From May 20 to 29, 2023, the 4th edition of CircusDanceFestival will take place in Cologne. Contemporary circus meets contemporary dance: that is the basic constant of this model project initiated in 2019 by the company Overhead Project as part of the TANZPAKT Stadt-Land-Bund excellence funding. In 2023, the CircusDanceFestival will be funded as an individual project by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, Kulturstiftung des Bundes. Curated once again by the Cologne circus artist and choreographer Tim Behren, this edition places the body at the center of social negotiations. It is about the political body, our relationship to human and non-human bodies, our relation to architectures and our physical environment.
The diverse stage program of this year's festival, with 23 different international works and a total of 34 performances, will be accompanied by panel discussions, film evenings, concert performances and festival parties, among other events. Feminist circus perspectives and interdisciplinary explorations around "grotesque" bodies reflect on the historical and colonial legacy of the circus. The VOICES magazine with the focus "Re-exploring grotesque bodies - circus perspectives on diverse bodies" accompanies the CircusDanceFestival and is already published by Verlag Theater der Zeit at the beginning of May.
What's special this year: to kick off the festival on the weekend before Whitsun, Contemporary Circus for all will be coming to town on May 20 and 21. For free and outside around the Haus der Architektur on the Joseph-Haubrich-Hof the CircusDanceFestival celebrates an extraordinary encounter of architecture, body, acrobatics and dance in public space.
From Wednesday, May 24, the festival grounds at An der Schanz in the north of Cologne will host the multifaceted world of international contemporary circus and dance until Whit Monday (May 29).
Detailed information on the festival program and the opportunity to purchase tickets will be available here on the festival homepage from the beginning of April 2023.