Submerge Festival

Kasia Wolińska
Cécile Bally & Cathy Walsh
Isu Kim Lee & Analu
Mehdi Dahkan
Siegmar Zacharias
Yuni Chung / Chōri Collective는
Estelle Ebenga / iLondzo Company
Marlon Barrios Solano
Double Much Collective
Angie Hauser & Darrell Jones & Bebe Miller



SUBMERGE 2025 Open Call & Aufwandsentschädigung Lottery Winners>>

We received over 150 applications to the SUBMERGE open call and the jury was humbled by the task of creating a program from so much possibility. A huge thank you to everyone who submitted an application.

150 applications represent a tremendous investment of time and energy by artists, and we recognize that only a small number of applicants benefit from this effort. In an attempt to acknowledge the work that goes into self-production, we held a lottery for 20 artists who submitted thoughtful applications but were not selected. Each will receive a 100€ compensation for their work. Congratulations to the following lottery recipients:

Nahid Ansari, Katrina E. Bastian, Giorgia Calliari, KNOT Collective, Katerina Delalkoura, Franceska Fazi, Polina Fenko, Claudia Garbe, Giada Grieco, Katie Kelly, Stephanie LeBolt, Nano Luque, Daniella Marcozzi, Kinga Ötvos, Elena Rabkina, Rajyaschree Ramesh, Ramona Sekulovic, Maya Selezneva, Elisa De La Luz Irsara & Mariannna Sfyridi, Verena Steffen


SUBMERGE celebrates choreography and artistic solidarity. The festival consists of workshops taught as precursors to performances. The workshops function as “re-creative” labs where artists guide participants into the crafting of their work. Artists share the creative processes, movement techniques, choreographic/improvisational methods and conceptual journeys that contributed to the creation of the work. Each workshop includes a formal performance of the piece investigated in the lab.  

The idea behind the SUBMERGE Festival — to dive into, examine and share the creative process behind a particular performance work — grew out of a need to foster more solidarity in the ways that artists exchange and experience each other’s work.

SUBMERGE founder Marcela Giesche on her inspiration for the festival

“Years ago I took a workshop with a choreographer whose work I did not feel particularly close to. After the workshop, I saw another piece by this choreographer and I was shocked at how moved I was by the work. Having been part of the artist’s creative process profoundly changed my experience of the performance, and greatly influenced my approach to artistic exchange and creative process. This experience became the inspiration for the structure and concept of SUBMERGE Festival”  

SUBMERGE strives to reimagine the festival structure and whenever possible offers participation in the choreographic labs free of cost to local professionals. The hope is to discourage unnecessary travel while simultaneously fostering a non-hierarchical platform of exchange between the invited artists and the participants.  



upcoming:

SUBMERGE supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion