Since 2009, ALTANA Cultural Foundation presents KulturTagJahr together with Foundation Stiftung Polytechnische Gesellschaft.
The foundation has its origin in Polytechnical Society, dating back to 1816. Being a union of citizens with a long tradition and heritage Polytechnical Society developed from the desire to support progress in the fields of education, science, technology, culture, and commerce. Shortly after, Polytechnicians founded Frankfurter Sparkasse 1822 (a regional bank). In 2005 the bank was divested to Hessische Landesbank (the government bank of the state of Hesse). In November 2005, Polytechnische Gesellschaft founded with the gross amount of €397'000'000 the Foundation Polytechnische Gesellschaft. The foundation works on operative and a distributive levels in three areas. 1. Education, science, and technology. 2. Arts, culture, and cultural heritage. 3. Social, humanitarian, and charitable needs. The foundation focusses its philanthropy locally on Frankfurt. Its activities derive from the polytechnical tradition, which roots in German enlightenment. Education and responsibility in a holistic sense coin the actions of the foundation.
HKM supports ALTANA Cultural Foundation's transdisciplinary KulturTagJahr because the program constitutes an intensive challenge for children and young people with the arts which may develop key competences which are demanded by a contemporary and future oriented understanding of education. HKM supports all different schoolforms in establishing a cultural profile through emphasizing aesthetic subjects and with regards to aesthetic learning approaches in all classes. A number of "musical" primary schools and "schools with a music emphasis" plus an increasing number of "culture schools" successfully work together in a close network and cooperate with music schools, cultural institutions, and artists.
Since 2009, The Forsythe Company is a partner to KulturTagJahr. At Bettina School and IGS Nordend, dancers of the company worked with students. In the 2012/13 school term, 100 IGS students presented a part of their final presentation in the studio of The Forsythe Company for the first time. In founding the company in 2005, William Forsythe created a new and flexible structure for the development of the multifaceted, creative work he had started at Frankfurt Ballet. Forsythe has a reputation for understanding classical ballet as a repertoire of ideas which offer a rich potential for fostering artistic structures. With an ensemble of 17 dancers he creates pieces such as performances, installations, film, and educational media and thus continues an intensive process of collaboration which he developed in 30 years.
The Forsythe Company is Company-in-Residence at HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts in Dresden and at Bockenheimer Depot in Frankfurt. The Forsythe Company is supported by the Saxonian capital Dresden, the State of Saxony, the city of Frankfurt, and the State of Hesse.
Since 2009, Ensemble Modern is a partner to KulturTagJahr and takes the lead in the music period in three schools. As one of the leading (solist-)ensembles in Europe in contemporary music with global tours and engagements, Ensemble Modern offers children and young people a first step towards a new understanding of music through this project.
Already in 1984, musicians of Ensemble Modern taught classes at conservatoires while touring South America. This educational aspect since then has always been integrated in the work of Ensemble Modern. After having participated in a Response project in the the context of "Berlin – European Capital of Culture 1988" together with London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern has always introduced recent educational ideas from to Germany. As a result, the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA) was founded in which scholars work on highest professional levels. Through “KulturTagJahr” IEMA takes an important step towards teaching contemporary music. Next to the direct participation of Ensemble Modern musicians in “KulturTagJahr”, ALTANA Cultural Foundation supports a scholarship on teaching music by Ensemble Modern to promote the teaching of music in an out-of-school context.
Actresses and actors of Schauspiel Frankfurt frequently participate in ALTANA Cultural Foundations KulturTagJahr. A number of actresses and actors work on a weekly rhythm on KulturTagJahr schools and rehearse with students how to deliver texts. Schauspiel Frankfurt has a strong tradition and is the largest dramatic stage in the Rhine-Main area; it is a respected venue beyond the region and finds national recognition. Since 2009/10, Oliver Reese is the artistic director of Schauspiel Frankfurt. 32 actresses and actors form the heart of its ensemble and its repertoire. Profiled directors such as Michael Thalheimer, Andreas Kriegenburg, Stephan Kimmig, Karin Henkel, and René Pollesch direct at four different venues: Schauspielhaus, Kammerspiele, Box, and Bockenheimer Depot. Some 30 productions are created every season. As a repertoire theatre, Schauspiel Frankfurt delivers different productions every day. Next to staging the classic repertoire of Goethe, Schiller, Lessing, and Kleist, the venue also supports new writing and German premieres. On top, Junges Schauspiel offers acting projects, workshops, and an open actor's training to young people. Pedagogues may attend before- or after-classes to get a better understanding of the conditions of creating theatre and its processes.
