SPRUNGBRETT 2025 - Benze C. Werner

As part of tanz nrw, the biennial festival for contemporary dance in NRW, two residency scholarships will be awarded - two artists have now been selected from a total of 50 applications: One collective and one individual artist will each receive a production-independent research and work residency. For the sixth time, the festival is awarding scholarships for emerging artists from NRW, which offer financial support for research as well as the opportunity to reside at two renowned venues of the NRW performing arts scene. The jury was particularly impressed by the artistic quality of the selected applications, which reflect a reflective approach and a creative examination of socially relevant topics.
Benze C. Werner, Elin Tezel, Vi Kovarbašić and Rambling Boy Harrers
Together with dancers Elin Tezel and Vi Kovarbašić and country musician Theocharis Bekas aka Rambling Boy Harrers, Benze C. Werner's research project Lavender Cowboys is dedicated to country line dancing. Important themes of the residency are a deeper examination of dance, queer identity and storytelling. Within this framework, they explore the question of queer intimacy, which is staged through ‘not touching’. They explore how closeness can arise in a system based on distance and clear rules.
SPRUNGBRETT is a production-independent research and work residency aimed at up-and-coming artists and graduates specialising in dance, choreography and performance in NRW. The community of organisers enables the scholarship holders to take part in a two-week residency as part of the biennial festival, which takes place in nine cities in North Rhine-Westphalia. In Münster (Theater im Pumpenhaus) and Essen (PACT Zollverein), they can work on their current projects and receive organisational and dramaturgical support, a grant and the opportunity to present their research at several festival venues.
Jury: Mara Nedelcu (freelance creative producer), Randi Günnemann (co-director, Theater im Pumpenhaus), Maja Zimmermann (project development, PACT Zollverein).