists in dance!

We are particularly pleased that our network will continue to grow in the new project phase: with HAU Hebbel am Ufer / Tanz im August and Radialsystem, two important Berlin institutions are joining us. At the same time, we are establishing permanent collaborations in five other federal states for the first time with Kampnagel Hamburg, tanzhaus nrw, Theater RAMPE Stuttgart, Festival Theaterformen/Real Dance Festival Hannover/Braunschweig, and the University of the Arts in Social Work, Ottersberg.

The aim is to make the approaches developed in Berlin for barrier-free production and presentation processes accessible nationwide on a sustainable basis. Together with these partners, who already pursue inclusive programs, standards for barrier removal, fair working conditions, and long-term prospects in artistic work are being developed. Residencies, co-productions, guest performances, and knowledge transfer go hand in hand with peer-to-peer empowerment, awareness-raising, and mediation formats.

In this way, we are continuing on our path of not only demanding structural change, but also actively implementing it—and continuously strengthening the visibility of a growing community.

We look forward to the next three years!