TANZ ARCHIV (suite)

Dear Supporters,

This is to inform you about the recent developments concerning the Tanzarchiv in Leipzig, an affair in which many among you had lent their support by writing letters to the Ministry and the University President.
The situation is now much less dramatic. In fact, the Saxonian Minister of Culture has understood the importance of the case and admitted that her predecessor (the one responsible for the idea of handing over the Tanzarciv to the University of Leipzig) might not have disposed of all the information necessary to judge on the value and importance of the collections.
Since also the Federal Minister of Culture has insisted that another solution need to be found, in a first step the forced integration of Tanzarchiv into the administrative archive of the University, leaving at the discretion of the latter’s director to select the items and collections he wanted, scattering the rest in other departments or deleting them entirely, is now out-ruled.

That’s the first really good news.
The Tanzarchiv is not obliged to leave its current premises by the end of June, nothing is being wrapped up hastily, no throw-away measures will be authorised.
In a second step, negotiations are being taken up between the Ministry and the University so as to find a better, a more appropriate, and a more responsible solution. There is no real clue right now what this solution might be and in what direction it might lead. So the relief is only partial.
However, I think it is all in all a very fine result of the campaign fought during the last weeks and to which you have contributed your energy and time, that the authorities have finally understood that the previous decisions were and are unacceptable and that dance heritage needs serious action rather than administrative downsizing.
So once again thank you so much for your support !
Warm regards
F.A. Cramer