See you for tanz nrw 27!

What a celebration: 10 unforgettable, inspiring and moving festival days lie behind us. In the anniversary edition of tanz nrw, 16 companies from North Rhine-Westphalia presented their current productions in 27 well-attended performances. Together with the audience, we used the Physical Introduction and tanz.backstage outreach formats to get in the mood for the performances and the many audience discussions gave viewers the opportunity to engage in direct dialogue with the artists.

It was a fantastic festival season with powerful performances, empowering encounters and bold artistic statements. We would like to thank all the artists, our partners for this lively alliance of dance, discourse and lived diversity - and, above all, the dance-loving audience! See you in two years.

We - the Tanzproduzent:innen-Konferenz NRW (TPK) - are a network of dance presenters and dance venues from nine cities (Bonn, Düsseldorf, Essen, Cologne, Krefeld, Mülheim, Münster, Wuppertal, Viersen) in NRW. Together, we organise the biennial tanz nrw festival and also form a network that supports the independent dance scene in NRW, gives it visibility and presence and also establishes nationwide collaborations.

In this function, we work very closely with NRW artists and independent dance companies and we have just celebrated the excellence, innovative strength and diversity of this scene with the 10th edition of the tanz nrw festival, which has been significantly supported by the state of NRW since its inception.

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Ursina Tossi & Excessive Showing SWAN FATE

‘Emancipation on all levels in this strong, intelligent-aggressive “Swan Fate” - and nothing could have made it clearer at the end of “Tanz NRW” what artistic losses are now imminent in view of the planned funding cuts to the independent theatre and dance scene.’
Nicole Strecker, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger 19. Mai 2025

CocoonDance CHOREIA – EIN POLYBALLETT

"With “Choreia”, CocoonDance, founded 25 years ago by choreographer Giovanola and dramaturge Rainald Endraß, has once again created a piece of hypnotic intensity. The Bonn-based company has long since established itself as one of the most influential formations in European dance. The applause betrayed great enthusiasm."
Bernhard Hartmann, General-Anzeiger Bonn 17. Mai 2025

MIRA & Drama Köln WONDERBOOM

‘Then the four [performers] really get going again, start afresh, curiously explore the soundscape of their surroundings [...] This playfulness is what makes the evening so cheerful.’
René Linke, Westdeutsche Zeitung 12. Mai 2025

Brig Huezo THE DEATH AT THE CODE

‘Their [Brig Huezo's] artistic approach is new and an enrichment for the contemporary dance scene.’
Isabel Mankas-Fuest, Westdeutsche Zeitung 19. Mai 2025

Emanuele Soavi incompany THE DAY I BECAME A CLOUD

‘“THE DAY I BECAME A CLOUD” is a dance meditation, a reflection and letting go of thoughts at the same time.’
Klaus Dilger, tanzweb.org 16. Mai 2025

Solidarity instead of privileges. It's about everyone. Art remains free! The fight against right-wing extremism, right-wing populism and anti-democratic voices is getting organised, becoming louder and standing up for cohesion, diversity, commitment, empowerment and solidarity against division, disenfranchisement, exclusion, deportation, repression and violence. This is what DIE VIELEN and WE stand for!

The biennial festival tanz nrw presents a wide range of choreographic positions from North Rhine-Westphalia and reflects the diversity of the regional dance scene on several levels: it invites artistic works from the fields of dance / performance / choreography and includes the genres of contemporary and urban dance art, performance and contemporary circus, digital live formats as well as intergenerational and inclusive works - from up-and-coming artists to experienced choreographers. What all forms of dance have in common is the contemporary approach in terms of the political, social and aesthetic relevance of the artistic dialogue. An important concern of the festival is a resource-friendly use of production material and to continuously work on improving the accessibility of the festival programme.

The festival creates cross-connections - between cities, formats and discourses. The resulting spaces become places of exchange and mediation - between the artists, the organisers and the audience.

Welcome to the tanz nrw 25 festival!