Program
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The Tanzplattform Deutschland is an important festival for contemporary dance.
The festival is organised by HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts.
The festival takes place every two years in a different city.
This year the festival is in Dresden.
It lasts 5 days.
13 special dance pieces will be shown.
A group of experts has selected these dance pieces.
These experts have previously viewed over 550 dance pieces.
The performances will take place at various locations in Dresden.
There is also Platform Plus.
Plattform Plus is a program of dance activities, talks and meetings.
Some meetings are open to everyone.
For other meetings you have to register.
Many guests from different countries attend the festival.
There is also a festival center at HELLERAU.
Registered festival guests can meet there every day.
On this page you will find information about accessibility.
This is all the important information, for example on access and aids.
We are working on breaking down barriers at Tanzplattform Deutschland.
This is an ongoing task.
“UNTIL THE BEGINNINGS“ is a dance performance.
Two choreographers created the performance. Their names are Stephanie Thiersch and Alesandra Seutin. Stephanie Thiersch comes from Germany. Alesandra Seutin comes from Senegal in Africa.
8 dancers and 2 musicians perform on stage. They come from Senegal, Germany, and France.
The performance explores one main question. What does it mean to be a host?
The performance also asks another question. How do people meet other cultures?
The performance uses dance, music, and language.
The dancers show movements from different cultures.
The group looks for a shared rhythm. This brings the people on stage closer together.
“UNTIL THE BEGINNINGS” invites the audience to think and to be curious.
“Langes Wochenende” is a play about relationships at work.
At work, people have professional relationships. Sometimes these relationships change. The line between private and professional can become unclear.
The collective Elsa Artmann/SANFTE ARBEIT created the play.
The collective uses methods from lap dance. These methods show how people can cross boundaries at work.
Some moments in the play are very close and personal. These moments happen between the dancers as well as the dancers and the audience.
Such moments can harm people. People can use each other.
The play also asks two questions: What would change if people treated work relationships like romantic relationships? Would that make people feel better?
This is a solo performance by Claire Cunningham. She is a disabled artist who brings her own experiences to the stage.
The solo explores one main question. What does it mean to be on the move?
Claire Cunningham trained as a classical singer. She also has experience in mountaineering. These experiences shape the performance.
Music accompanies the performance. The music is “Songs of a Wayfarer” by Gustav Mahler.
Claire Cunningham moves through different landscapes. Some landscapes feel familiar. Other landscapes feel unfamiliar.
The solo asks about major changes in life: How do people move through the world? How do people deal with loss?
This solo is calm and powerful. It invites the audience to think.
“The Children of Today” is a performance about creativity and sustainability. The play takes place in a kitchen of the future.
2 performers are on stage. They look back into the past and search for ways of living without capitalism.
Different characters appear on stage. Some characters are Vaslav Nijinsky, Cleopatra VI, and Jérôme Bel. The characters dance together.
Some movements repeat. New and unusual images appear. The piece shows many possible futures.
The performance is produced sustainably. It uses energy from the sun. The costumes are second-hand and made from natural materials.
The piece shows how art can be more sustainable.
“Reparation Nation” is a dance theater piece by Jessica Nupen.
The piece deals with cultural objects taken from Africa.
It asks one main question: What is missing today because these objects were taken away?
Different art forms come together on stage. These include dance, music, and visual art. Together, they create an imagined place called “Reparation Nation”.
In this place, the piece asks key questions about power, value, and culture.
Artists from many countries created the piece. They come from Africa, Asia, and Europe.
The piece shows a new view of the future. It challenges old European views of African history.
The piece also shows theatre as a place for remembrance, healing, and change.
“Spiegelneuronen” is an experimental performance. The piece explores the human brain and the body.
A large mirror replaces the stage. The mirror shows the dancers and the audience.
The audience can see how the dance is created. They are also part of the action.
The piece includes ideas from science. It asks people to think about society and community through their own bodies.
“Spiegelneuronen” is a collaboration between Sasha Waltz & Guests and Stefan Kaegi from Rimini Protokoll.
The project explores new ways of working and collaboration.
This performance is about play. When people play, objects and spaces can change.
Everyday objects can become something new. For example, a stool can become a raft, a bridge, or a tower.
Play can create new worlds. These worlds have rules. People can change the rules or leave them behind.
The performance also asks questions about play. Who decides the rules? What happens when someone does not want to play?
3 dancers play a game within a game.
Through dance, they explore different ways of playing.
They invite the audience to help shape the space for play.
“DU BIST DRAN!” is a dance piece for 4 performers and the audience.
The piece is suitable for people aged 11 and above.
The performance is about games and rules.
Through dance and humor, it asks simple questions.
Who plays with whom? Who wins and who loses? What rules matter?
The audience takes part in the game.
There are playful dance scenes and small tricks.
The piece explores themes like power, fairness, and belonging.
Dancers and audience need to stay alert.
Only at the end does it become clear who wins.
“This resting, patience” is a long dance performance.
The piece is about closeness between people.
It explores attraction and openness.
It looks at showing and hiding.
The performance is open and experimental.
It has no fixed beginning or end.
The audience can move freely during the performance.
The piece shows dance as something shared.
Dance becomes a social moment.
The focus is on the body.
The piece shows sensuality in a calm way.
Dance becomes a gentle practice.
It invites people to share time and space together.
In this performance, Eszter Salamon works with a text by John Cage.
The text is called “Lecture on Nothing.”
John Cage wrote it in 1949.
Eszter Salamon already worked with this text in 2010.
At that time, she combined the text with dance movements.
In the new performance, she takes a different approach.
The focus is on the sound of the text.
This includes voice, rhythm, and pauses.
The text deals with nothing and emptiness.
It also deals with creation.
Eszter Salamon combines body, voice, and music.
The performance is calm and meditative.
It invites the audience to listen and watch at the same time.
“Dive into You” is a solo performance by Kat Válastur.
Kat Válastur is a choreographer and performer.
The performance works with two main images.
One image is the female oracle.
An oracle passes on messages from gods and goddesses.
The other image is the tree.
Trees turn sunlight into energy and oxygen.
The performance shows similarities between oracles and trees.
Both pass on energy and meaning.
Kat Válastur brings these ideas to the stage through dance.
Music plays an important role in the performance.
The audience hears deep sounds from the wooden instrument Semantron.
The choreography follows music by Aho Ssan and the voice of Kat Válastur.
“Lovedance” is a dance duet by Katharina Senzenberger and her team.
The piece looks at love and the strong feelings that love can create.
The choreography uses familiar dance forms.
These include romantic gestures, the Viennese waltz, and dance couples from popular culture.
The duet asks questions about relationships.
How much trust is there?
Who leads and who follows?
When do people resist and when do they give in?
“Lovedance” shows love in a gentle way.
It shows closeness between two people.
This performance features choreography by Adam Linder.
His work explores new movements, skill, and expression.
It presents dance in a new way.
Music by Ethan Braun accompanies the performance.
5 dancers and 5 musicians perform together on stage.
They explore how dance and music relate to each other.
The music combines acoustic and digital sounds.
Some sounds feel familiar.
Other sounds feel abstract and delicate.
The piece deals with tension and competition.
It also shows dance and music as a playful exchange.
This creates space for creativity and expression.