2022 Tanja Liedtke Fellowship

Joel Small at the adaStudio

The ada Studio’s cooperation with the Tanja Liedtke Foundation enters its tenth year this summer! Together we have survived the time of the pandemic – we are very grateful for that! 
The now fifth Tanja-Liedtke scholarship holder is Joel Small. He will use the three-week residency at the ada Studio to do research for his project TRANSITIONS. Joel writes about his research, “TRANSITIONS is a personal story. It is about the process and discovery of my fluid gender identity. The idea for TRANSITIONS came to me almost two years ago – a year after I discovered drag. In celebration of drag culture, I want to tell this story in a theatrical way, with the aim of bridging the gap between drag culture and contemporary dance theatre.”

On 12 August 2022, Joel Small invites you to an open rehearsal as part of “reinkommen” at ada Studio.
All information is available on adaStudio Homepage
Entry is free. Reservations via ticket@ada-studio.de

From 14 August 2022, 10 a.m., to 17 August 2022, 11.59 p.m., “reinkommen” will also be available as a video stream on the ada Studio homepage.

Joel said about the Fellowship at this stage of the development of his work:

“Sharing my rehearsal run through with the Tanja Liedke Foundation was an honor. It helped to remind me that the piece Transitions is always in Transition. Today it existed as it did, tomorrow we hope it will continue to evolve.“

Tanja Liedtke Fellow 2022

Gerlinde Liedtke, from the board of the foundation on Joel’s selection as the fellow:

“We are so impressed by the ingenuity of Joel’s ideas and visions. Aiming to blend multiple art-forms in a way we haven’t considered before, and that is exciting. Joel was authentic, expressive and personable in the interview, and is a delight to observe in conversations about the ideas and visions for the fellowship. We so look forward to support this inspiring and inspired artist to discover new territory for dance-theatre expression.”

Joel on news of receiving the fellowship:

“It has been a deeply moving experience for me to write my concept on paper and to share it with the deciding panel. When I heard that I have been chosen as the 2022 Tanja Liedtke Fellow I was a quite speechless. Now, I am flooded with gratitude and excitement to begin this journey. Thank you TLF panel.”