Price information: ​Pay what you want tickets (suggested: 6€ / 10€ / 15€)​ are available at the box office (Abendkasse) from 19:00. To make a reservation, please send an email to creation.jvnpetrovska@gmail.com – READ MORE

International dance art, powerful artistic voices, and an enthusiastic audience

Awards presented at the 18th International SoloDuoFestival nrw + friends in Cologne

The 18th International SoloDuoFestival nrw + friends, presented by Barnes Crossing – Freiraum für TanzPerformanceKunst, concluded with an awards ceremony on May 31, 2026. In the anniversary year “20 Years of Barnes Crossing,” the festival once again presented outstanding contemporary dance and performance works from Germany and abroad.

From more than 150 applications from 18 countries, 17 solo and duo productions were selected and presented in Cologne on May 29 and 30. The international jury, consisting of Vivianne Rodrigues del Britto (NL), Bébé de Soares (BR), and Leandro Kees (ARG/D), awarded five prizes.

The winning works particularly impressed the jury with their distinctive artistic styles as well as their engagement with contemporary social, political, and aesthetic issues.

The 2026 Award Winners (Jury Award):

AWARDED DUO + Residency

MUGA (Rotterdam, Netherlands)

Choreography: Francesco Paolino

Dance: Francesco Paolino and Tom Blanc

AWARDED DUO NEWCOMER

Project G2 Post Traffic Femtasy (Essen, Germany)

Choreography: Tabea Jung

Dance: Shauna Fischer, Merel Bastiaans

AWARDED DANCER

I could also be a black swan (Kassel, Germany)

Choreography/Dance: Klil Ela Rotshtain

AWARDED SOLO NEWCOMER + Residency

this is not an accident (Cologne, Germany)

Choreography/Dance: Cilai Herrmann

AWARDED SOLO + Residency

Sorry, one more thing (Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany)

Choreography/Dance: Leonie Greta Hardt

The jury’s full laudatory remarks can be downloaded with the press release.

Audience Awards

The audience also presented its own awards on both days of the competition.

May 29, 2026

• Audience Award Duo: Dustkind – Giacomo Liam Durante and Sofie Sochorcová

• Audience Award Solo: The skin remembers – Einav Berkovich

May 30, 2026

• Audience Award for Duo: MUGA – Francesco Paolino and Tom Blanc

• Audience Award for Solo: I could also be a black swan – Klil Ela Rotshtain

With MUGA and I could also be a black swan, two works were honored by both the expert jury and the audience.

Festival Team Award

To mark the 20th anniversary of Barnes Crossing, a Festival Team Award was presented for the first time this year. The non-monetary award went to the solo work BOLOKO by Karel KOUELANY (Vitry-sur-Seine, France).

Full press release & laudatory speeches as PDF

Hallo liebe kunst- und tanzinteressierte Menschen sowie jene, die es werden wollen!

Wir freuen uns, mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Stadt Köln, auch in diesem Jahr Audiodeskription und DGS-Verdolmetschung für das SoloDuoFestival nrw + friends bereitzustellen. Alle Information zur Barrierefreiheit und Anreise findet ihr im Audio-Flyer sowie auf der Website. Außerdem sind wir telefonisch und per E-Mail für euch zu erreichen.

Am 29. und 30. Mai 2026 zeigen wir 17 internationale Kurz-Choreografien des Zeitgenössischen Tanz bei Barnes Crossing im Kunstzentrum Wachsfabrik. Am 31. Mai findet die Preisverleihung durch die international besetzte Jury statt. Wir freuen uns drauf, euch bei uns zu begrüßen!

Herzlich
Eure Ilona, Künstlerische Leitung von SoloDuo

18. SoloDuoFestival nrw + friends Internationales Tanzfestival

Barnes Crossing 29. bis 31. Mai 2026

 

Tickets 29.05.2026  https://rausgegangen.de/events/soloduo-festival-new-friends-0/

Tickets 30.05.2026  https://rausgegangen.de/events/soloduo-festival-new-friends-1/

Booking for the awards ceremony on 31 May 2026: https://rausgegangen.de/events/soloduo-festival-nrw-friends-0/

 

SoloDuoFestival nrw + friends

Since 2009, the SoloDuoFestival nrw + friends has been an annual international dance festival dedicated to presenting contemporary dance productions – with a particular focus on emerging artists. The festival offers a unique platform for emerging choreographers, promotes artistic exchange among international participants as well as between participants and professional dance practitioners, and creates career opportunities.

Each year, the festival presents 8–10 contemporary solo choreographies with a maximum duration of 6 minutes and duo choreographies with a maximum duration of 9 minutes. We welcome international applications, particularly those for mixed-ability productions. Two duos and three solos are selected from the programme by the international jury to either take part in international festivals organised by partner organisations or to benefit from a residency lasting several weeks at the “Quartier am Hafen”.

