‘Taking on the artistic direction of the Festspielhaus St. Pölten is both a challenge and a labour of love. The Festspielhaus is an outstanding presentation venue for dance and a major international co-production partner for the contemporary dance and ballet scene. It also houses the Tonkunstler Orchestra as orchestra in residence, offering the unique opportunity to creatively combine the artforms of dance and music. I see the Festspielhaus as a venue on the intersection of tradition and the present, with a heart for the contemporary international canon. It’s a hotbed for artistic creation and a fertile and bustling oasis for artists and visitors. An inclusive place that combines, on the one hand, an encounter with dance, music and art that express the present moment with, on the other, the preservation of heritage. It’s not only national capitals where you can make distinctive statements. That’s why I’m looking forward to designing a striking, controversial, original, genre-blurring and occasionally daring programme for the Festspielhaus St. Pölten. A programme that appeals to a diverse and broad public and sees itself, even when its work is international, as part of the social life of the city of St. Pölten.” (Bettina Masuch)
Livestream on demand: press conference from 30th of October 2020 (in German)
Bettina Masuch studied theatre in Giessen, Germany. After working in dramaturgy at the Kaaitheater in Brussels and the Theaterhaus Jena, in 1998 she moved to the Volksbühne in Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin and worked there as dramaturg for productions by Frank Castorf, Christoph Schlingensief and René Pollesch. In 2002 and 2003 she was production dramaturg for the choreographer Meg Stuart at the Schauspielhaus Zürich. From 2003 to 2008 Bettina Masuch worked as a dance curator for the Berlin theatre Hebbel am Ufer. She was a member of the artistic management team of the renowned dance festival Tanz im August until 2008, and in 2013 was the artistic director of its 25th anniversary edition. She was also artistic director of the Springdance Festival in Utrecht from 2009 to 2013. Since January 2014 Bettina Masuch has been intendant of the tanzhaus nrw in Düsseldorf, which under her management was awarded the national prize “Theaterpreis des Bundes” in 2017. She edits and writes for a range of specialist journals and holds lectureships at universities in Germany and internationally. Bettina Masuch is a member of various juries and expert committees, including the German Federal Cultural Foundation, the performing arts fund Fonds Darstellende Künste and the Goethe-Institut. In autumn 2022 Ms Masuch will take the creative helm of the Festspielhaus St. Pölten.
