Foto: Judith Pawlitta © NRWKS

Danceland NRW – North Rhine-Westphalia as a centre for dance culture

Theme trip

The "Tanzplattform Deutschland" (Dance Platform Germany), an annual forum for the presentation of current developments and innovative currents in contemporary dance from Germany, was hosted again in North Rhine-Westphalia for the first time in 14 years in March 2018 and thus provided an occasion for a thematic journey to dance culture on the Rhine and Ruhr.

The programme of the international participants in the visitors' programme, festival directors, dance producers and curators from India, Ireland, Colombia, Nigeria, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, the Philippines and the USA, focused on the work and self-image of the numerous independent companies and their artists in NRW in addition to the events and performances within the framework of the Dance Platform.

Institutions, training centres and dance centres in North Rhine-Westphalia were visited, including the Pina Bausch Foundation in Wuppertal, the tanzhaus nrw in Düsseldorf and the Centre for Contemporary Dance at the University of Music and Dance in Cologne.

The guests were:

Arnab Banerjee, head of programmes and training: Attakkalari Centre for Movements Arts, Bangalore/INDIA

Shoshona Currier, director: Bates Dance Festivals, Lewiston (ME)/USA

Iris Ping-Chi Hung, managing director: Bamboo Curtain Studio, Taipei/TAIWAN

Adedayo Liadi, director: Ijodee Dance Company and Centre, Lagos/NIGERIA, founder and director: Ijodee Foundation, Lagos/NIGERIA, artistic director: TRUFESTA International Dance Festival, Lagos/NIGERIA, director: Guild of Nigerian Dancers (GOND), NIGERIA

Honza Malík, producer, manager: Pulsar Association, Prague/CZECH REPUBLIC, curator, freelance dance, producer, Prague/CZECH REPUBLIC

Juan Pablo Lopéz Otero, artistic director: Bienal Internacional de Danza de Cali, Cali/COLUMBIA, advisor at the ministry of culture, Bogotá/COLUMBIA

Sabrina Joy Tan, artistic director: Bunga Arts Link, Manila/PHILIPPINES, project manager: National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Manila/PHILIPPINES

Jenny Traynor, director: Dance Limerick, Limerick/IRELAND