Katharina Christl studied at the Palucca University of Dance Dresden and initially worked as a freelancer before accepting engagements with Charleroi/Danses – Plan K and the Ballet National de Marseille. Since 2006, she has been developing her own choreographic works and regularly teaches at international institutions and festivals. In 2015, she took over the professorship for choreography at the Palucca University of Dance Dresden, where she heads the MAC master's programme. In 2018, she was named a ‘rising star’ in the critics' poll conducted by tanz magazine. She is a member of the Saxon Academy of Arts and was appointed rector of the Palucca University of Dance Dresden in 2024.

Joanna Leśnierowska is a dramaturge, performance maker and curator for choreography. Her work explores the interplay between light, space and visibility, combining dramaturgical strategies from visual arts and theatre studies. From 2004 to 2020, she directed the Choreographic Centre in Poznań and curated the ‘Acziun Susch’ programme at the Muzeum Susch (CH) for five years. Since 2022, she has been working freelance for international institutions such as the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the National Museum in Warsaw and the ZHdK Zurich. She regularly lectures and acts as an expert, developing formats for the theory and practice of visual dramaturgy in the context of choreography.

Alexandra Morales, born in Costa Rica, studied dance at the Folkwang University of the Arts and worked as a dancer and assistant with choreographers such as Malou Airaudo, Mark Sieczkarek and Johannes Wieland. She has been closely associated with Samir Akika since 2001 and founded the company Unusual Symptoms with him in 2009. Since 2012, she has been working as artistic production manager and stage designer at Theater Bremen, where she has been head of the dance department together with Gregor Runge since the 2018/19 season. The choreographic works and collaborations of Unusual Symptoms have been invited to Tanzplattform Deutschland 2020 and 2024, among others.

Simone Schulte-Aladağ is the founder and artistic director of Fokus Tanz München (since 2006), which focuses on dance in schools and educational projects. She is co-founder of Tanzbüro München and the nationwide network explore dance. In 2011, she initiated the international festival THINK BIG! for young audiences. After studying theatre and political science, she worked as a dramaturge and production manager for dance professionals and festivals in New York, Vienna and Munich. She teaches, curates and regularly serves as a juror, including for the Munich Department of Culture and the German Dance Association.

Carena Schlewitt has been artistic director of HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts in Dresden since 2018. She studied theatre studies at Humboldt University in Berlin and worked at the Academy of Arts in the GDR from 1985 to 1993. This was followed by management positions at production houses such as Podewil Berlin, FFT Düsseldorf and HAU Berlin. From 2008 to 2018, she was director of the Kaserne Basel and head of the Theaterfestival Basel. She is a member of numerous juries and expert committees and belongs to the Saxon Academy of Arts.

André Schallenberg has been programme director for theatre and dance at HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts in Dresden since 2018. After studying Applied Theatre Studies in Gießen and working on several stage productions of his own, he was a research assistant at the Institute for Theatre Research at the University of Hamburg from 2009 to 2011 and artistic production manager of the Ruhrtriennale festival from 2012 to 2014. From 2015 to 2018, he was project manager for PACT Zollverein in Essen, where his responsibilities included coordinating the Tanzplattform Deutschland 2018.

Christoph Bovermann works for the European Dance Development Network (EDN), where he coordinates international cooperation projects and working groups. Previously, he worked as a dramaturg for FESTIVALFRIENDS. From 2019 to 2022, he was responsible for the project management of TANZPAKT Dresden for HELLERAU. While studying Applied Theatre Studies in Gießen, he already worked in production for festivals, including the campus programme of the Ruhrtriennale 2013-2017 and the Diskurs Festival 2012. The latter in collaboration with Elisabeth Krefta, who now co-directs the Tanzplattform Deutschland 2026 with him.