How can an artistic experience become an experience of resonance? In which psychological and physical states can one’s own creative and artistic processes emerge? How does AI relate to the concept of reality?
In May 2025, choreographer and artist Ben J. Riepe and his team invite you to the third edition of the “School of Experience,” a mediation format aimed at students from various disciplines across universities in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as an interested public.
Under the title “What about Reality?”, this year’s edition addresses pressing questions about the nature and relevance of our embodied live experiences in times of multiple crises. Through an interplay of diverse disciplines, event formats, and workshops, the space for reflection on contemporary (performance) art is expanded—fostering not only an intellectual approach but also a comprehensive, personal experience that places both cognitive and physically-sensory understanding at the forefront.
The third edition of the “School of Experience” features program contributions from numerous interdisciplinary guests and experts, including those from the fields of dance/choreography, computer science, perception psychology, performance studies, yoga, theater studies, meditation, dramaturgy, singing, literary studies, music, and art history.
Event venues include FREIRAUM Düsseldorf, Weltkunstzimmer, and the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts, which is also this year’s cooperation partner of the School of Experience.
Friday 2 may
11 am – 1 pm: “On KALĀ and Art” – On Artistic Research in Pre-Artistic Times*
Together with curator and dramaturge Felizitas Stilleke, Ben J. Riepe continues to explore in his artistic research how immersive spaces of art can be newly connected with rituals and sensuous experiences. Following Felizitas’ related research in India during the Kumbh Mela, the two recently hosted a FREIRAUM Salon on the power of gathering and spirituality in art in the context of this line of inquiry.
They now wish to deepen this exchange and open an active space for dialogue—one where questions about the origins of art in pre-modern communities and aesthetic approaches to rituals, gatherings, and spaces of experience (not only within the Ben J. Riepe Company) can be explored.
By and with Felizitas Stilleke (Berlin) and Ben J. Riepe
* Kalā is a Sanskrit term meaning “performing art.”
Saturday, 3 may
10 am: Warm-Up with Yoga-Elements (without prior experience)
10.30 am – 1 pm: rehearsal „The Breathing Ritual“ with Stephanie Thiersch and Marcela Ruiz Quintero (choreographically assistance)
1 pm: Lunchbreak
2.30-4.30 pm: Christoph Sapp “Guiding Through Perception”
A Workshop on Actively Directing One’s Own Attention
Thursday, 22 may, Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste
Opening (only with prior registration)
from 5.30 pm: Reception/Arrival
6 pm: Choreographed Dinner
Concept, Choreography & Direction: Ben J. Riepe
With: Benjamin Paaßen, Maren Butte, Die Wagnerin, Laura Hartmann-Wackers, Robin Junicke, Carolin Schneider, Timo Skrandies, Hanna Werth, Vanessa Höving, Werner Mikus, Senem Gökçe Oğultekin, Gwen Wieczorek, Martin Balance
In his Choreographed Dinner, Ben J. Riepe has, over the past years, repeatedly brought together a diverse group of people—researchers, travelers, educators, students, the curious, the hungry—from various contexts, countries, and artistic and scientific disciplines. Over a multi-course dinner, participants encounter each other in changing, choreographed atmospheres of light, sound, performance, and action. For the opening of this year’s School of Experience, artistic and scientific contributions will not only introduce some of the participants and positions of the upcoming days but also set the first impulses for the 2025 edition of the School of Experience: a Right-Now-Right-Here experience for all the senses.
8.30 pm: „The Breathing Ritual“
Florapark at the Akademie, open to the public, free entry
by Stephanie Thiersch and Marcela Ruiz Quintero (choreographically assistance) with Students of the School of Experience 2025
Choreographer Stephanie Thiersch re-stages the Breathing Ritual with students of this year’s School of Experience. The ritual was part of the piece Archipel – A Spectacle of Mixtures, which Thiersch created in collaboration with composer Brigitta Muntendorf. It was performed in 2020 at the Ruhrtriennale and in 2021 as part of Theater der Welt. This high-energy, 18-minute ritual is built upon a complex composition of breath, based on the voices of the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir, and brings together a multitude of bodies in a unified breathing rhythm. The recurring Breathing Ritual places breath at the center as a symbol of connection and equality, while making a political statement against violence and discrimination.
