Marina Naprushkina

The Bühne der Enthusiasten is both a stage and a space for social interaction built above the abandoned fountain on Singerstraße. Residents will gather here to dance according to the custom kept in Spanish villages. Thus the stage temporarily replaces the community spaces that have been lost on and around Karl-Marx-Allee.

When the district was built in the 1950s, social spaces in the GDR were meant to be ideologically charged. Today, by contrast, the fountain on Singerstraße has been abandoned for a long time, and the loss of such spaces is not often addressed in contemporary debates. For the residents, however, many of whom are retirees who have lived here since they were children, these places are an essential part of the neighbourhood.

The circular stage installed above the fountain is intended primarily for ballroom and Latin dancing. The events will be accompanied by live music and an MC. The word “enthusiasm” as well as the curtain installed on the stage are a reminder of a future to believe in and the excitement with which the former Stalinallee was once built in over four million hours of labour.

Posters bearing slogans such as „Die Bühne der Enthusiast*innen TANZT / LIEST / SPRICHT“ (The Stage of Enthusiasts DANCES / READS / SPEAKS) (depending on the upcoming program) will be distributed throughout the neighbourhood inviting residents to events in the hopes that many of them will come and participate, either by dancing themselves or by enjoying the newly created atmosphere.