From 29 to 31 May 2026, the International SoloDuoFestival nrw + friends will take place for the 18th time. The festival is organised by Barnes Crossing – Freiraum für TanzPerformanceKunst, which has been providing an important platform for contemporary dance and performance for two decades.

This year, too, the festival underlines its international significance: over 150 applications were received from 18 countries, including France, the Netherlands, Brazil, Taiwan, Poland, Italy, Finland, Israel, South Korea, the Czech Republic, Greece, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, the USA, Portugal, England, Sweden and Germany.

 

PROGRAMME for download

Team 

Artistic Directors: Ilona Pászthy, Gerda König
Festival Assistants: Even Wainscoat, Joschka Heed
Selection Jury: Diana Treder, Ilona Pászthy
Graphic Design: miegL
Jury: Vivianne Rodrigues del Britto (NL), Bebé de Soares und Leandro Kees
Technical Support: Garlef Keßler
Sound Engineering Assistant: Simeon Kuhn
PR and Communications: Mechtild Tellmann
Workshop Leaders: Yvonne Hardt, Nina Patrizia Hänel
Photo/Video Documentation: Alessandro de Matteis

The jury for the awards are Dutch artist Vivianne Rodrigues del Britto and Bebé de Soares and Leandro Kees.

In addition to the competition entries, the festival offers a diverse supporting programme that focuses on artistic exchange. Discussion panels between participants and the jury provide opportunities for reflection and networking. The programme is complemented by two workshops: on Saturday, Yvonne Hardt will lead a discussion on current issues in dance policy, and on Sunday, Nina Patrizia Hänel will lead a practical workshop in the field of dance.

 

Awards and grants

The SoloDuoFestival nrw + friends will award the following prizes in 2026:

awarded Solo: €400 and a residency grant at Quartier am Hafen
awarded Duo: €800 and a residency grant at Quartier am Hafen
awarded Newcomer Solo: €400
awarded Newcomer Duo: €800
awarded dancer: €400

In addition, a further residency place will be awarded to a production selected by the jury. All prizes are sponsored by the KunstSalon Stiftung Köln in cooperation with the Quartier am Hafen.

 

Accessibility as a lived commitment

Thanks to renewed funding from the City of Cologne, comprehensive accessibility formats can also be offered in 2026. These include, amongst other things, audio descriptions (upon registration), a pick-up service from the nearest train station, and special services for deaf people. The venue is fully accessible – the festival thus sees itself as an inclusive cultural offering for everyone.

An audio flyer will be available on the website shortly.

 

Anniversary: 20 years of Barnes Crossing

In 2026, Barnes Crossing celebrates its 20th anniversary. The festival is part of this anniversary programme and will mark the occasion with special highlights. Visitors can look forward to additional programme items and surprises, particularly during the awards ceremony.

 

Practical information:
Competition performances:

Friday, 29 May 2026, 8.00 pm
Saturday, 30 May 2026, 8.00 pm

Awards ceremony

Sunday, 31 May 2026, 3.00 pm

 

Tickets
Tickets €19.00 / concessions €12.00 / €6.00 with Tanzcard (ZZT students) per festival day (limited availability), all prices subject to booking fee. Award ceremony: Free admission
Tickets available via rausgegangen.de

or at the box office (we recommend booking in advance, providing your name, address and telephone number, as only a limited number of tickets are available for general sale.  Tel.: 02236-963588, barnescrossing@web.de

Summer Celebration – we’re having a garden party!

Sunday 28 June 2026, from 5.00 pm

An event as part of the Barnes Crossing anniversary year 2026

We invite you to our Barnes Crossing garden: Come along, sit with us by the campfire and have a chat over drinks and a bite to eat – we look forward to lots of lovely encounters!

IPtanz

Open rehearsal: absence#7: reconstruction of memories (working title)

 

Saturday 25 July 2026, 3.30 pm

An event as part of the Barnes Crossing anniversary year 2026

Memory is not an archive, but a movement of images, feelings and traces. How does memory manifest itself in the body beyond the visual? A diverse ensemble of sighted, blind and visually impaired performers explores truth, perception and transformation. absence#7 conceives of memory as a living process. The open rehearsal at the end of the first rehearsal process invites you to encounter this fragile fabric and engage in conversation. Premiere as part of the Festival Tanz NRW 2027.

Info and reservation: 0163 – 9719837 or post@wolkenstein-theater.de

 

Most of the time, Willi the raccoon and Laila the owl are very comfortable in their forest home, and they have been good friends for a long time.
And yet there’s always something to decide all day long: who gets to play the drum, that’s my apple, where are the wellies again, stop strumming, is there lunch now, you don’t know what you want anyway, but you already had the little guitar yesterday and you always know everything better…
Laila and Willi find joy in their own voices and self-determination between not-right-at-all and right-at-all. And, of course, they find out how to make decisions together.

