Hip Hop goes Theatre

I have been producing Austria’s first hip hop dance theater festival since 2008.

Background

“Hip Hop goes Theater” is an international hip hop theater festival that has taken place annually in Salzburg, Austria since 2008. It is produced by the NPO “Urban Foundation” and is under the artistic direction of Alexander Wengler and Sergej Pumper. The festival, which was originally founded by Alexander Wengler’s dance company “Nobulus”, has been taking place at the “Republic Salzburg” venue since 2012 and offers a platform for the development of new theater work with local and international hip-hop artists.

The festival presents itself as a unique crossover project that brings the young, powerful culture of the urban dance scene to classical theater stages. It promotes the creative energy of young urban culture, supports artists from the local scene and presents international pieces from the urban dance theater genre. The performances usually last between 90 and 120 minutes, with up-and-coming and young groups being presented in the first part and established companies performing their internationally successful pieces after the break.

The task

Urban Art

becomes high culture

In addition to supporting the programming director of the festival, I am primarily responsible for all further production steps of the festival.

I take care of the booking of the artists, the occasional in-house productions of the Urban Foundation association, as well as all organizational tasks.

Always in the back of my mind and my cooperation partners is the mission that the festival has.

Promote and establish urban art, offer the audience unique culture and anchor the hip hop dance genre as socially acceptable in contemporary high culture.

A snapshot

100 pieces – 800 artists

The following trailer from 2016 can only give a rough idea of what project dimension it is.

The 2-year program focuses on supporting local artists, groups and associations, with only Austrian productions being included in odd years and top international acts from the urban theater scene in even years in order to support exchange and professionalization.

Results

>15 years of urban art on the theater stage

An estimated 20,000 visitors have experienced “Hip Hop goes Theater” over the course of its existence; the urban art and culture scene, which is still relatively young at almost 50 years old, has only just begun to establish itself in cultural history.

The festival has certainly contributed a significant part to the growth of this very popular art form and I am very proud to be a part of it.