17. SoloDuoFestival nrw + friends
17th SoloDuoFestival nrw + friends International Dance Festival
Barnes Crossing May 23rd to 25th, 2025
SoloDuoFestival nrw + friends
Since 2009, the SoloDuoFestival nrw + friends has been an annual international dance festival dedicated to the presentation of contemporary dance productions – with a special focus on emerging artists. The festival offers a unique platform for up-and-coming choreographers, promotes artistic exchange between international participants as well as between participants and professional dance makers and creates career opportunities.
Each year, the festival presents 8 – 10 contemporary solo choreographies with a maximum length of 6 minutes and duo choreographies with a maximum length of 9 minutes. We welcome international applications, especially mixed-abled productions. Two duos and three solos will be selected from the programme by the international jury to either take part in international festivals organized by cooperation partner organizations or to benefit from a residency of several weeks in the “Quartier am Hafen”.
Artistic direction 2025:
Ilona Pászthy & Gerda König / Curation of the program 2025: Diana Treder / Ilona Pászthy
Participating artists benefit from:
a professional stage to present their dance pieces
Visibility in front of an international audience and an expert jury
Support with travel and accommodation costs as well as per diems
high-quality video and photo documentation of their dance pieces
a supporting program for artistic exchange and free workshops on contemporary technique and theory
Structure and promotion of the festival
Despite its international orientation, the SoloDuoFestival is the smallest festival format in Cologne. It is supported by the City of Cologne as part of its conceptual funding and by the Kunstsalon Foundation. This funding makes it possible to provide residencies in the Quartier am Hafen and to cover the travel and accommodation costs for the productions selected by the jury.
This year we received 78 applications from over 11 countries, from which 20 productions were invited to participate.
The festival has been held at Barnes Crossing since its inception, but the venue is always sold out and only seats 80. We would therefore like to open up the festival to other venues in Cologne in the future – for example Depot – in order to achieve a wider reach and reach more audiences.
Announcement of winners
For the seventeenth time, BARNES CROSSING (Freiraum für TanzPerformanceKunst) organized the international dance festival SoloDuo nrw + friends in Cologne from 23–25 May 2025 in cooperation with the KunstSalonStiftung and the Quartier am Hafen.
The jury Roos van Berkel, NL, Silvia Ehnis MX/D, Reut Shemesh ISR /D awarded the following prizes at the award ceremony on
May 15, 15:00h (see below for laudations):
Jury Prize:
Outstanding Solo: “MISS TAKES” by Naomi Kats (ISR)
Outstanding Duo: ‘M I Я’ by Darja Reznikova, Sade Mamedova, Maiia Selezneva, Gleb Bondarev (D)
Award-winning solo newcomer: ‘Johnny sieht von oben, ein Viertel’ by Teresa Curotti (D)
Outstanding Duo Newcomer: “Aporetico”, Francesca Sacchi, Giorgia Enrico (D)
Outstanding actress: “NUMBER 52”, Katharina Ludwig (CH)
The audience has voted for the following audience prizes:
Friday, May 23, 2025:
Duo: Sound of(f)… Movement, Opus 3, choreography/dance: Dagmar Ottmann, Christian Herrmann (D)
Solo: skin and shell, choreography/dance: Leonie Stöckle (D)
Saturday, May 25, 2025:
Solo: ISO. going to let, choreography/dance: Aleksandra Krutikova (D)
Duo: Sensilla, choreography/dance: Cristiana Casadio, Emmanouela Dolianiti (D)
The jury prizes include a residency invitation in the studios of the Quartier am Hafen for all prize winners and the prize money is used to cover the costs of travel and accommodation.
The cooperation that has existed for 16 years and the associated participation/invitation of the winners to the Budapest SzólóDúo Fesztivál cannot take place this year, as the Budapest festival can no longer take place due to the cancellation of funding in Hungary.
