‘In Germany, it’s a different lifestyle and a different standard of living ... it’s possible to live by yourself’

On first meeting Tara Bredemeier, it is certainly not immediately obvious that she is from Germany. She speaks with a Dublin accent, referring to her house as her “gaff”, and her father as her “Da”.

But she was born and raised in Germany, first living in Düsseldorf, then moving to Hamburg with her mother and sister. She spent holidays with her father, who is from and lives in Coolock in Dublin. So she was exposed to English through him and his family.

Towards the end of 2022, Bredemeier decided to come to Dublin, moving into her grandmother’s house with her father, where she lives now.

“He hadn’t really raised me in that kind of a way – I actually wanted to spend that time with my dad. He was always in Ireland. Obviously I’d see him, but full-time living with someone, it’s definitely different,” she says.

‘In Germany, it’s a different lifestyle and a different standard of living ... it’s possible to live by yourself’

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“In Germany, it’s a different lifestyle and a different standard of living there, it’s possible to live by yourself; here I can see the difference that young adults face, even just getting your own room. I had my own apartment for €450 in Hamburg, smack in the middle of town.”

[ ‘In Ireland, you definitely live way more in the moment. I had to relax about a lot of things’ ]

Bredemeier studied dance pedagogy in Germany, and now works as a dancer and dance teacher. She says that when she finished college, she wanted to deepen her artistry, and wanted to better understand where she came from.

“So I decided to move to Ireland to reconnect to where I’m from, and reconnect with my family, and now I’m here working as a dancer, as an artist, and a teacher.

The Germans are more direct and straightforward and not a lot of messing about with you – which I also appreciate when you want to get stuff done

“I wanted to understand my Irishness and my Irish heritage and my Irish family, because I feel like as an educator, you need to know where you’re from and what your values are in order to share them to the next generation, or your future dancers that you’re creating, and also as an artist, the Irish are crazy artists – there’s so much great poetry and music being made by the Irish,” Bredemeier says.

Regarding her Dublin accent, she says: “I get this all the time. For some reason, maybe it’s because I dance as well, the way I hear sounds was always very specific, musicality and everything. I always felt very connected and I was always very interested in trying to get the sound right and the depth of the sound and the intonation – language was always very interesting to me.”

This approach posed problems when she started learning English in school. Her teachers taught British English, she says, and would tell her she was mispronouncing things, and at times could not even understand her.

“[Being in Ireland] has just made me connect or embrace my Irish side more and more, because I’m learning it more and I’m more exposed to it, but I still have a lot of German core values that I really am happy that life has given me,” she says.

“It’s a constant push and pull, because when I go home to Germany I switch into my German mode, which is a bit different than the Irish, because you love to have the craic and the chats and stuff, and the Germans are more direct and straightforward and not a lot of messing about with you – which I also appreciate when you want to get stuff done, that has really made me who I am.”

She does not feel that Germany and Ireland are too far apart, however. “They’re still kind of connected in a way, they’re both very open countries.”

Bredemeier always danced, doing ballet and hip hop as a child, but when she was about 18 or 19, she says, a member of her family became ill due to being burnt-out, and it changed her perspective on life.

“Just the whole thing of what really matters in life, and what is charging my battery versus what is filling my bank account,” she says, inspired her to try to make a living as a dancer, which then resulted in her enrolling in the dance pedagogy course.

“As I kept learning more and moving more, and progressing my dance as well, I was like ‘Damn, this is really for me, this is how I want to have an effect on something’, and I could see as well, I could have an effect on the people around me whether it was through teaching or performances, making people feel and experience, taking them into a different world.”

[ ‘You’re welcomed with open arms everywhere. That’s what I like about Irish people’ ]

Since coming to Ireland, she has been teaching Pilates and dance classes, doing work with Dublin Dance Company, Cois Céim and Dance Ireland, and is involved in the Irish Youth Dance Festival taking place on July 6th and 7th.

She has enjoyed success in Ireland, but is not sure if she could stay here forever.

“This time in Ireland has been very good, but I know that I can’t really build anything here. I feel like I want to be able to live by myself, and I don’t think I can do that here; if you’re not on a minimum income of like what, 40-50k, I just feel like, how am I supposed to do this here?

I do feel like Germany has that a little bit more sussed out, of what young people [want], that you can trust them and let them fly a little bit – there’s more spaces given there

“Especially if you’re trying to push your art and explore your art, because that is also tethered to not always having a steady income and a massive income – that is also down to having a lot of solo and studio time and just exploring,” she says.

“I love Dublin, and I’m so connected to Dublin now, and I’m so happy that I also made some great connections and friends here and just met some really cool people that have helped me understand myself and explore myself better, but it’s hard for a young adult here, for sure, especially if you’re not a college student, if you’re just freelancing like me.”

There are not many social options for young people in Ireland, Bredemeier has noticed, that do not involve consuming alcohol.

“I do feel like Germany has that a little bit more sussed out, of what young people [want], that you can trust them and let them fly a little bit – there’s more spaces given there. That’s one thing I found, and just the affordability,” she says.

Bredemeier says she has stopped drinking as much and instead sometimes opts to bring her car – which she brought with her from Germany – on some nights out to save money on taxis, because she finds public transport unreliable.

“That was one of the biggest let-downs, how actually bad the public transport was.

“I think infrastructure, it takes time, and I’ve seen loads of roadworks, so I feel like Dublin is getting to a point where it’s going to be there – but right now for us it’s like, okay, this is the pill we have to swallow, it’s not for us right now, it’s for the next generation.”

The dance community in Ireland has welcomed her with open arms, and Bredemeier has connected well with people who dance in all genres.

“They’re all just a really friendly community. I have a good family here that I really just spend a lot of time with,” she says.

“I do feel like, sometimes, you don’t need a massive circle, you just need a good circle. If you trust your intuition, and if you’re shining out what you want to receive, you will attract the right people in the world. I feel like Dublin’s been a good place for that.”

We would like to hear from people who have moved to Ireland in the past 10 years. To get involved, email newtotheparish@irishtimes.com or tweet @newtotheparish