About us
Overhead Project stands for performances between contemporary circus and dance – two languages that allow different perspectives on the human body and a multidimensional approach to space and architecture.The company, directed by choreographer and circus artist Tim Behren, evolved from an intense acrobatic duo work with (former) co-founder Florian Patschovsky. Today, the artistic core team consists of composer Simon Bauer, visual artist Charlotte Ducousso, performer Mijin Kim and other long-time performers and experts from various fields.
Numerous productions and several guest choreographies for city theaters with large ensembles have been created. The company has received several (inter)national awards and choreography prizes for its works, most recently the Tabori Award 2022 from the Fonds Darstellende Künste and the Cologne Dance Theater Award 2023.
The company's works reflect the stage situation as a place of communication and deal with social and political phenomena. Since 2017, Overhead Project has been working in production trilogies. Since its founding, 11 productions have been created in the independent scene and 4 guest choreographies at different city theaters. In 2019, Tim Behren initiated the "CircusDanceFestival" as part of the TANZPAKT Stadt-Land-Bund excellence funding, an annual Cologne festival in conjunction with cooperation projects in the field of university exchange, residency program, promotion of young talent, symposia and discourse.
Tim Behren founded, together with Florian Patschovsky, the label in 2008. After their joint training as partner acrobats at the Contemporary Circus School Ecole Supérieure des Arts du Cirque in Brussels, the duo began their journey as cross-discipline artists in the international dance scene. A few years later, Tim Behren specialized in "Dramaturgie Circassiene" at the Centre National des Arts du Cirque (CNAC) in Chalons en Champagne and in "Scenic Curating" at the Paris Lodron University in Salzburg. He is also co-founder of the Bundesverband Zeitgenössischer Zirkus (BUZZ) and the Förderverband Zirkus ON and is committed to the recognition of this genre as an art form and part of the performing arts in Germany. He artistically directs the company since 2018.
Overhead Project is accompanied by Mechtild Tellmann (Management and Public Relations), Lisa Lehnen (Production Management), Philipp Zander (Technical Management) and Valentina Barone (International Relations). The company is permanently based and has its office trailer on the premises of the Latibul Theater- & Zirkuspädagogisches Zentrum Köln.
