Johanna Figl

Johanna Figl is the Artistic Director of SZENE BUNTE WÄHNE  in Austria

 

I was born in 1977 in St.Pölten, Lower Austria. After completing my A-levels at a grammar school with an artistic focus I spent a year in London to improve my English and get some work experience.

 

In 1997 I started my master studies in Drama- Film and Media Studies as a main subject at Vienna University. In addition I studied Communication, Pedagogy and Ethnology.

In 2000 I attended a student exchange programme and studied at DAMS University in Bologna, Italy. There I took up modern dance classes after I had stopped dancing for about ten years. During my studies I worked at arts exhibitions of my parents, presented antiques and modern arts paintings, and did some volunteer work as an assistant director. I also worked as a theatre critic for an independent magazine for two years.

 

In 2003 I got in touch with SZENE BUNTE WÄHNE. It is an association taking care of art and culture for young audiences. It was founded with the goal to bring internationally renowned performing arts companies for young audiences to a region (Waldviertel in Lower Austria) where cultural offers for children and teenagers had not existed before. Its main work consists of the two festivals: the SZENE BUNTE WÄHNE Festival which presents all different genres of performing arts for young audiences in different small towns of the region. Currently it’s taking place in Horn (where the head quarter of SZENE BUNTE WÄHNE is located), Krems, Zwettl, St.Pölten (all in Austria) and Juíndrichuv Hradec and Telc (in the neighbour country of the Czech Republic).

 

The SZENE BUNTE WÄHNE Tanzfestival takes place in Vienna and is the only annual international festival of modern dance for children and teenagers.

 

After three festivals in which I worked as stage manager I was offered to do the programming of the festivals with two other young people. Two years later I became the artistic director of SZENE BUNTE WÄHNE, being in charge of the programme of the annual SZENE BUNTE

WÄHNE Festival and the annual SZENE BUNTE WÄHNE Tanzfestival.

 

Since 2005 I have been a board member of ASSITEJ Austria. Since 2006 SZENE BUNTE WÄHNE not only presents companies, but also produces, selects artists and theatre pieces. These are other tasks I undertake.