About

Künstlerin/Choreografin, Kuratorin, Dramaturgin

Barbara Schmidt-Rohr is a freelance artist, curator, choreographer, dramaturge and filmmaker. She studied German language and literature, philosophy and politics in Heidelberg and dance and choreography in Amsterdam and New York in the early 1980s. She has lived in Hamburg since 1992 and has repeatedly developed new performance formats in the context of the artists' collective Tanzinitiative Hamburg, which were consistently generated in the encounter of artists from different genres along the lines of artistic questions. She has worked as a curator and dramaturge in numerous local and international collaborations.
In her own work, she currently realizes productions at the interfaces of choreography, scenic installation, video art and the digital with changing co-authors and teams. She combines her concerns with a very unique aesthetic signature, resulting in creations that are very close to the visual arts and film. She has been dealing with the increasingly urgent ecological crises for years and also collaborates with children and young people, whose fears and aspirations for the future flow into her works. As a dance dramaturge, consultant and mentor, she currently accompanies numerous choreographers from Hamburg and Berlin. She was on the board of the umbrella organization for the independent performing arts in Hamburg for 8 years and is now active in cultural policy on the association's advisory board. She has been a member of the Senate Dance Jury in Bremen since 2021.

Kontakt

Barbara Schmidt-Rohr
b.schmidtrohr@tanzinitiative.de
Instagram: @barbaraschmidtrohr

Current

  • Exhibition & Performance

    Do Butterflies Cry?

    Theatre at the Bunker, Feldstrasse 66, Hamburg, free entrance

    → Programm

  • Dramaturgy

    id:your girlfriend - Treibstoff Festival Basel

    Guest Performance

    → Festival Treibstoff Basel

  • Dramaturgy

    A place called home-WA

    by Monique Smith-McDowell

    → Kampnagel

  • Mentoring

    Lenz

    by Alina Sobotta

    → Kampnagel Programm

  • Dramaturgy

    id: Your Girlfriend

    by Sujin Lee & Team

    → We Present Festival

  • Dramaturgy

    a Place called Home

    by Monique Smith-Macdowell

    → Kampnagel Programm

  • dramaturgical advice

    Id: Your Girlfriends

    by Sujin Lee & Team

    → Lichthof-Theater

  • Damaturgy

    I want to be a swamp by Yolanda Morales

    Fabrik Potsdam, Festival Kunst und Klima

    → Fabrik Potsdam

  • Dramaturgy

    Touch ID

    by Linda Lou Matzke & Sylvester Röpcke

    → erotic art museum

  • Installation

    Rest and Resistance

    Theater-Modell for:
    Theater der Zukunft - 30 years Lichthof-Theater

    → Theater der Zukunft

  • Dramaturgy

    The garden of falling sands-Festival Hamburg

    Fringify, Festival of the independent art
    Hamburg

    → Fringify

  • Festival

    &Friends Festival

    Festival 10 Tage freischwimmen / Stuttgart

    → 10 Tage freischwimmen

  • Dramaturgy

    I want to be a swamp

    by Yolanda Morales and Team

    → Choreografisches Zentrum auf Kampnagel

  • Dramaturgy

    München HochX The Garden for falling sands

    The garden of falling sands

    → Horch X

  • Dramaturgy

    The Garden of falling Sands

    Danceperformance by Yolanda Morales
    Tanzplattform Deutschland 2024

    → Tanzplattform Deutschland

  • Dramaturgy / Mentoring

    Solaris: Theaterproduktion

    Theater: Director: Alina Sobotta

    → Programm Kampnagel

  • Dramaturgy

    The Garden

    Tanzperformance by Yolanda Morales

    → Schwankhalle Bremen

  • Performance

    Commitment

    Lichthof-Theater Hamburg

    → Lichthof Theater

  • award

    Award ceremony Kindertheaterpreis

    award for STEINSTAUB 2021
    Fundus Theater Hamburg, 11.00

    → https://www.kulturstiftung-hh.de/

  • Filmrelease

    shortfilm draußen

    Releaseparty 17.30-22.00
    Lichtmesskino / Altona

    → Trailer

  • Touring

    Stay Romantic

    Stay Romantic

    → Schwankhalle

  • Dramaturgy

    COLOR 色

    A Dance Performance by Jasmine Fan
    Wiese / Hamburg

    → Jasmine Fan

  • Dramaturgy

    YUM YUM / Ballhaus Ost / Berlin

    Performance by Haus Sommer

    → Ballhaus Ost

  • Dramaturgy

    Horses

    a dance performance by Yolanda Morales / Gastspiel

    → Schwankhalle Bremen Güterbahnhof

  • Dramaturgy

    The Rest of Dance / Radialsystem / Berlin

    by Anna Laura Lozza & Barbara Hang

    → Radialsystem

  • Dramaturgy

    The Garden of falling Sands

    by Yolanda Morales and Team
    Lichthof-Theater

    → Lichthof-Theater

  • Lecture

    Lecture: KEIN DRAMA Universität Hamburg

    Digitality and Liveness

    → Uni Hamburg

  • Guest Performance

    Future Dreams

    Schwankhalle/Bremen

    → Schwankhalle

  • Dramaturgy

    The endless skin of the Axolotl

    Dancesolo by Yolanda Morales and Team, with Sara Ezzell:
    basement of the Kraftwerk Bille, Hamburg

    → https://www.yolandamorales.net/

  • Dramaturgy

    Nerven

    Dance-Performance by Yolanda Morales

    → Lichthof-Theater

  • Podium

    Podium

    Network meeting free music theater

    → Stimme X

  • Dramaturgy

    What if you fly..

