young people from Duisburg-Marxloh dancing to the music of Béla Bartók (Photo: Ursula Kaufmann/Stiftung Klavier-Festival Ruhr)
In Bartók's World - An overview of the educational activities of the Klavier-Festival Ruhr in Duisburg-Marxloh
Since 2015 the Klavier-Festival Ruhr has devised numerous dance and music projects based on the music of Béla Bartók. Children and young people have been encouraged to develop their own creative approach to Bartók's world and his music through various formats including workshops, classroom teaching and inter-school projects. We have worked with his educational compositions, his folk song arrangements (For Children, Romanian Folk Dances) and complex compositions not usually used in schools such as “Out of doors” Cycle, Three Burlesques, Dance Suite and 14 Bagatelles.
Most of Klavier-Festival Ruhr’s Bartók projects have been in Duisburg-Marxloh. This former working-class district in the north of the city is characterised by cultural diversity and extensive recent immigration. Many children and young people grow up under difficult socio-economic conditions. In cooperation with all the schools in the district, the Festival has, over the years, developed a model for cultural education.
