Dance Congress 2009

In cooperation with Kampnagel, K3 - Zentrum für Choreographie / Dance Plan Hamburg and the Centre for Performance Studies at the University of Hamburg, the Federal Cultural Foundation was coordinating the second Dance Congress Germany to be held at Kampnagel in Hamburg from 5 to 8 November 2009. Three years after 1,700 participants attended the first successful congress at the Berlin House of World Cultures, the congress was open once again to dancers, choreographers, dance instructors, scholars and producers from all areas of dance, as well as critics, politicians and, of course, dance enthusiasts from Germany and around the world.

The event programme was developed in part by four think tanks in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Düsseldorf, in which 100 dance artists suggested ideas and current topics related to their practical work for discussion.
In addition to these issues, the Dance Congress 2009 particularly focused on the political and social potential of dance. How can we more strongly anchor dance in the educational canon and research? How can we improve production conditions, funding structures and marketing strategies? How do we currently view various artistic approaches and methods in dance? What will the dance archives of the future look like?
In addition to lectures by international scholars who presented their sociological, philosophical and cultural-historic perspectives on dance, the congress in Hamburg particularly featured participative formats, such as workshops, salons, laboratories and performances. As the Dance Plan Germany (external link, opens in a new window) concluded in 2010, the congress also addressed the possibility of continuing the work of the dance projects that were established through the Dance Plan.

Project directors: Sabine Gehm, Katharina von Wilcke

Venue and schedule:
5-8 Nov. 2009, Kampnagel, Hamburg