Production and Consultancy
In November 2001, The.Lab Art & Media was founded first of all as an agency for contemporary dance, but has ever increasingly taken on functions as producers, co-producers and as a project agency. Productions involving Joachim Schlömer, Amanda Miller and Susanne Linke have been generated in cooperation with renowned artistes, festivals and promoters such as Salzburger Festspiele, Opéra de Paris, Festival Theaterformen, Bühnen Köln, Opéra de Lausanne, pact Zollverein Essen, Theaterlabor Bielefeld, Dock 11 Berlin.
The team at The.Lab Art & Media combines experience gained from many years of work with different theatres and ballet / dance ensembles as well as from the sphere of film production. With that experience we accompany freelance artistes either as advisors, producers or managers.
Our lobby work on behalf of dance consists of the specialised exchange of information, and in advising theatre managers and ballet directors of German civic and federal state theatres. In conjunction with the Bühnen Köln (civic theatres in Cologne for opera, ballet and theatre), we developed a model with which we created a new artistic home for Amanda Miller’s Pretty Ugly Dance Company. 2005 to 2009 pretty ugly tanz köln has been Cologne’s new civic dance ensemble.
Together with other creators of dance and organisations, we would like to be a forum for the regional and international dance scene. We want to participate in the design of places at which it is possible to develop the conditions for performances and production as well as the placement, promotion and management of dance. We want to develop and gain spaces for newcomers and renowned choreographers, for trends and currents within that extremely lively art-form, dance .
Managing Director
Studied theatre at Cologne University. From 1982 – 1984 he worked as assistant director at Gelsenkirchen’s Musiktheater im Revier (Music Theatre in the Coal Mining District). Further training in Zurich and Munich was followed by theatre engagements in Hannover, Heilbronn and Nuremburg.
In 1992 he became the executive dramatic advisor for the Ballett der Städtischen Bühnen Nürnberg and in 1994, together with Uwe Möller, founded the internationally successful TANZWERK. In 1999 he transferred to the Tanztheater Basel (Switzerland), as manager. In the season 2001-2002
Dirk Elwert was the manager and dramatic advisor to the Tanzkompanie at Oldenburg’s civic theatre. In 2003 and 2005 he was the director of the International Ballet Tage Oldenburg.
He was a jury member in the TV channel Sat 1’s television show ‘You can dance’ in 2006-2007.
Since July 2002 Dirk Elwert has been the artistic production director and since 2009 the Managing Director at The.Lab Art & Media.
Artistic Project Director
Studied dance in Zurich and Monte Carlo. Engagements as a dancer in Monte Carlo, Munich, Nuremburg, Tokyo and Freiburg.
From 1994 – 97 he was one of the team of artistic directors at TANZWERK Nürnberg (Dance work Nuremburg), and in 1996 he won the subsidy award of the municipality of Nuremberg;
1997 – 2000 he was a dancer, artistic advisor to and then director of production for Amanda Miller (Ballett Freiburg Pretty Ugly) at the Freiburg (civic) Theatre. At the same time he took part in further training for the sphere of cultural management at the Pädagogischen Hochschule (University of Education) at Ludwigsburg.
In 2000 he transferred to the position of Director of Production for Joachim Schlömer at the Tanztheater Basel (Switzerland) part of the civic theatre there. Since August 2001 he has been working in Berlin as a project manager in the field of dance / opera.
Uwe Möller has been the Managing Director at The.Lab Art & Media Berlin from 2002-2009, from 2005 - 2009 he has been the Director with managerial responsibility at pretty ugly tanz köln.
Contractual and Financial Affairs
Studied political science at the Free University (FU) Berlin. During his studies he worked in various posts: as operator of a cinema, festival organiser, executive producer in film, as an employee of the Berlin International Film Festival, and freelance author. 1986 – 1988 he was an academic assistant in the political science department at the FU Berlin.
After that from 1988 – 1990 he worked as the academic assistant for the German Parliament’s sub-committee for cultural policies in foreign affairs.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he was commissioned by the West German ministry for inner-German relations to become advisor to the Minister for Culture of the German Democratic Republic.
From 1991 – 1998 he was the director of the Stiftung für kulturelle Weiterbildung und Kulturberatung (the statutory foundation for cultural continuing education and cultural consultancy) in Berlin.
Since 1999 he has been the managing director of the film production company OCTOPUS MEDIA.
Bernd Vorjans is responsible for the spheres of contractual and financial affairs at The Lab Art & Media.