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.
Program
For the seventeenth time, BARNES CROSSING (Freiraum für TanzPerformanceKunst) is organizing 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 festival supports internationally networked work and at the same time promotes professional exchange between the participating dance artists. Solo choreographies with a maximum length of 6 minutes and duo choreographies with a maximum length of 9 minutes are shown.
A total of 20 solos and duos from Germany (Ratingen, Essen, Mannheim, Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, Freiburg, Starnberg, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Aichwald, Wiesbaden), Spain, Israel, France and Switzerland were selected from over 70 worldwide applications.
The performances will take place on: Fri. May 23, Sat. May 24, 2025, each at 8:00 p.m.
Once again this year, the audience is invited to actively participate in the voting for the Audience Award Solo and Audience Award Duo.
In order to enable an inclusive cultural experience, we are able to offer an audio description for blind and visually impaired visitors on May 23 and 24, 2025 thanks to a short-term grant from the City of Cologne for this event.
The audio description will be provided via headphones. We also offer an escort service to and from the Michaelshoven train station.
The escort service can be booked in the morning on the day of the event at +49 15756403320. An accompanying person can be brought along, and assistance dogs are also welcome. If they are used to theater performances, they are also allowed in the theater, otherwise an assistant will take care of the dog in the foyer.
Award ceremony, Sun., 2025, 3:00 pm
The following prizes will be awarded:
Audience prizes:
Audience Award Solo
Audience Award Duo
Jury prizes (Jury: Roos van Berkel, NL | Silvia Ehnis, MX/D | tba.):
- awarded Solo
- awarded Duo
- awarded Solo newcomer
- awarded Duo newcomer
- awarded dancer
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 participants
| Programm Freitag | Solo/Duo | ||
| 1 | Pump and run. | S | Lili Oksanen / Ratingen |
| 2 | as far as you go | D | Aleksandra Krutikova, Johannes Walter / Essen |
| 3 | Merci Lou | S | Leda WASSONG / Essen |
| 4 | M I Я | D | Darja Reznikova, Sade Mamedova, SoBo Productions // Maiia Selezneva, Gleb Bondarev / Mannheim |
| 5 | Cancelled | ||
| PAUSE | |||
| 6 | TWINE | D | Ella Olivia Bender Semerci, Mahshad Rezai / Berlin |
| 7 | Schlüsselkind | S | Celine Celeesi (Fortenbacher) / Hamburg |
| 8 | Sound of(f)… Movement, Opus 3 | D | Dagmar Ottmann / Christian Herrmann / Freiburg |
| 9 | skin and shell | S | Leonie Stöckle / Starnberg |
| 10 | Aporetico | D | Francesca Sacchi, Giorgia Enrico / Berlin |
| Programm Samstag | Solo/Duo | ||
| 1 | selcouth | D | Martina Martín, Sade Mamedova/Spanien |
| 2 | ISO.going to let | S | Aleksandra Krutikova/Essen |
| 3 | Cancelled | ||
| 4 | Johnny sees from Above, A fourth | S | Teresa Curotti / Essen |
| 5 | you and me | D | T: Karoly Toth, Anna Süheyla Harms/ Ch:Grégory Darcy ///Aichwald Esslingen |
| PAUSE | |||
| 6 | MISS TAKES | S | Naomi Kats / Israel |
| 7 | Sensilia | D | Cristiana Casadio & Emmanouela Dolianiti/Berlin |
| 8 | Il pleut, il plaint, il rage | S | Charles Brecard / Frankreich |
| 9 | When we collide | D | Alessio Damiani, Enzo Boffa / Wiesbaden |
| 10 | Number 52 | S | Katharina Ludwig / Bern/Schweiz |
Practical information / Dates
Competition performances:
- Friday, May 23, 2025, 8:00 p.m.
- Saturday, May 24, 2025, 8:00 p.m.
Award ceremony:
- Sunday, May 25, 2025, 3:00 p.m.
Open Talks / Workshops
Feedback discussions with the jury and the festival artists
– in good weather outside in Ringo’s Café / in case of rain in Studio 2
- Saturday, May 24, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
with the artists of the Friday performances - Sunday, May 25, 12:15 pm -02:15 p.m.
with the artists of the Saturday performances
Open workshops for professional dancers
- Saturday, May 24, 2025, 1:30 p.m. – 02.30 p.m.
conversations by Judith Ayuso Pereira
Language: English
- Sunday, May 25, 2025, 10:00-11:30 a.m.
multidimensional spaces and layers by and with Nina Patricia Hänel
Language: English
Tickets
- Entrance fees for each festival day:
19,00 € / reduced 12,00 € / 6,00 € with TanzCard (students of the ZZT)
→ all prices plus advance booking fee
→ limited availability of seats
- Award ceremony: Admission free
https://rausgegangen.de/locations/barnes-crossing-freiraum-fur-tanzperformancekunst-im-kunstze/
Fr. May 23rd 2025 https://t.rausgegangen.de/tickets/17-soloduo-festival-nrw-friends-internationales-tanzfestival
Sa. May 24th 2025 https://t.rausgegangen.de/tickets/17-soloduo-festival-nrw-friends-internationales-tanzfestival-1
Su. May 25th 2025 https://t.rausgegangen.de/tickets/17-soloduo-festival-nrw-friends-internationales-tanzfestival-2
or at the box office (we recommend booking in advance, stating your name, address and telephone number, as only a small number of tickets are available for sale. Tel.: 02236-963588, barnescrossing@web.de
Team:
Artistic direction: Ilona Pászthy, Gerda König
Festivalassistenz: Joanna Park, Even Wainscoat
Selection panel: Diana Treder, Ilona Pászthy
Graphics: miegL
Jury: Roos van Berkel, NL | Silvia Ehnis MX/D | tba
Technology: Garlef Keßlertontechnische
Assistenz: Annabell Seidlitz, Simeon Kuhn
Press & Public relations: Mechtild TellmannWorkshopleitung:Judith Ayuso Pereira, Nina Patricia Hänel
Photo/video doc.: Alessandro de Matteis
Organizer
Barnes Crossing | Freiraum für TanzPerformanceKunst im Kunstzentrum Wachsfabrik
Industriestraße 170
50999 Köln-Rodenkirchen, Germany
Cooperation partner: Quartier am Hafen, Köln
Supported by: Kulturamt der Stadt Köln, KunstSalon Stiftung
Contact for press inquiries:
Mechtild Tellmann kultur@mechtild-tellmann.de / +49 171 385 7031
