Tanz im August (; "Dance in August") is an annual festival for

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...

in Berlin. It was founded by

Nele Hertling Nele Hertling ''née'' Schröder (born 23 February 1934) is a German theatre manager and promoter of innovative culture. Working for the Academy of Arts, Berlin, from 1962, she has founded regular programs of innovative art in the city, such as P ...

in West Berlin in 1988, and is now presented by the Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) theatre company on various stages in Berlin. It presents companies from all over the world with their new

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...

, aesthetics and formats, new projects by Berlin artists, collaboration with international guests, and co-production for world premieres and German premieres.

Virve Sutinen Virve Katri Maria Sutinen (born 9 March 1962) was director of the in Stockholm between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2013 and artistic director of Tanz im August Berlin since 2014. Biography Sutinen studied comparative literature, theatre and ...

has been artistic director from 2014.

History

Tanz im August was founded as an international festival for

in 1988, then in West Berlin. The festival developed to an annual festival of several weeks around August. It brings notable companies from all over the world together in Berlin, with new

, aesthetics and formats. The festival also presents new projects by Berlin artists, collaboration with international guests and the co-production of world premieres and German premieres. The festival is now presented by the Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) theatre company. The festival uses several venues: the three stages of HAU, and varying other stages throughout Berlin, including the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, the , the , the Volksbühne, the Deutsches Theater Berlin, the "Kindl Centre for Contemporary Art" and the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz. Tanz im August is funded by the Capital Cultural Fund. Since 2014,

from Sweden has been the artistic director.

Productions

Numerous formats are fixed components of the festival program. Since 2016, the (Library in August) project at the (HAU2) has made books available that festival artists recommended as having influenced their work and thought. The 31st edition in 2019 featured 70 performances of 31 productions at eleven different venues with 160 artists from 15 countries. The 2020 edition took place in a modified form due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of a stage program, an extended online program was offered. Tanz im August has been publishing a ''Magazin im August'' since 2014.

Artistic direction

* 1989–2003:

* 2003–2007: Ulrike Becker, Matthias Lilienthal,

Bettina Masuch Bettina Masuch (born 1964) is a German dramaturg and theatre director as well as artistic director at the Festspielhaus St. Pölten. Life and work Born in Solingen, Masuch studied German language and literature, philosophy and applied theatre ...

, André Thériault * 2007–2008: Ulrike Becker, Matthias Lilienthal, Marion Ziemann, Bettina Masuch, André Thériault * 2009–2013: Ulrike Becker, Pirkko Husemann, Matthias Lilienthal, André Thériault, Marion Ziemann * 2013: Bettina Masuch * Since 2014:

Artists

Artists and companies featured at Tanz im August have included Dominique Bagouet, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch,

Jérôme Bel Jérôme Bel (born 1965) is a French dancer and choreographer. Biography Bel discovered contemporary dance at the 1983 Festival d'Avignon, where he saw two important pieces, ''Nelken'' by Pina Bausch and '' Rosas danst Rosas'' by Anne Teresa De K ...

, Bruno Beltrão / Grupo de Rua, Rosemary Butcher, Roberto Castello, Nora Chipaumire, Michael Clark Company, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, Martha Graham Dance Company, Trajal Harrell, Deborah Hay, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker,

María La Ribot María José Ribot (born 19 July 1962), known as La Ribot, is a dancer, choreographer and visual artist. Her projects are based on movement, the body and her own experiences in dance, but she also uses other practices, systems and materials that h ...

Faustin Linyekula Faustin Linyekula (born February 27, 1974). is a Congolese dancer and choreographer of contemporary dance.Dorky Park, Lemi Ponifasio, Eszter Salamon,

Wayne McGregor Wayne McGregor, CBE (born 12 March 1970) is a multi award-winning British choreographer and director. He is the Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor and Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet. McGregor was appointed Commander of ...

Meg Stuart Meg Stuart (born 1965 in New Orleans) is an American choreographer and dancer who lives and works in Brussels and Berlin. Her company, Damaged Goods, operates from Brussels since 1994. Start as a dancer and choreographer Stuart moved to New York ...

and Sasha Waltz.

Retrospectives

Since 2015, Tanz im August has shown a

retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ''retrospectare'', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in medicine, software development, popu ...

of an important living artist every other year, resulting in a publication on their life and work. * 2015 – Rosemary Butcher * 2017 –

La Ribot LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

* 2019 – Deborah Hay

30th anniversary

In 2018, Tanz im August celebrated its 30th anniversary. In addition to the festival events, journalist Claudia Henne compiled the festival's production history in an archive, which is available in the ''Tanz im August Online Magazin''.

References

External links

* {{authority control Contemporary dance Dance festivals in Germany Theatre festivals in Berlin