We had the good fortune of connecting with Angela, Nadine Fegers, Freisleben and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Angela, Nadine, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Apricot Productions was founded by Angela Fegers and Nadine Freisleben to produce, market, and distribute freelance independent artists as they create their work. As we are both creators, we always wished for someone to help us with our production needs, specifically at the beginning of our work. Hundreds of artists are awarded grants every year in Germany, but the bureaucracy of receiving the grant and closing it can be very exhausting on top of all the other additional pre-and post production work. Instead of assuming the job of five different people, we decided to open a production house to offer a platform of resources for independent artists. Despite the level the artists’ career, we adamantly believe that each artist should receive some kind of support if they are working on their craft and participating in the community through sharing their art. We strive to support artists at different levels of their career despite hierarchal standards. To educate the dance scene we also offer affordable webinars on production, funding applications, finance plans and marketing- so that we are an accessible platform for artists at different levels in their careers and encourage them to apply for bigger opportunities as they develop their craft. The Webinars are also apart of a bigger workshop series called ROOTED. This pop up workshop series is for the community and offers different opportunities to grow and ‘root’ ourselves together through dance. We also have a podcast to offer another platform for artists to speak about their work on, The Talking Apricots. We debate, while you create.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Angela is a classically trained dancer and the path was not easy. Despite her perseverance as a performer, she found herself better suited in a different positions than being on stage. The journey was filled with ups and downs, as most dancers know- the dance world is not an easy place to be. As a young dancer, I have been told things like ‘If you fix your hair I will let you choreograph’. As an adult, I always let myself choreograph despite the healthiness of my hair. I am fighting for justice all the time in life, so I will continue resisting these statements so future dancers can witness a fleck of change in their lives, from my generation. I’ve learned along the way to never give up or stop standing up for yourself. My story is, I persevere.

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I am a trained dancer in the contemporary and afro contemporary dance field. My professional education process started at National Council for Arts and Culture at the National Theatre of Nigeria in Lagos, where I got into the Nigerian Dance Theatre making. The passion and endless creativity was immensely inspiring for me and I left my 2 year education with a feeling of “everything is possible if you just work hard enough for it“.
Back in Germany I did my contemporary dance degree in Berlin. As a dancer I never quite fit into the dance world as it felt too strict for me. Creativity had to look in a certain way, which did not go together with the general creative freedom I was used to in Nigeria, where artistic disciplines where just mixed all the time. Starting off my career as a choreographer I tried to create my own way of dance making. Getting funded as an artist was only reserved for some people with a university degree. Even by trying to pay my art through my own pockets my pieces got acknowledged and people like to come see my shows. At some point I went to the city where I grew up. They wanted me to choreograph a show. After the 2 month period until it came to the final performance I received the most horrible critics one can imagine. It was ruthless. On top of that the organizer who was a longterm collaboration partner told me to never come back to his theatre (now he calls me back to teach ?!). After these mixes of experiences I tried to stay strong throughout. I always told myself persistence is key.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Berlin is a diverse and colourful city that anyone can enjoy. Some of our favorite spots are:

A bike ride through Treptower Park- ending on Insel der Jungend with a beer by the water.
A visit to Mauer Park on Sunday for the flomarkt (flee market)
Aperol Spritz VereinZimmer in Kreuzberg by Viktoria Park
Hamburger Bahnhof Museum they have free concerts in the Summer
A night at the theater- see what’s playing at HAU or Radialsystem
Enjoying history, walking along the East Side Gallery wall and enjoy some food by the River afterwards

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We like to credit each other for motivating and encouraging one another to take the next steps in our projects both professionally and personally. After many years of trying to build companies independently, Apricot Productions just works. Even though there are difficult times, we never have doubted the point of its existence and thank each other to keep moving forward, and our moms.

Website: www.apricot-productions.com

Instagram: i_am_apricot.productions

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/77696641/admin/feed/posts/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Apricot.productions

Other: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFd7yfmi0s/fXHa2mNJqe2TKFctvEvPQQ/view?utm_content=DAFd7yfmi0s&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink#1

Image Credits
Photo first left, Alejandro Ramos, LATINX Pamela Moraga Duo (Nadine and Angela) Turlach O’Broin Dance workshop- Rooted View of an Apricot Bottom left – öncu Hrant Gültekin – GAMEOVER, Mab Cardoso Top right- Apricot Productions Bottom right- Stefan Dotter

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