Beatrix Simkó »It Contains Hard Parts«, Foto: Dániel Dömölky

Dance Research NRW

The international scholarship programme enables dancers, performers and choreographers to undertake residencies lasting several weeks for theme-based, production-independent research.

Dance Research NRW is expressly not production-related. Since its introduction in 2009, the programme has offered the opportunity for in-depth exploration of specific themes and the development of artistic working methods. The focus is on interdisciplinary and transcultural research.

Grants of up to 6,000 euros and a documentation budget of up to 1,000 euros are offered, depending on the type and scope of the research.

The call for applications takes place annually in autumn. This is followed by the selection process by a jury and the announcement of the new scholarship holders.

As the central point of contact, the NRWKS arranges meetings and discussions for the scholarship holders with artists and cultural institutions from a wide range of disciplines and research institutions and supports the presentation of final reports on their experiences.

The four scholarship recipients for Dance Research 2026 are: Ada Freund, Brig Huezo, ISaAc iSaBeL Espinoza Hidrobo and Krisna Satya.

Dance Research #58 by Finnish artist Ada Freund explores how time is perceived through embodied and sensory experiences. In collaboration with local sound designer Maja Prill and against the backdrop of the Wuppertal suspension railway, the research opens up an intercultural reflection on time consciousness and intermediate states.

As part of Dance Research #59, post-digital choreographer Brig Huezo travels from Cologne to Kyoto and Tokyo. From geiko traditions and oiran iconographies to the digitally amplified fantasies of contemporary hentai culture, Huezo expands a choreographic language between movement, data and desire.

For Dance Research #60, ISaAc iSaBeL Espinoza Hidrobo, an artist and activist from Cologne, deepens her practice in Rio de Janeiro. Under the guidance of local BIPOC practitioners, ISaAc iSaBeL Espinoza Hidrobo connects with the lived realities and spiritual techniques of Rio, linking the water rituals of Candomblé with queer, pre-colonial cosmologies.

Choreographer Krisna Satya transposes the Balinese spatial concept of ‘Asta Kosala Kosali’ into the urban context of Düsseldorf. In Dance Research #61, Satya explores physical adaptation within the Neuer Zollhof, where Frank Gehry’s flowing constructions become a place of cultural and architectural negotiation.