Cooperation with schools

The Zurich Opera House and the Im Birch secondary school in Zurich-Oerlikon are linked by a multi-year collaboration that aims to embed dance sustainably in everyday school life. Through workshops, targeted inputs, and visits to the opera house, students explore the art form, become creatively active, and develop their own movement ideas. The project now involves all students, is accompanied by academic research, and will culminate in final performances by the third-year secondary students in June 2026.

As part of a large-scale education project, 15 primary and secondary school classes engage with Cornelia Funke’s young adult novel “Herr der Diebe” over the course of a school year. Starting from the new venue in Oerlikon, the students develop a participatory youth opera, explore music theater in a playful way, and feed their ideas into a newly commissioned chamber opera that will premiere in 2027.