The team from the German Dance Film Institute Bremen is recording the event at the Aalto Theater Essen / Germany.

The German Dance Association invites you to a glittering dance gala on
Saturday, February 28, 2026 at 6 p.m. at the Aalto Theater in Essen.
This year’s program showcases the great diversity of dance:
Guests include the Berlin State Ballet, the MiR Dance Company Gelsenkirchen, the choreographer and dancer Thomas A. Bradley, and the Urban Dance Department & friends.

As part of the dance gala, the German Dance Prize 2026 will be awarded to choreographer Christian Spuck. Honors will also be bestowed upon dance scholar Prof. Dr. Gabriele Brandstetter and Butoh dancer Tadashi Endo (posthumously).

Visitors can expect an exciting and diverse gala program:

WATER is a powerful opening act in which the Urban Dance Department & Friends bring the essence of urban dance to the stage. Featuring 13 local and international dancers, Souhail Jalti’s choreography blends hip hop, popping, and breakdancing with contemporary urban expression.

The world premiere of NOT BUTOH SOLO by choreographer and dancer Thomas A. Bradley is both a reference to Gabriele Brandstetter and Tadashi Endo and a reflection on the artist’s enduring fascination with Japanese Butoh.

The Berlin State Ballet presents three pieces by choreographer and this year’s prize winner, Christian Spuck: With Beethoven, Spuck captures the mood of the second movement, “Adagio un poco mosso,” of Piano Concerto No. 5.

Nocturne, with its fusion of classical and contemporary elements, particularly represents Christian Spuck’s choreographic style. Christian Spuck premiered the ballet Romeo and Juliet in Zurich in 2012. His interpretation of the balcony scene, the balcony pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet, is among the most moving moments of the piece.

The MiR Dance Company Gelsenkirchen presents excerpts from the captivating two-part work Hasard & Boléro by Sita Ostheimer, featuring music by Yehezkel Raz and Maurice Ravel, and an excerpt from Millennials by choreographer Marcos Morau. “Millennials” explores how, in the era of the digital revolution, the internet and social networks have fundamentally changed society.

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The dance gala will be opened with a welcoming address by Wolfram Weimer, Minister of State for Culture at the Federal Chancellery.

The evening will be hosted by Vivian Perkovic – known, among other things, from the 3sat magazine Kulturzeit.

The dance gala will be offered with interpretation into German Sign Language (DGS).

At a festive dance gala on 12 October 2024, the Dachverband Tanz Deutschland presented the German Dance Award 2024 – the most prestigious award for dance in Germany.

Prolonged applause accompanied the awards for Dieter Heitkamp (honour for lifetime achievement) and explore dance – Netzwerk Tanz für junges Publikum (honour for outstanding development in dance) and for Sasha Waltz, who was awarded the German Dance Award 2024.
The award ceremony and the dance gala impressively presented the emotional and unifying power of dance, accompanied by WDR presenter Siham El-Maimouni.

Highlights included the opening of the evening by the Aalto Ballett Essen on its home stage with an excerpt from the ballet ‘Carmen’, an excerpt from the dance theatre ‘Chotto Desh’ by the Akram Khan Company, a pas de deux from ‘In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated’ by William Forsythe of the Staatsballett Berlin and an excerpt from ‘Radical Cheerleading’ by choreographer Zufit Simon. The dancers from Sasha Waltz & Guests delighted the audience with an excerpt from ‘In C’, a choreography by Sasha Waltz.

The laudators had touching words for the award winner and the honourees. Nele Hertling, who was honoured with the German Dance Award in 2018, on Sasha Waltz: “In addition to developing new pieces, performing in Berlin and giving numerous guest performances, Sasha Waltz is active on many levels and takes responsibility for her social environment (…). In addition to her artistic work, the development of innovative, interdisciplinary forms of performance and creation is a focal point of her work. (…) With its artistic work, the company Sasha Waltz & Guests stands for a democratic, open and diverse society with joint work in the encounter with the audience and an open discussion.”

Theatre scholar Gerald Siegmund emphasised that the lifetime achievement award for Dieter Heitkamp honours “(…) a restless artist, an innovative pedagogue, a cunning strategist and a tireless fighter for the cause of dance. (…) In the course of his “almost fifty years of commitment to dance in Germany and beyond, he has fearlessly made a great deal out of almost nothing. As an artist, as a teacher and as a mentor for future generations of dancers.”

Cultural politician Helge Lindh (Member of the German Bundestag) emphasised that explore dance is organised artistically and democratically, which is what makes the network so magical. The presence of society and young people is recognised and the power of development is taken into account. explore dance provides a wonderful service to democracy, which is why this network should be celebrated.

The team of the German Dance Film Institute documents the award ceremony gala.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

On Friday, 11 October, the Tanzpreis Kultursalon took place at PACT Zollverein at 7 pm.

The Kultursalon offered visitors the opportunity to find out more about the art and work of this year’s award winners and honourees and to engage in dialogue with them. Sasha Waltz received the German Dance Award 2024, Dieter Heitkamp was honoured with a lifetime achievement award and explore dance – Netzwerk Tanz für junges Publikum was honoured for outstanding development in dance.

