Four times throughout the year, Dirty Debüt offers four emerging performance artists a platform to show sketches, unfinished projects, or even dirty works in response to a concrete theme or idea. The performances themselves are then are followed up by a discussions and a feedback session over a shared meal. Each new edition will employ different methods of giving and receiving feedback, which will be led and moderated by changing guests with relevant expertise.
Dirty Debüt doesn’t only focus on the visibility of performance artists that still fly under the radar of most houses and their visitors. It also highlights the wide range of the whole performance scene: the so-called performance theater; performances in the tradition of body art; and exchange between performance and dance or visual art. Dirty Debüt is a gathering place for a variety of approaches, formats and forms of expression and brings them all together onto one stage.
Sandra Umathum studied Theater Studies, English and Italian literature and philosophy in Berlin and Vienna. She is a writer and a dramaturge in the field of performance and dance and, since 2019, professor for (applied) theory dance, choreography, performance at the Inter-University Center for Dance Berlin (HZT).
Björn Pätz completed his studied in theater studies and new German literature at Freie Universität Berlin. He has coordinated press and PR work for numerous projects and festivals within the independent performing arts community since 2004. Beginning in 2006, he also began working as a production manager for artists. In 2010, he co-founded björn & björn, a company for PR, production and dramaturgy. Since 2020 Björn Pätz works as a production and tour manager at the Schauspielhaus Zürich.
Joshua Wicke works as a dramaturge and curator at the intersection of performance, dance and theatre. Most recently, he held a teaching position at the Free University of Berlin and co-curated the artistic-discursive para-parliament "Palace of the Republic" at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. Since the 2019/20 season he has been working as a dramaturg at the Schauspielhaus Zurich. His current interest is in the ecologies of the institution and unfocused theatre.
Maxi Wallenhorst *1993, is a writer based in Berlin. After studying Applied Theatre and Cultural Studies in Gießen and Berlin, they are now pursuing a MA in Gender Studies. Maxi’s recent work evolves around messy feelings and weak performances. Among other places, their writing has appeared in , the FAS, Edit, _sync and Merkur.