IRIEDAILY friendly supports: CDC Festival | 25.05. – 29.05.2022 in Berlin Neukölln

Finally CDC Festival again! After the CDC Festival had to be cancelled the last two years due to pandemic, the dance event can finally take place again. The Dance Festival runs from 25.05. to 29.05.2022 at the Gemeinschaftshaus Gropiusstadt in Berlin-Neukölln.
This year the program is even more extensive: Culture Dance Camp with 19 workshops, Culture Dance Clash including Show Contest & Dance Battles, Welcome Jam Session, Conference with international speakers, exhibition with art from Africa and the Diaspora, exclusive Dance Theater Show (European Premiere) and aftershow parties!

The event was initiated by the M.I.K. Family & TopUp Production and is now organized by the Neukölln-based association MINCE e.V., which unites members of both labels and promotes anti-racist youth and cultural work with and through black dance cultures. Black dance cultures, their significance and the actors are highlighted at the CDC Festival. At the same time, the awareness of power dynamics in the cultural sector is increased and discrimination and racism critically educated.

“Europes biggest Dance Festival celebrating Black cultures”

CDC_Festival_2019_6, — CDC Festival 2019

Culture Dance Camp | 25.05. – 29.05.22

The Culture Dance Camp offers 19 dance workshops with the world’s most renowned instructors in their genres, including Afrobeats, Azonto, Afro Fusion, Dancehall, Litefeet and Voguing. The workshops will take place on all five days, led by 17 dance instructors.

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Culture Dance Clash | 27.05. – 28.05.22

Culture Dance Clash is a spectacular platform for dancers of different street dance styles to exchange and present their art in an empowering environment. Culture Dance Clash includes a choreographic show contest, several freestyle battle categories and the innovative CDC Festival Culture Concept, to which the world’s most popular dancers are invited annually.

Show Contest

For more than 8 years the Show Contest has been held, where international professional dance shows are brought to the stage. Since 2018, it is divided into two categories: Dancehall (style related) and Streetdance (open to all street dance cultures).
Dance crews can apply until 13.05.22 with a video (training or show). In the first round on 27.05. the shows will be judged by a jury, the two best crews will enter the final on 28.05.22. In the final the audience will decide which crew will take home the victory!

Battles & Culture Concept

Since 2015, the M.I.K.. Family has developed a unique battle concept. In the “Cypher Concept”, dancers compete against each other 1 vs 1 in the categories Afro Fusion, Dancehall & Hip Hop.
In 2019, the supreme discipline “Culture Concept” was added. The Culture Concept is an All Style category, where six invited guest dancers plus four dancers that went through a preselection round get to show their art and skills in a Cypher. After each round the dancers themselves vote out the – in their opinion – weakest dancer in this round. When two dancers are left, the three previously eliminated dancers will judge the final round, unless the dancers themselves decide about who won the Culture Concept.
All battles and the Culture Concept will take place on Saturday, 28.05.22 from 12-20h.

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Dance Theathre “From Den Til Now” | 25.05. & 29.05.22

Another special highlight will be the two performances of the award-winning dancehall musical “From Den Til Now”. The European premiere by the Company Theatre Xpressionz from Kingston (Jamaica) will be staged in a new Afro-diasporic adaptation. It is directed by Orville Hall, who will perform the show together with dancers from Ghana and Afrodiasporic dancers living in Europe. The performance is a musical dance journey into the past, linking Jamaican popular culture with its African roots, political history and love of freedom.
The show will take place on 25.05.22 at 8:30 pm and 29.05.22 at 5:30 pm.

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Art exhibition, conference & parties

Under the title “Roots and Routes of the African Diaspora”, an exhibition of works by the artist collective “MÁVÁRÁ: Shades of Africa” and the photography project “Crowns” explores the roots of the African Diaspora and artistically points out a route.

A conference under the same title will provide knowledge about unknown, hidden and concealed stories of, with and about African and Afrodiasporic people through five international experts.

The program is rounded off by West African and Jamaican food during the day and unforgettable after-show parties at night – including an exclusive boat ride party.

M.I.K. Family & TopUp Production

The M.I.K. Family was founded in 2006 as a dance crew. Today they are more than “just” a dance group. Their activities range from social work, dance theatre, TV shows, modeling, DJing to dance courses and the organization of their own events. The M.I.K. Family is characterized by the different dance skills of its members: from classical Hip Hop and Streetdance over Krump and House up to dynamic Lite Feet and Afro Styles.

TopUp Production is a team of six young women whose mission is to promote and endorse afro diasporic popular culture in Berlin, Germany and Europe. They want to enhance cultural exchange and understanding between the Caribbean and the Western culture and wish that both sides can learn from each other and thus, enrich their way of living, thinking and creating art.

What: CDC Festival 2022
When: 25.05. – 29.05.2022
Where: Gemeinschaftshaus Gropiusstadt, Bat-Yam-Platz 1, 12353 Berlin
Web: www.cdc-festival.com/

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