SPRUNGBRETT 2025 - Julia Nitschke

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.
Julia Nitschke, Jonas Leifert und Theresa Mielich
Julia Nitschke, a graduate of the Ruhr University Bochum in the field of scenic research, deals with the aesthetics of border crossings. In her research project Goldene Grenzüberschreitungen - Eine dokumentarische Burlesque Revue zur Umweltkatastrophe an der Oder (Golden Border Crossings - A Documentary Burlesque Revue on the Environmental Catastrophe on the Oder), she, together with Jonas Leifert, currently a scholarship holder of the Kunststiftung NRW for the university course Curating in the Scenic Arts, and Theresa Mielich, textile artist, costume designer and scenographer, is devoting herself to the dance genre of burlesque and the golden alga - and thus exploring the connection between dance and ecology. The research project is intended to lead to a ‘documentary burlesque revue on the environmental catastrophe on the Oder’. Julia Nitschke wants to create a space in which themes such as ecological crises, migration and border demarcations can be experienced in a sensual way.
SPRUNGBRETT is a production-independent research and work residency aimed at young artists and graduates focussing on dance, choreography and performance in North Rhine-Westphalia. 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).