Theme: Reflection and Feedback

2016 is announced as the year of dance in Germany – the year in which performers, instructors and enthusiasts can show the importance and potential of their art to a wider audience. This is why I am happy to welcome the 5^th Dance Education Biennale in Cologne.

Dance is a fascinating, diverse art form and part of our cultural heritage, besides. Being a dancer means finding a relation to past and present movement in an effort to communicate through the medium of the body. Like other artists, dancers search for new forms of expression as they explore and expand boundaries. Over the 20^th century, the question of what dance is brought about a rethinking of the discipline. Today dance comprises a kaleidoscopic landscape of approaches and styles. It requires everyone engaged in dance to face complex challenges as they develop within its plurality.

Exploration and intuition are crucial aspects of pushing the artistic envelope, as are feedback and reflection, the theme of the 5^th Dance Education Biennale. These processes foster growth; the possibilities they offer and the questions they raise are central to the 5^th Dance Education Biennale.

The aim of the Biennale is to enable – and to provoke – encounters between students and instructors, artists and thinkers, performers and public, both from inside and outside Germany. In doing so, it will host an array of workshops, lectures, performances and discussions led by international artists.

I am delighted about the close, productive cooperation between the Biennale’s many partners, and look forward to the well-known choreographers and performers whom we have persuaded to join us. I also want to thank the many supporters who have made the Biennale possible. In particular, I want to give special thanks to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research for funding a week of wide-ranging events. They have given 120 students from educational institutions in Germany and abroad the chance to come together and deepen their talents and abilities. Thanks to Cologne’s stages, these students will be able to present their art to the public on 15 and 16 February 2016. All are warmly welcomed to attend.