In 2013, HfMDK celebrates its 75th anniversary. In 1938 it developed from Dr Hoch's conservatoire – Joseph Hoch's foundation tracing back to 1878. Five years after its inauguration, HfMDK was destroyed during the war and teaching could not re-installed until 1947. Teaching areas were extended repeatedly and in the meantime include music theatre, drama, and dance. Today, HfMDK has a reputation for its excellent curriculum involving ambitious tutors who themselves are successful artists, scientists, or pedagogues. At the present 63 professors and 350 assistant lecturers teach some 900 students. The colourful artistic program mirrors itself in 20 different degree courses which are taught at HfMDKsuccessfully and in step with actual practice. Be it an instrument or voice, composition, conducting, consecrated music, historical interpretation, contemporary and classical dance, acting, directing, theatre- and orchestra-management, teaching positions, music teaching, and music studies – the last offering the possibility to receive a PhD.
ALTANA Cultural Foundation supports MA Contemporary Dance Education (MA CoDE) under the chair of Prof Ingo Diehl. Students participate in “KulturTagJahr” and operate dance classes together with The Forsythe Company.
The MA is embedded in HfMDK's department of contemporary and classical dance and addresses professional dancers, performers, choreographers who want to research the fundaments of their work. The conception of the degree course took increasing challenges and current artistic developments in the professional field into account. It aims at teaching educationists and dance pedagogues who merge their educational work with highest aesthetic standards, be it in professional trainings or as a choreographic assistant at municipal theaters or in the independent theatre scene, as dance teachers at universities and colleges, at private dance schools or with regards to dance in kindergartens and regular schools. Graduates are supposed to use their knowledge in various fields and to shape the future of dance through the CoDE network. All these various proposals and the connections to the professional field are operated in close cooperation with Tanzlabor_21/Tanzbasis Frankfurt_Rhein_Main and The Forsythe Company/Motion Bank. This pact allows to sample innovative approaches to training and transdisciplinary educational formats.
Goldstein Studio belongs to Lebenshilfe e.V. (an association supporting challenged people) and is a Frankfurt based artist's colony which was co-founded and run by Christiane Cuticchio. Challenged artists and arts tutors work in the fields of painting, sculpture, modeling, photography, and film. In 2014/15 artists from Goldstein studio cooperate for the first time with ALTANA Cultural Foundation and participate in KulturTagJahr at IGS Nordend.
Freie Kunstakademie Frankfurt e.V. addresses its course of studies to the general public without any age restriction and delivers basic competences in a wide range of artistic disciplines while treating traditional and contemporary media equally. Practical and theoretical classes are led by highly motivated professional visual artists who have a strong experience in teaching as well as an extended body of work. ALTANA Cultural Foundation is a partner to Freie Kunstakademie Frankfurt and supports it by sharing studios in Frankfurt.
Clément Foundation supports the musical and cultural education of children and young people. In an economised world, skills and gifts which are hard to measure financially do not easy find encouragement. Yet they are extremely relevant when it comes to building a solid character. Artistic expression in dance, music, painting, sculpture, etc helps the individual to discover her uniqueness, an own perception, abilities, and emotions and to live a life independent of outside judgment. Living a life in concord can lead to live a fulfilled life. Through the support of Clément Foundation an additional cultural class could be installed at Charles Hallgarten School. For the first time, KulturTagJahr artists could continue to work with the past year's KulturTagJahr alumni from the 8th grade in twelve sessions.
ID_Frankfurt/Independent Dance e.V. is a non-profit association of professional free lance artists in the Rhine-Main area who work in developing, teaching, and presenting choreographic or performative pieces. The association aims at supporting contemporary ways of production and development, its content, aesthetics as well as teaching in the field of contemporary dance, choreography, and performance.