    Danceproduction by Niss/Potapov

    → Lichthof-Theater

  • Performance

    Steinstaub / Festival Hauptsache Frei

    Kampnagel Hamburg
    Multimedia Show for young audience

    → Kampnagel

  • Dramaturgy

    Glutamat:2

    Performance / Fleetstreet Theater Hamburg

    → Dasniya Sommer

  • Performance

    Stay Romantic

    Kampnagel Hamburg

    → Kampnagel

  • Award

    Award

    Hamburg Children's Theater Award Ceremony 2021
    St. Pauli Theater

    → Hamburgische Kulturstiftung

  • Dramaturgy

    Das Revier

    by SV Szlachter
    Urban Intervention / Hansaplatz Hamburg

    → Kampnagel

  • Dramaturgy

    Achterbahn

    by THORD1S

    → Lichthof-Theater

  • Dramaturgy

    Perestaltik

    A Music-Show by Thord1s
    Club TURTUR, Hamburg

    → Thord1s

  • Dramaturgy

    Tanzproduktion: Horses

    by Yolanda Morales
    Kraftwerk Bille Hamburg

    → Tickets: Lichthof Theater Hamburg

  • Dramaturgy

    LǡrLår

    LǡrLår – a Danceperformance by Victoria Hauke
    Hamburg, Studio Lämmersieth

    → Victoria Hauke

  • Art Installation

    Future Dreams 2021

    Festival Hauptsache Frei
    Kraftwerk Bille Hamburg

    → Festival Hauptsache Frei

  • Research

    The Tenderness of Materials

    Researchproject in progress with Ana-Laura Lozza, Barbara Hang, Jimena Pérez Salerno

    → Vimeo

  • Performance

    We love Maria and Maria loves us

    Galerie Melike Bilir, Admiralitätstr. 71, Hamburg

    → Galerie Melike Bilir

  • Dramaturgy

    The Rest of Dance

    by Anna-Laura Lozza & Barbara Hang
    k3 Tanzplan Hamburg / Kampnagel

    → Kampnagel

  • Dramaturgy

    Online-Show: Imagines

    by Lois Bartel
    Lichthof Theater

    → Lichthof Theater

  • Dramaturgy

    Danceproduction: Nerven

    by Yolanda Morales
    Lichthof Theater Hamburg

    → Lichthof Theater

  • Dramaturgy

    Performance: Schlagsahne

    by Regina Rossi
    Kampnagel Hamburg

    → Kampnagel

  • Text

    Contribution in Book-Publication: »Masters of the Universe«

    Publisher: Theater der Zeit

    → Theater der Zeit

  • Interview

    Plateau #29

    now! sustainable funding

    → Listen to it

  • Panel discussion

    Jetzt weiter

    … move on to promote free art in Hamburg!
    The DfdK invites cultural politicians on the occasion of the elections to the Hamburg parliament.

    → DfdK

  • World premiere

    Die Kommenden Träume

    Barbara Schmidt-Rohr and Daniel Hengst
    Kampnagel Hamburg

    → Kampnagel

  • World premiere

    Steinstaub

    Barbara Schmidt-Rohr and Helen Schröder
    Kampnagel Hamburg

    → program Kampnagel

  • Dramaturgy

    Copycats

    »Copycats 2019« with Annika Scharm and Hannah Wischnewski
    Kampnagel Hamburg

    → Kampnagel
ProjectsProjects

Exhibition: Do Butterflies Cry?

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DO BUTTERFLIES CRY?

Theater im Bunker, Bühnenstudio/Feldstraße 66, Hamburg
Opening: September 2, 2025, 6:30 p.m.

An exhibition in the green bunker with installations, videos, and live singing is dedicated to the silent disappearance of butterflies. We mourn what will never return and invite you to reflect on insect mortality, urban nature, sealing, and the city as a habitat. The bar offers delicious drinks and snacks made from resilient herbs.

Opening hours: September 2–6, 2025
Tue-Fri 6:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m., Sat 3:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Live singing: Tue-Fri 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., Sat 5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
free entrance

Artistic director: Barbara Schmidt-Rohr
Spirit of the dead butterfly: Thyra Eda Korkmaz
Vocals: Fenna Greta Isfort, Julika Sophia Struckmeier, Jakob Santosh Thundiyil, Sham Ghafir
Videos: Jesse Jonas Johannpeter, Pelle Jakob Nitsch, Tayfun Deniz Korkmaz
Costumes: Enie Lotta Keuchel, Linus Leif Muckenfuß
Set design/realization: Anja Zihlmann, Video editing, sound: Jens Hasenberg, Vocal coaching/music: Catharina Boutari, Costume coaching: suna m. yoo, Lighting design: Doria Worden, Assistant: Zizou Barske, Graphics: Judith Hilgenstöhler

Many thanks to Mr. Truffel, Gymnasium Struensee, and all helpers, sponsored by: Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media, Hamburg Mitte Bezirksamt, in cooperation with the Bühnenstudio im Bunker