Dance in August 2025, Berlin, Germany
Tanz im August 2025, Berliner Festspiele
By: Angelika Jansen - Sep 03, 2025
Tanz im August ~~ Festival of HAU ~~ August 2025 ~~ Berlin, Germany
Now it is history again, the 37th edition of the international Dance Festival in Berlin, called Tanz im August. It took place in ten (10) locations in Berlin and introduced twenty (20) amazing contemporary dance companies from around the globe. From August 13th through August 30th 2025, Berlin could partake in what is new and what is important in contemporary dance world-wide.
As always, the HAU (Hebbel am Ufer) with its three theatres were organizers, again under their director Annemie Vanackere. It seemed that under the leadership of the artistic director of the festival, Ricardo Carmona, the selections of works, at least what this writer could sense, were more powerful, closer to outbursts of sheer physical expressions presented in groups that came together and pulled apart. Strongly physical, mostly four to up to sixteen dancers seemed to create movements not to be believed possible, simply astounding in their abilities to conquer their own physiques and the stage.
A new level seemed to have been reached with this year's festival, a level of extraordinary movements as what men can create when feelings are portrayed. The opening performance of N. Flouret's Derniers Feux at the HAU 1 had its eleven performers move in expressions of fear and anticipation against a constantly changing background. It was shown for the first time in Germany. So was Clara Furey's, Unarmoured, another opening for Germany. It showed four dancers investigating erotic possibilities. Presented at the HAU 2. It was unexpectedly sensual but extraordinarily artistic in a highly artful way.
Another German first was Marlene Monteiro Freitas NT (meaning night in Cape Verdean Creole), where eight dancers created their variations of what can take place at night for and with people in differing surroundings at the Haus Der Berliner Festspiele. Another big show and a German first at the same theatre was presented by the Korea National Dance Company. Its sixteen dancers created in their work Jungle sensations that let the sultry atmosphere feel as so the jungle come alive.
The big stage of the Haus of the Berliner Festspiele represented the perfect setting for Lia Rodrigues Companhia de Dancas Borda (Portuguese for border), an extraordinary investigation into the changes that dance groups can present in the same performance. What started out in almost silent movements of the nine performers rising from heaps of white materials and see-through plastic to turbulent movements in colorful costumes towards the end was simply overwhelming.
Adam Linder at his show Tournament uses music by Ethan Braun and his dancers and solo performers from the group Kaleidoskop at the Radialsystem to investigate the connections between dance and music. Although it seemed like that it belonged into the realm of a theoretical statement, it turned out to be quite unique and intriguing as a dance performance.
Tanz im August 2025 is over now, but it promises to grow and attract many people in the years to come. This year the festival drew approximately 18.800 visitors to the performance venues. This is extraordinary since it is still vacation time in Berlin. It also shifted focus: it opened the stage to pose questions about the changes in contemporary societies; for example, by Cullberg/Ligia Lewis' world premiere of Some Thing Folk where the concept of a society is treated as belonging to a people united. It is a bit hard to understand since we are still dealing with dance not with abstract lectures.
But the 2025 festival of contemporary dance has tried to bridge this gap. It seems though that dance has not quite accomplished this feat. Dance still remains a physical activity of great potential and it still focuses gracefully on the physical movements of our bodies. Perhaps next year's events will offer a different take on it. This year moved issues into the focus of dance expressions, not always successfully. But it is doubtful that dance can succeed in giving answers to this search for meaning, for the function of mankind in the universe. This year dance movements were definitely used as vehicles to convey issues – a worthwhile try by the artistic director of the festival, Ricardo Carmona, but not quite satisfying.