The evening’s dance was enriched by the explore dance production ‘Move More Morph It!’, choreographed by Anna Konjetzky. ‘Move More Morph It!’ is a mobile pop-up production for young audiences aged 8 and up and poses the questions: Who, how and what can I be? A body sets itself to music, providing the soundtrack for a journey through different identities, self-designs and fantastic characters. Large effects and subtle tones trick perception and awaken curiosity about a creative approach to attributions.

Michael Freundt, Managing Director of Dachverband Tanz Deutschland, hosted the programme and engaged in conversation with the award winner and the honourees on stage. The laudatory speeches for Dieter Heitkamp and explore dance are part of the evening. The laudatory speech for Sasha Waltz was held the following evening at the Aalto Theatre in Essen as part of a festive dance gala.

After the Kultursalon, visitors were invited to a reception where they could socialise and linger.

An evening full of encounters!

The event was offered with translation into German Sign Language (DGS) and audio description (AD).

The team from the German Dance-Film-Institute Bremen documented the festive gala and award ceremony.

The events are offered with audio description (AD) and translation into German Sign Language (DGS).

PROGRAMME
The Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin will open the dance gala with “Better, Faster, Stronger”, choreographed by Giorgio Madia. The 6th to 9th year students dance full of energy to the music of Daft Punk.

The Semperoper Dresden ballet will enrich the evening with two duets. With “FAUN(E)”, choreographer David Dawson has developed an abstract, timeless and modern creation that explores questions of duality, sexuality and identity. “White Darkness” is Nacho Duato’s choreographic reflection on the impact of drugs and their effect on human social behaviour

With “Sense of Wonder”, choreographers Lisa Rykena and Carolin Jüngst create an expedition scenario and appeal to the willingness to marvel. An excerpt of the piece will be shown as a video.

The Aalto Ballet will be performing “Mutual Comfort” on its home stage. In “Mutual Comfort”, choreographer Edward Clug captivates with his very individual movement language. Four dancers try to give each other “mutual comfort”. But any form of contact between them seems doomed to failure.”Wandering Mind”, choreographed by Renate Graziadei, is all about associations and moods that arise when thoughts wander. The Folkwang Tanzstudio will show a part of it – melancholic, absurd and mysterious.The Tanztheater Wuppertal and its dancers will be guests with a collage of Pina Bausch’s works. Excerpts from “Full Moon”, “… como el musguito en la piedra, ay si, si, si …” and “Kontakthof” will be performed.

Lutz Förster, one of the winners of the German Dance Award 2023, will dance a solo from “Nelken – Ein Stück von Pina Bausch”.

During the Dance Gala, the Dachverband Tanz Deutschland will present the German Dance Award 2023 to Malou Airaudo, Josephine Ann Endicott, Lutz Förster and Dominique Mercy. The laudatory speech will be held by actress Mechthild Grossmann. The visually impaired performer Sophia Neises receives an honour for outstanding development in dance. Dance teacher Peter Appel will be honoured for his life’s work.

Further exciting contributions complete the varied programme.

German sign language: Elisabeth Brichta and Esther Schuler

Audio description – audio descriptions for blind / visually impaired audiences
Text and live descriptions: Jutta Polić, Felix Koch
Editing: Johanna Krins
Sound direction and technology: Dietrich Petzold, with the kind support of Berliner Spielplan Audiodeskription, a project by Förderband e.V. – Kulturinitiative Berlin

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The team from the German Dance Film Institute is once again documenting this year’s dance gala and award ceremony.

“Not only do ballet masters often reach an advanced age, they often work much longer than they should. Peter Appel is one of them, a later famous descendant of the great ballet masters of 18th and 19th century Europe, Jean Georges Noverre, Jules Perrot, Auguste Vestris and Marius Petipa. He will be 90 years old on 8 September 2023, and he hasn’t really been retired for very long. In this respect, it is definitely still timely to honour him now, in 2023, with the German Dance Award for his life’s work as a ballet master and training director.” Frankfurter Allgemeine 8 September 2023 Link to the FAZ article

Sabrina Sadowska, ballet director of the Chemnitz Municipal Theatre, emphasised as laudator that Peter Appel “(…) always focuses on the human being.” Peter Appel was a big step ahead of his time and the dialogue with his students was essential for him.

The German Dance Film Institute Bremen is producing a short film about the work of the ballet master to mark the presentation of the German Dance Award to Peter Appel. The film will premiere as part of the Dance Gala on 14 October 2023 at the Aalto Theatre in Essen.

The German Dance Prize is the most prestigious prize for dance in Germany and has been awarded annually at a festive dance gala since 1983.

On 15 October, the award ceremony of the German Dance Prize 2022 took place at the Aalto Theatre in Essen. With a diverse programme and international guests, the diversity of dance and the art of the award winners were celebrated.

The multifaceted programme of the German Dance Award 2022 was presented at the Aalto-Theatre in Essen.

