Windhoek — On Monday 10 Namibian dancers and their choreographer boarded the Air Namibia flight to Berlin under the "shared experiences" project of p.art.ners berlin-windhoek.

The dancers will stay in Berlin for two weeks as guests of the Atrium Youth Art School. Together with dancers from the Faster-Than-Light Dance Company they will rehearse for a professional dance production under the direction of the internationally renowned choreographer, Volker Eisenach. The rehearsed show will be presented to the Berlin public in three different shows.

P.art.ners berlin-windhoek have set themselves the goal to support and initiate cultural and artistic exchange between Windhoek and its partner city Berlin.

Through working together, artists from the two countries can share talents, ideas and knowledge, leading to a better cultural understanding and interaction. Everybody benefits as they can learn new skills or approaches from each other.

In line with the idea of an eye-level exchange in both ways, the Berlin dancers will be invited for a return visit to Namibia next year when they will work on another joint production under the direction of local choreographer Philippe Talavera.

The Namibian dancers from the OYO troupe are between 18 and 25 years old and come from different parts of the country, some as far away as Ruacana (Omusati Region), Outjo (Kunene Region) and Omaruru (Erongo Region). They have recently participated in the highly successful 'The Namibian Odysseus' dance production staged by the Ombetja Yehinga Organisation. Now they have the opportunity to show their talents and represent Namibia on an international stage.

The talented dancers selected for the projects are forming the core of the troupe and are currently rehearsing new short pieces for local and international productions. In order to ensure the exchange is successful and the skills learnt are transferable, they will be tasked, once back in their respective communities, to train local youth groups.