Summarized in adult language:
Owl and Raccoon play around the children’s right to participation and use lots of music and humor to educate daycare children about democracy.

Supported by NRW Landesbüro FDK, NRW Ministry of Culture, Cologne Cultural Office and the Victor Rolff Foundation.

Dance theatre for the whole family (for children aged 5 and above)

Saturday  May 16th 2026, 4:00 pm
Sunday May 17th 2026, 4:00 pm

 

A poetic play about growing up, transformation and the search for one’s place in the world.

Meet Gargadenia, a curious girl who, like Alice in Wonderland, stumbles into a mysterious and surprising world of nature. Like the flowers around her, she wants to put down roots and find her place. But what does it really take to conquer a strange world?

BLOOOM is a delicate journey full of poetry, fantasy and surprising encounters. The play is about the power of enchantment and the magic of new beginnings. With captivating images and a touch of absurd humour, BLOOOM invites the audience to find themselves on Gargadenia’s journey. It is a play about growing up in uncertain times, balancing on uneven ground and how we can always put down new roots.

An invitation to enter unknown territory with light luggage and discover the wonder of growing up.

Age: 5 to 10 years

Duration: 50 minutes

 

 

CREATIVE TEAM

Choreography: Andreas Denk & Eugênia Labuhn

Dramaturgy: Arno Kleinofen

GARGADENIA GARAGENIA: Eugênia Labuhn

Creative production: Bebê de Soares

Photos: Oliver Stroemer

Videos: Jack Sticka

Production: Teatro 4Garoupas

“lautLOS1.6” – deconstruction of memory

with audio description and accompanying touch tour at 7:15 p.m. (advance registration required!)

Saturday, 6 December 2025, 8:00 p.m.

IPtanz is celebrating its birthday and we would like to celebrate with you.

A small supporting programme offers insights into our work over the past years. After the performances, the artists will be available for discussions.

More at www.ip-tanz.com

We look forward to seeing you.

 

lautLOS1.6 – A multimedia dance installation by IPtanz with two solos by Silvia Ehnis Pérez Duarte and Ilona Pászthy from absence#5 – deconstruction of memory.

Two autobiographically inspired monologues against the disappearance of memory and the power of forgetting. An atmosphere created from documentary material, memories, animations by Anna Mahendra and a stage object by miegL.

Silvia Ehnis Perez Duarte / D / Mexico: Raised in Mexico, Silvia Ehnis has been living in Germany since 2012. Her family from the Stuttgart area emigrated before the First World War, returned briefly during the Weimar Republic, and then settled permanently in Mexico. What traces remain when a life is continued on another continent? “My great-grandfathers emigrated to Mexico a hundred years ago and settled in the German community. The families experienced the Nazi regime only from a distance, and their connection to Germany faded.” Conversations with her family reveal a complex cultural heritage that ties in with Ilona Pászthy’s examination of “perpetrators and followers.”

Ilona Pászthy / D: What invisible traces of the past do I carry within me? How can I trace the memories inscribed in my DNA and their significance for my identity? For years, I have been researching the unexplained areas of my family history, searching for connections between my own experiences and the biographies of my ancestors during the Nazi era. Images from my childhood meet fragmentary information. In my solo performance, I metaphorically approach the blind spots of my memory, questioning identity, conformity, perpetration, origin and epigenetic traces.

“… Ilona Pászthy has succeeded in creating a production that is as complex as it is densely structured. Narrative and dance combine in an emotional moment of movement…” (Thomas Linden, Kölnische Rundschau, 10 September 2024)

Choreography Ilona Pászthy, Silvia Ehnis

Dance Ilona Pászthy, Silvia Ehnes

Stage miegL

Video animation Anna Mahendra

Music Zsolt Varga

Technic Garlef Keßler, Christoph Wedi

Audio description Uschi Baetz

We would like to thank our sponsors: Ministry of Art and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia, Cultural Office of the City of Cologne, NS Documentation Centre Cologne, Cultural Office Siegburg, Cultural Office Krefeld in cooperation with the NS Documentation Centre Krefeld / Villa Merländer.

FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME:

7:15 p.m. – Physical-somatic introduction
7:15 p.m. – Touch tour and audio description (registration required)

ACCESSIBILITY:

Pick-up service for blind and visually impaired people from Michaelshoven railway station, touch tour and audio description (registration required)

Ticket reservations / registration for pick-up, audio description and touch tour:

Tickets: https://rausgegangen.de/events/lautlos-absence5-deconstruction-of-memory-1/

rausgegangen.de

or

karten@ip-tanz.com or 0157 – 57 930 117

more Informationen at www.ip-tanz.com