Mat Iech new page - Elisabeth Schilling • prof. Dancer

Background: How Did the Idea for This Project Come About?

Contemporary dance is a form of movement that breaks away from traditional techniques, embracing a wide range of styles, physical expressions, and creative approaches. It emerged around 100 years ago as a reaction to the constraints of classical dance, and it continues to reflect contemporary cultural, social, and aesthetic developments.

Like contemporary art in general, contemporary dance can sometimes encounter resistance from audiences who are more familiar with established rules, clear structures, and traditional forms of expression. The openness and complexity of contemporary work can initially feel disorienting.

Since the very beginning of my choreographic career, I’ve been driven by a few central questions:

How can we present contemporary dance in a way that sparks curiosity rather than fear?

How can we break down barriers, open doors, and create real encounters?

In the early years of my professional journey, I developed specific methods for audience engagement – such as my “keychain method,” which I’ve continued to use, and specially designed publication formats that help interpret dance works.

From this foundation, the idea was born to turn these guiding principles, goals, and intentions into a dedicated program – Mat Iech was created.

Much has happened since then. In just three years, we’ve delivered 43 events through this program – primarily in Luxembourg and the Greater Region, but also in Scotland and Germany.

Mat Iech on Tour

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What Is Behind the Program Mat Iech?

Mat Iech is our program for dance education and accessibility.

It stands on two central pillars:

What? – Accessibility

We bring dance to places and people who might otherwise have little or no access to it – due to age, illness, language, background, or social circumstances.
Our company performs in senior homes, rural areas, so-called “social hotspots,” hospitals, and youth centers. The formats we offer are flexible and tailored to the needs of each audience – often accompanied by live music, always with an open heart.

How? – Mediation

For each stage production, we develop a bespoke outreach program: a tailor-made event shaped for its specific audience. These range from post-performance discussions using the “keychain method,” to creative workshops and customized publications for different groups, featuring playful puzzles, commissioned poems, and interviews with the artistic team.
We apply this diverse toolbox of methods in a targeted and context-sensitive way – always with the aim of making dance tangible and accessible.

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How We Work?

Mat Iech – Dance Pieces for Unique Spaces and Encounters

As part of Mat Iech, we adapt our dance pieces – originally conceived for the stage – to smaller and often unconventional venues.
This means:

We flexibly adjust content and format – both to the spatial setting and to the people we are meeting. We reduce cast sizes, create individualized event formats, and develop creative settings that respond to the specific context.

We work resource-efficiently and are highly mobile: Our productions can be transported and set up with minimal effort.

Each event is one-of-a-kind: We listen, respond to the moment, and invite people to experience dance as a shared, living encounter.
Our goal is to create a genuine point of connection – a moment in which dance opens a doorway.

Connection Through Dialogue – Listening as Part of Our Practice

After our performances, we intentionally open a dialogue with the audience.

We ask questions like:

What touched you? What thoughts or memories came up? What images or feelings did you experience?

My aim is always to convey to the audience: Everything you saw, felt, or associated is valid. And valuable.
Many people approach contemporary dance with hesitation – worried that they might “not understand it.” To counter this fear, I often begin by saying that these encounters are a gift to us. There is no right or wrong – only personal experience.

Audiences learn from one another when they share impressions: one person sees a snail, another a rocket. One feels joy, another sadness – and this is precisely the richness of these conversations. Dance is reflected in so many eyes – and every perspective is a gift.

These intense moments of reflection and exchange enrich not only the audience, but also us as dancers and artists.
Much of our work happens in the protected space of the studio, far from direct interaction with diverse people. Engaging with audiences allows us to feel the impact of our work – who it moves, and why we do what we do.

From Watching to Participating – Dance Workshops After the Performance

Following our performance segments – which vary in length, emotion, and format depending on the audience (sometimes solo, sometimes ensemble; sometimes short, sometimes longer) – we offer a dance workshop.
These workshops are a core element of our concept: they bridge the gap between observing and doing.

The design of each workshop is tailored to the age and needs of the group.
Together with our dancers, participants co-create a short choreography, accompanied by live music – for instance, from the United Instruments of Lucilin, with whom we’ve worked extensively.
The music enhances the atmosphere and helps connect emotion with movement.

The result is a shared moment – a small, collective artwork that shows: Dance isn’t just something you watch – it’s something you can experience yourself.

A Booklet for Everyone – Our Publication as an Extension of the Experience

To conclude our events, we give audience members a specially designed publication.
This booklet is more than a program or companion piece – it’s a multi-faceted gateway into the world of the performance, created for diverse audiences.
And by “diverse,” we don’t just mean age or background, but especially interests.

That’s why our booklet includes contributions on various levels:

In-depth content: Essays or scholarly-inspired texts that delve into and contextualize the themes of the piece.
Literary entries: We regularly commission poems or short stories that engage artistically with the work.
Playful elements: Riddles, coloring pages, small tasks – a source of joy for children, but also adults. We believe: there’s a piece of childhood in everyone.
Insights into the team: Personal questions, thoughts, or anecdotes from the production process create a sense of intimacy and invite identification.

The goal is to extend the experience – as a memory, a conversation starter, and a way to keep thinking, playing, or feeling beyond the performance.

In senior homes, for example, we intentionally hand out the puzzle and coloring sections – as an invitation to smile, engage, and rediscover a playful sense of creativity.