Jovana Petrovska “Wording a common skirt”

Jovana Petrovska “Wording a common skirt”

by | Apr 7, 2026 | current events, English

Jovana Petrovska

“Wording a common skirt”

23.05.2026, 20:00 Uhr

This dance piece coincides with the 105th anniversary of the birth of Blaže Koneski. His standardization of the Macedonian language was a state-sanctioned act that, by its very nature, involved a process of selective forgetting. The sound design reflects this evolution: Koneski’s poetry serves as both the language and the raw recorded material, which the commissioned composer deconstructs and fragments. This sonic deconstruction poses a powerful question to the sanctioned linguistic memory: What had to be forgotten for this consensus to be passed?

Concept, Choreographic Direction, and Performance: Jovana Petrovska

Creation and Performance: Elodie Zermatten, Lea Marie Neumayer and Viola Cantú

Music Composition: Thomas Wansing

Stylist: Elizabeta Hristovska

Light Technician: Nick Jonas Kuhoff

Technical Support: Aleksandar Petrovski

Literary Expert: Prof. Dr. Goce Cvetanovski

Poem: “The word” from Blaže Koneski

Dramaturgical Support and voice: Elizabeta Kocoska

Special thanks to Klaudija Petrovska, Pamela Banchetti and Sergio Monferrer

 

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

Eine Person mit langem, geflochtenem Haar steht mit dem Rücken zur Kamera. Sie trägt ein dunkles, langärmliges Oberteil. Beide Arme sind erhoben. Über dem Kopf der Person fliegt ein Vogel mit ausgebreiteten Flügeln. Der Hintergrund ist einfarbig und hell.

Copyright: Viola Cantú

18th SoloDuo Festival nrw + friends

18th SoloDuo Festival nrw + friends

by | Apr 27, 2026 | current events, English, SoloDuo (en), SoloDuo current

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

Organiser

Barnes Crossing | A space for dance and performance art at the Wachsfabrik Art Centre
Industriestraße 170
50999 Cologne-Rodenkirchen
www.barnescrossing.de
Cooperation partner: Quartier am Hafen, Cologne
Funding: The festival is supported by the Cultural Office of the City of Cologne and the Kunstsalon Foundation Cologne.
Further information will follow shortly on the website at: https://barnescrossing.de/soloduo/
Press contact:
Mechtild Tellmann, kultur@mechtild-tellmann.de, +49 171 3857031

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

James Wilton Dance Intensive

James Wilton Dance Intensive

by | May 21, 2026 | current events, English

James Wilton Dance Intensive

Join JWD artistic directors James Wilton and Sarah Jane Taylor for this two day research intensive in Cologne.
 
20+21 June 2026
 
12.00-18.00 each day
 
 
 
Info & registration:
 
Join James Wilton Dance for this professional level research intensive towards our new full evening group work LOKI for touring in 2027. The intensive will be led by artistic directors James Wilton and Sarah Jane Taylor.
 

Cost: £300

Early bird discount (book before 20/05): £250

 

 
What you will learn:
 
Each day begins with a technique class learning our floorwork technique. Learn to move with athleticism and power whilst retaining a sense of expansiveness, breath and quality. You will upskill with new tricks and flips, but more importantly you’ll learn how to integrate these seamlessly into choreography.
 
After this you’ll learn a new phrase from our 2027 work LOKI. Tribal, primordial and energetic, the phrase will tap into our ancestral bodies, leading you to be part animal, part human and part Norse god.
 
The afternoon concludes with duet based research. Working with a partner you’ll learn our martial arts inspired contact work that focuses on remaining strong yet mobile, fluid but powerful.
 
We will be auditioning for LOKI Autumn 2026.
 
Booking link:
RUA / Bianca Mendonça “GORJEIO”

RUA / Bianca Mendonça “GORJEIO”

by | May 21, 2026 | current events, English

RUA / Bianca Mendonça

“GORJEIO”

Off-site: Maternusplatz, Rodenkirchen

Saturday 4 July 2026, 4.00 pm

An event as part of the Barnes Crossing anniversary year 2026

The green parrots have long since become part of Cologne’s skyline. Once blown here from the south, they have made a new home for themselves amidst the concrete and treetops. Their calls mingle with the city’s noise, their colours shine above rooftops and streets; their presence is a symbol of disruption and the exoticisation of the foreign body.

This tension gave rise to the dance production GORJEIO (Portuguese: birdsong). The performance invites the audience to a special open day – an ‘integration initiative’ in which we humans are allowed to learn from the parrots what it means to become part of a new community.

The international ensemble takes the piece to the streets and, together with the green parrots, opens up a space for personal experiences of migration, belonging and being a stranger. With humour and the telling of personal stories, this dance piece explores what happens during the integration process – from humans to parrots and from one culture to another.

Choreography: Bianca Mendonça in collaboration with Indu Das, Renato Sbardelotto & Marouf Alhassan // Music: Vito Oliveira Azevedo // Education & Dramaturgy: Gabs Carneiro // Costumes: Margareta Bartelmess // Production Management: Bianca Mendonça and Gabs Carneiro // Photo Documentation: Alessandro De Matteis // Production Assistant: Ayrbek Esen

GORJEIO is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the NRW State Office for the Independent Performing Arts and the Cultural Office of the City of Cologne. It is supported by Barnes Crossing, Kulturbunker Köln-Mühlheim and KAPIWARA e.V.

IPtanz – open rehearsal: absence#7: reconstruction of memories (AT)

IPtanz – open rehearsal: absence#7: reconstruction of memories (AT)

by | May 21, 2026 | current events, English

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.