It’s back with us again: the Vienna-based international dance festival ImPulsTanz is held for the 29th time to celebrate the joy of movement during a whole month.

The programme is more comprehensive than ever and invites people of all age groups to dance or to watch others dancing from 12 July to 12 August 2012. Everyone will be able to experience dance, either in one of the numerous dance workshops or as a spectator of the remarkable line-up of performances providing new insights into contemporary dance. But strictly speaking, a lot of activity is already required to comb through the two sections of the festival programme.

For active dance fans

The “active” programme section comprises 214 workshops and research projects. 90 events are accessible to beginners. Dance fans with no previous knowledge may try out different dance styles such as Super Hero HipHop, Rock’n’ Roll ballet or butoh in four workshop units on five days or in three workshop units on weekends. Most courses take place at the Arsenal precinct, i.e. on the rehearsal stages of Burgtheater and the Art-for-Art Workshop facilities. This venue will also accommodate the so-called Golden Age workshops for people 55+ as well as the All Abilities courses, in which people with and without physical or mental disabilities dance together. Theater Dschungel at MuseumsQuartier is the place to go for kids and teens.

Those who are not sure whether a dance workshop is really the right thing for them will have an opportunity to get first-hand information about the courses at the workshop sneak preview Impressions on 15 July 2012. But mind you: some courses fill up very quickly. So register quickly, otherwise it could be too late.




The parties staged at Kasino am Schwarzenbergplatz to open and to close the ImPulsTanz festival will in any case provide an opportunity for dancing without any theoretical background. Nevertheless, the festival has much to offer to dance theoreticians. Dance lovers wishing to challenge their intellect will be able to use the Dance Film Video Library comprising more than 300 dance films and documentaries. At the Talks series of the festival outstanding dancers will share insights into their artistic lives.

For passive dance fans

And this takes us to the “passive“ section of the festival. Expert knowledge is not a prerequisite for watching performances or dance events but might in fact help to make the right choice from a total of 90 shows. The different categories of the festival will provide some guidance to new audiences.

Besides the main festival programme, ImPulsTanz also includes three specialist areas. This year the Choreographic Platform Austria (CPA*) 2012, which has been established to foster Austrian contemporary dance, takes place within ImPulsTanz. The venue chosen for the events held in the framework of CPA* is the former ballroom Etablissement Gschwandner in Vienna’s 17th district. In the so-called Austrian Pavilion more than 25 choreographers living and working in Austria will present their work. The festival audience is already familiar with the programme section [8:tension] – Young Choreographers’ Series, which showcases works by upcoming European choreographers. The Prix Jardin d’Europe (with Europe’s highest prize money for new productions) will be granted in the framework of this year’s Young Choreographers’ Series.




The series [Wild Walk] could appeal to all those for whom the start of the performance is the decisive selection criterion. The night-owl-friendly events do not start before 23:00 hrs. Time definitely plays a role in Jan Fabre’s 8-hour masterpiece “This is theatre like it was to be expected and foreseen“, which – contrary to the title – revolutionised the world of theatre 25 years ago.

Festival fans for whom the place is more decisive than the time will venture out to performance venues opening their doors to ImPulsTanz for the first time, e.g. the aforementioned Gschwandner, the baroque gardens of Belvedere Palace, the terrace of Albertina or the cafeteria of the former customs office in Schnirchgasse in Vienna’s third district.

If you want to be on the safe side, you may, of course, rely on the big names of the global dance scene, who have made a decisive contribution to the success of ImPulsTanz in the last 29 years. First and foremost there is Ismael Ivo, who is not only co-managing the festival and leading workshops but also appears on stage, e.g. in the reproduction of the Johann Kresnik classic “Francis Bacon“. Or Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker with her dance company Rosas, who will reproduce a classic: “Drumming Live“. Or Manuel Legris, the director of Vienna State Ballet, who will premier a ballet gala at Burgtheater. Back to the beginning? By no means, for there are contemporary trends also in ballet. So let’s look forward to the month-long ImPulsTanz festival thrilling active and passive festival-goers of all kinds!