Dance Plan Germany (Tanzplan Deutschland)

Dance Plan Germany was a project funded by the Federal Cultural Foundation to develop sustainable dance measures from 2005 to 2010. The goal was to comprehensively and systematically strengthen the field of dance. Dance Plan Germany supported a variety of areas, such as artist and young talent promotion, dance training, cultural education and the cultural heritage of dance. This “master plan” for dance was not just a funding instrument. In collaboration with dance artists, it aimed to venture in new directions to implement artistic ideas through cultural policy.

Over the period of five years, the Federal Cultural Foundation allocated a total budget of 12.5 million euros to the Dance Plan Germany. The Foundation’s advisory board appointed a Dance Plan curatorial panel which was responsible for developing the concept and content of the programme. The panel’s members included Nele Hertling, Reinhild Hoffmann, Dr. Antje Klinge and Dr. Johannes Odenthal. The non-profit association Tanzplan Deutschland e.V., managed by the project director Madeline Ritter, was responsible for implementing the various measures.

Dance Plan Germany was comprised of two main projects: “Dance Plan On Location“ and “Dance Plan Educational Projects”. In an alliance between cultural policymakers and dance artists, Dance Plan On Location created innovative and sustainable cooperative projects that developed the dance arts in various cities throughout Germany. Dance Plan Educational Projects went even further by developing models to improve and update training and educational programmes in the fields of dance, choreography and educational science.

Dance Plan On Location

• Dance Plan Bremen
• Dance Plan Dresden
• Dance Plan Düsseldorf
• Dance Plan Essen
• Dance Plan Frankfurt
• Dance Plan Hamburg
• Dance Plan Munich
• Dance Plan Potsdam

Dance Plan Educational Projects

• Dance Plan Berlin
• Dance Education Biennial

National Performance Network (NPN)

Through Dance Plan Germany, the Federal Cultural Foundation funded several existing projects, such as the co-production funding efforts of the National Performance Network (NPN) and the artist-in-residence programme, supported by the National Performance Network (NPN).

Internet portals

Dance Plan Germany also provided start-up funding for two dance websites, www.dance-germany.org (external link, opens in a new window) and www.tanznetz.de (external link, opens in a new window).

Dance Congress 2006 and 2009

In connection with Dance Plan Germany, the Federal Cultural Foundation organized the Dance Congress Germany (external link, opens in a new window) in 2006 and 2009.

On the basis of a match funding scheme, a total of 21 million euros was invested in the dance field from 2005 to 2010. In addition to the 12.5 million euros provided by the Federal Cultural Foundation, the participating cities and states contributed 8.5 million euros in funding. This money was used to form new dance training programmes in Frankfurt and Berlin, new performance venues and artist-in-residence programmes in Hamburg and Potsdam, competence centres for cultural education in Düsseldorf and Munich, and regional and international dance networks in Bremen, Dresden and Essen.

A total of 426 institutional project partners collaborated to strengthen public appreciation of contemporary dance in Germany. Thanks to their efforts, 1,277 dance performances were produced and presented, 681 of which were made for and by children and young people. Almost 390 choreographers from over 50 countries participated in these projects and 180 work scholarships and residency stipends were awarded to 613 artists.

What will happen to the projects established by Dance Plan Germany after the Federal Cultural Foundation discontinues funding as mandated by its funding criteria?

More than 80 % of the projects – on location and nationwide – will be able to continue their work. Eight out of the nine Dance Plan On Location programmes will continue to receive funding from other sources – in some cases, even more than before.

The “Dance Education Biennial”, held at a different location every two years, will be financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in the future. The Henschel Verlag will publish the results of a three-year international research project by the Dance Plan Educational Projects in a publication titled “Tanztechniken 2010 – Dance Plan Deutschland”. The Berlin Academy of the Arts will take responsibility of the “Digital Dance Atlas” – an online portal for dance history and documentation. And finally, the Dance Plan’s start-up financing for the “Stiftung TANZ - Transition Zentrum Deutschland” will be extended into 2011 by the Federal Commissioner for Cultural and Media Affairs.

The Dance Plan Germany has also become an internationally acclaimed model project. A number of countries around the world, including Switzerland, Spain and Australia, have started their own national dance plans based on the German model.

The Federal Cultural Foundation remains committed to dance and will continue financing the international Dance Congress (external link, opens in a new window) and the Dance Partners and Dance Heritage (external link, opens in a new window) funding programmes.