Press photos:
Press photos can be used free of charge if the photographer’s credit is mentioned (in the file name) under the following link:
Laudations Jury decision:
- Awarded Solo: ‘MISS TAKES’ by Naomi Kats (ISR)
In “MISS TAKES”, anger emerged with striking subtlety — a delicate interplay between control and fragility, toughness and softness. Naomi Kats crafted a fine understanding of timing, allowing images to accumulate slowly, like a growing shadow in the room, building tension with remarkable patience and abstraction. She created a solo that felt alive, danced, and shaped in the very moment of its becoming.
Naomi Kats is an Israeli choreographer and performer, trained at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance High School and the ‘Maslool’ professional dance program. Since 2019, she has performed with various companies and choreographers in Israel and internationally, including Lotem Regev, Rachel Erdos, Ido Gidron, Yaniv Cohen, ‘Ildance’ (SE), ‘MAZE’ (GER), ‘SUB.LAB.PRO’ (HU), and the Israeli Opera. Naomi’s choreographic work includes participation in the Suzanne Dellal Centre’s platform ‘1|2|3 for Emerging Choreographers.’ Her first trio piece, Don’t Run with Scissors, premiered at ‘THE BUNCH’ festival (IT) in 2023
- Awarded Duo: ‘M I Я’ by Darja Reznikova, Sade Mamedova, Maiia Selezneva, Gleb Bondarev (D) *
As they poignantly wrote: “This project reflects a global issue on our social lives, our everyday encounter with ourselves and others.”
The jury is deeply moved by their ability to address the subject of war and conflict in an ambiguous and complex way, as a self-reflection. You approached the theme by courageously examining your biographies and upbringings. With a distinct movement language and a bold, punk-inspired approach to choreographic structure, you brought forth a story about yourselves — about the “ordinary people”, about the places you were born and grow up at, caught in the heart of a storm that has been forced upon you, touched your personal lives and by doing so, also ours.
* M | Я (pronounced ‘MIR’) is Russian and stands for both ‘peace’ and ‘world’. The mirror-inverted R forms the last letter of the Cyrillic alphabet and means ‘I’.
Darja is a Ukrainian born choreographer, dance teacher and researcher in the field of interdisciplinarity. Her company SoBo Productions works in the context of Darja’s ongoing (published) research into inter- and transdisciplinarity and is in line with her SoundBody (SoBo) theory, which explores integrative voice and movement work based on the science of sound and vibration.
Sade Mamedova is a Russian born performer, choreographer and teacher based in Mannheim. She has been working as a freelancer since 2018 and has been recognised for her dance and choreography at renowned competitions and festivals around the world, including the International Choreography Competition in Copenhagen, the ICC.
Maya is a dancer, choreographer and teacher in the field of contemporary dance. movement and performing arts. She graduated from Vaganova Academyn (St. Petersburg) with an MA in Choreography and has a medical degree in Psychiatry from Northern State Medical University. She studies at the NOD/ICD, the International Research Programme and the Arkhangelsk University of Arts.As a freelance dancer, she has worked with choreographers and companies such as Hea Min Jung, Alina Belyagina, James Finnemore, Naprimer Dance Company. Li Nekrasova, Tomislav English, Mualem/De Phillips Project and Third Rail Project.
Gleb Bondarev is an artist whose main instruments are dance and video. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Romance and German Studies in Krasnodar, Russia, 2018-2023 he was part of the contemporary dance company ” Zhest. 2020-2023 he was part of the art community* Street Physics . Gleb is experienced in urhan and contemnoran dance and videography.
- Awarded Solo Newcomer: Johnny sees from Above, A fourth” by Teresa Curotti
In “ Johnny sees from Above, A fourth”, Teresa Curotti connected to the frenetic pulse of today. The performance reflected back to us a familiar state—a sensation of perpetually hovering between the current moment and whatever comes next. The solo dared to be unfiltered and skillfully incomplete, contained yet deeply expansive. The jury sees a promise of a distinctive choreographic vocabulary emerging within the paradox of anticipated physicality while remaining honest and attentive to the moment.