`The Breathing Ritual´ on rausgegangen.de
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Friday, 23 may, FREIRAUM
10- 11.15 am: Workshop with Hanna Werth (Schule des Erlebens- Students & Collaborators only)
The workshop by actress, singer, and voice artist Hanna Werth, Junior Professor at the Robert Schumann Hochschule, introduces the basics of intimacy coordination and provides practical tools for working with intimacy in a safe, respectful, and emotionally connected way.
11.30 am: Check-In Circle Work Ben J. Riepe & Janine Blöß (Schule des Erlebens- Students & Collaborators only)
1 pm: Lunchbreak
2 pm: change of venue to AWK
Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste
3 pm: „Hacking Reality– from Socrates to AI (and back)“ open to the public, free entry
talks, walks & exchange on today’s realities, modelled on antique practices
With: Maren Butte, Vanessa Höving, Robin Junicke, Tiara Roxane, Martin Balance, Benjamin Paaßen, Gwen Wieczorek,Timo Skrandies, Werner Mikus, Markus Schrenk
`Hacking Reality– from Socrates to AI (and back)´ on rausgegangen.de
6 pm: Drinks & Fingerfood
7 pm: Breath Work: Physical Introduction for the concert: Martin Balance
7.30 pm: Concert
Performance by Björg Brjásdóttir
Flutes & Electronics: Björg Brjánsdóttir
Space Arrangement/Atmosphere: Ben J. Riepe
Kambríum is a concert by Björg Brjánsdóttir featuring various flutes (C-flute, contrabass flute, and bass flute) and electronics. Through changing electronic techniques, the different sounds of the flutes engage in a captivating dialogue, both spatially and temporally. In collaboration with Ben J. Riepe, the concert and space arrangement are transformed into an intense, atmospheric performance.
Björg Brjánsdóttir’s artistic practice combines elements of classical music and improvisation. The sought-after flutist collaborates with composers, improvisers, ensembles, and orchestras worldwide. In Kambríum, she presents her own compositions, where she blends diverse inspirations into a unique soundscape.
Concert Björg Brjásdóttir (Tickets) on rausgegangen.de
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Saturday, 24 may, FREIRAUM
(Schule des Erlebens-Students & Collaborators only)
2 pm: Benjamin Paaßen „AI and Reality“, Keynote/Input
3 pm: Tiara Roxanne, „ Decolonise AI – Indigenous Perspectives (extended) “ Lecture/Input (ENG)
Weltkunstzimmer
(open to the public)
7 pm: „Reality-Check: “Be Ahead of Your Time – 13 Thinking Principles for the World of Tomorrow”
Book Presentation & Atmosphere
Timon Krause and Ben J. Riepe
The TV-known philosopher, mentalist, and author Timon Krause is a guest at the School of Experience 2025. Together with Ben J. Riepe, he develops an intimate format that blends a book presentation, artistic-scientific input, exchange, and stage performance, where he explores the question of a future reality.
Based on the four cultures of thought for the future, Timon Krause and Ben J. Riepe stage metamodernism: Starting from Timon Krause’s book, the complexity of the world is embraced, and new ways of thinking for the future are tested, bridging psychology, philosophy, and sociology.
Admission: Tickets 20€ plus booking fee
(free for Students for School of Experience)
`Reality Check´(Tickets) on rausgegangen.de (ticket sales start from 27.04.)
9 pm: ECSTATIC DANCE SESSION & BREATH WORK „LEAVING REALITY BEHIND”
with Martin Balance & Ben J. Riepe
“Back on Popular Demand”: During the School of Experience, Martin Balance and Ben J. Riepe invite you to an Ecstatic Dance Session. In shifting light and misty atmospheres, we will dance freely to ecstatic sounds and driving beats—in a substance-free “safe space,” without expectations and in a relaxed setting.
Dance with us and “leave reality behind”!
Admission: Tickets 10€ plus booking fee
(free for Students for School of Experience)
ECSTATIC DANCE (Tickets) on rausgegangen.de
from 10 pm – 01.00 am: School’s Out Party (free entry)
Set by Andras_2020
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Sunday, 25 may, FREIRAUM
(Schule-des Erlebens, Students & Collaborators only)
11 am: Closing Circle, Wrap-up with Ben J. Riepe
12 am – 2 pm: „School’s Out“ – Brunch: Closing of the School of Experience 2025
Reflection and Goodbye for the Students, the BJR Team, and all Involved Scientists, Artists, and Collaborators