This year, the multifaceted programme revolved exclusively around the prize-winners. Two pieces by Marco Goecke were part of the programme. Lilith Hakobyan from the Staatsballett Hannover danced the solo Tué to music by the singer Barbara, which Marco Goecke dedicated to Princess Caroline of Monaco in 2009 as a tribute to her many years of commitment to dance. Rosario Guerra and Louis Steinmetz, also from the Staatsballett Hannover, also presented Marco Goecke’s duet Midnight Raga, whose title is based on classical Indian music.

Christoph Winkler presented his piece Coming Together to the music of the composition of the same name by Federic Rzewski, performed by the international Zafraan Ensemble. Dancers from the Netherlands, Nigeria, New Zealand and Germany deal with the body in turmoil and explore the body’s potential for protest.

Christoph Winkler’s piece Coming Together is set to music by Federic Rzewski.

Reinhild Hoffmann’s performance Solange man unterwegs ist… (As long as you’re on the road…), created especially for the event, takes us on a journey into her artistic past and allows us to experience her work of the past decades in the present.

The film WE LIVE IN A STRANGE WORLD – a dance film inspired by the speeches of Greta Thunberg by Christin and Carola Schmidt, created as part of the Chance Tanz funding programme of the Aktion Tanz association, will be presented as an example of the work of the association.

The team of the German Dance Film Institute Bremen is pleased to document the gala on the occasion of the awarding of the highest prize for dance in Germany on film again this year.

The 2022 Dance Prize winners:in conversation about their work with : Marco Goecke, Christoph Winkler, Reinhild Hoffmann and the Aktion Tanz Company tell us about their research and inspirations.

German Dance Award 2022
CULTURE SALON 14.10.2022 / 19h
PACT Zollverein

Moderation:
Michael Freundt & Brit Rodemund

19:00 Welcome by moderator and Muchtar Al Ghusain (Alderman of the City of Essen for Youth, Education and Culture)

19:05 Talk session with Marco Goecke and Reinhild Hoffmann

Introduction of the laudator Reid Anderson

19:07 Laudation of Marco Goecke as video by Reid Anderson (8-10 min.)
19:15 Talk with the laudators and award winners (20 min.)

Introduction of the laudator Hedwig Müller

19:35 Laudation of Reinhild Hoffmann by Hedwig Müller
19:45 Talk with the laudators and prize winners
20:05 PAUSE

20:30 Talk with Christoph Winkler and Aktion Tanz

Introduction of the laudator Elisabeth Nehring

20:32 Laudation for Christoph Winkler by Elisabeth Nehring
20:40 Talk with the laudators and prize winners

Transition to Aktion Tanz
Introduction of the laudator Madeline Ritter

21:00 Laudation on Aktion Tanz by Madeline Ritter
21:10 Talk with the laudators and award winners
21:30 Farewell

From 21:30 Reception and conclusion with music in the foyer

“When everyone is sitting around, tugging at clothes or jumping around, as if to get the circulation going, and then one is just standing, then one more is standing, all upright. Later, all of them. In expectation. In readiness. This is the beginning of the show. The dancers now receive and do as told. In the three-part 6.58: MANIFESTO by Canadian choreografin Andrea Peña, it is different announcements or voices and moods to which they submit. And anyone who has ever taken a dance class knows the “Five, six, seven, eight!” command. Whether numbers, tones, beats or waltz tradition, they take the decision from the seven people here on stage. In the process, repetitions, sequences, pairings emerge. No stories. Only the bodies are exhausted. But already they are stretching their arms again, strutting, bending, kneeling.” DanceBremen

ANDREA PEÑA, a native of Colombia, worked in Canada as a dancer with Ballet BC and Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, among others, studied industrial design and founded her own company ANDREA PEÑA & ARTISTS in Montréal in 2014. As someone who lives in two cultures, she’s interested in the in-between spaces, she says. In them, she wants to dig, “and show on stage the relationship between the known and the unknown.”

The German Dance Film Institute team is documenting the European premiere.

On Saturday, 23 October 2021, the German Dance Award will be presented at the Aalto Theatre in Essen – the most prestigious award for dance in Germany. The award ceremony is embedded in a top-class dance gala programme with contributions from classical ballet, dance theatre and contemporary dance.

The German Dance Prize 2021 will be awarded to the founder and director of the German Dance Film Institute Bremen, Heide-Marie Härtel. Her life’s work is associated with a globally outstanding institution and the impulse to capture dance in the medium of film and to bring it to new life.

Honours will also be awarded to ballet teacher Ursula Borrmann, choreographer Claire Cunningham and trade unionist Adil Laraki.

One of the highlights of the evening will be the pas de deux from John Cranko’s “Eugene Onegin” danced by the Stuttgart Ballet as well as Reinhild Hoffmann’s “Solo with Sofa”.

Siham El-Maimouni, presenter at Westdeutscher Rundfunk, will accompany the audience through the evening.

Details on the programme of the gala can be found here [click].

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The ticket for the live streaming can be purchased online at the following link: click here.

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You can optionally copy the following link: https://www.eventbrite.de/e/deutscher-tanzpreis-2021-tickets-166287537501

The team of the German Dance Film Institute Bremen is especially pleased to document the gala on film this year.