Teresa Curotti is an Italian choreographer and dancer. She is currently studying for an MA in Choreography at Folkwang Universität der Künste and previously completed a BA in Dance at the University of Music and Performing Arts Mannheim. Her work has been recognized at festivals such as Internationale Tanztheater Festival Erfurt, SOLOCOREOGRAFICO Frankfurt, TanzGala Baden-Württemberg and the Solo Dance Contest in Gdańsk, where she received awards and finalist placements.
- Awarded Duo Newcomer: “Aporetico”, Francesca Sacchi, Giorgia Enrico
“Aporetico” meticulously weaves space with bodies through unpredictable yet precise choreographic patterns. The duo offers invitations into their universe —through uniform-like costumes, an intimate moment under the lamp, a repeating motif with a scarf, with hands, and between the bodies. The duo emerged from a profound connection to the body, combining it with fresh compositional and cinematic curiosity.
Francesca Sacchi, born in Turin, Italy, 31.03.99, performed for Chris Jaeger in Daddy Shot My Rabbit and toured in Germany, and also danced in the film Rotes Sterne Überm Felde by Laura Laabs.year-long internship with Dart Dance Company, and holds a diploma from Opus Ballet Company,International Choreographic Center, where she also interned. Currently, guest teacher at Motion Berlin and DartDSP, specializing in creation and improvisation tools.Her daily routine includes Counter Technique, ballet, urban dance, floorwork, and improvisation. Giorgia Enrico,born in Turin, Italy, 26.03.02. Former member of Deutsche Tanzkompanie Neustrelitz where she choreographed and taught and still guest. Member of FlyingStepsCompany Berlin. Guest at CottbusTheater. Ballet and contemporary teacher at FlyingStepsAcademy. Former ballet dancer graduated from Victor Ullate and Fortea Conservatory Madrid. Her current focuse practices are contemporary,urban and martial arts.
- Awarded Performer: “NUMBER 52”, Katharina Ludwig
Katharina Ludwig shows great versatility as a dancer and performer. She combines different dance styles ranging from ballet to breaking, displays great qualities as a stand-up comedian and handles text well. The jury applauds her ability to deliver a strong critique towards the dance field as an industry while keeping the performance light-hearted and witty.
Katharina Ludwgi received her training at the Iwanson School of Contemporary Dance in Munich and obtained her Master’s Degree in Movement Research from the Anton Bruckner University in Linz. Based in Bern, she currently works as a freelance artist in Switzerland and internationally. Katharina has danced in engagements with Joshua Monten, Wim Vandekeybus, Simone Elliot, Emese Nagy, Sade Mamedova, Emi Miyoshi, Nunzio Impellizeri and Karolin Stächele. As a choreographer, Katharina created several short pieces which have been performed internationally. She is currently working on realizing her first evening-length production in collaboration with TANZhAUS Bern.
| Team: | |
| Artistic direction: | Ilona Pászthy, Gerda König |
| Festival Assitance: | Joanna Park, Even Wainscoat |
| Selection panel: | Diana Treder, Ilona Pászthy |
| Graphics: | miegL |
| Jury: | Roos van Berkel, NL | Silvia Ehnis MX/D | Reut Shemesh ISR/D |
| Technology: | Garlef Keßler |
| sound engineering assistance: | Simeon Kuhn |
| Press and public relations | Mechtild Tellmann |
| Workshop management: | Jana Griess / Nina Patricia Hänel |
| Photo/video documentary: | Alessandro de Matteis |
Accessibility:
Audio description: Lena Visser
Accessibility assistance: Emily Lenau
Visual communication: Alessandro de Matteis
PR/Accessibility: Mechtild Tellmann
Sign language consulting: Tom Liesenhoff
Organizer
Barnes Crossing | Freiraum für TanzPerformanceKunst im Kunstzentrum Wachsfabrik
Industriestraße 170
50999 Köln-Rodenkirchen, Germany
www.barnescrossing.de
Cooperations-Partner Quartier am Hafen
Funded by: Kulturamt der Stadt Köln, KunstSalon Stiftung
Contact for press inquiries:
Mechtild Tellmann kultur@mechtild-tellmann.de / +49 171 385 7031
