tanz nrw 17 – The Contemporary Independent Dance Scene in North Rhine-Westphalia

From 3 to 6 May, a group of seven international dance producers, dance critics and festival curators visited the contemporary independent dance scene in NRW on the occasion of the biennial dance festival tanz nrw 17.

The guests from Argentina, Brazil, China, Greece, Indonesia and Lithuania visited performances and events of the decentralised festival in Düsseldorf, Essen, Cologne and Viersen. In addition, the group met with those responsible for the festival, had discussions with the directors of relevant dance institutions (including PACT Zollverein in Essen, tanzhaus nrw in Düsseldorf, Institute for Contemporary Dance at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, TanzFaktur and Deutsches Tanzarchiv in Cologne) and met with representatives of the independent scene to exchange experiences, including with the Düsseldorf Theater der Klänge. The programme also included a meeting with Klaus Dilger, one of the initiators of tanzweb.org, in Wuppertal.