About us

Tanz im August, presented by HAU Hebbel am Ufer, is a festival of contemporary dance in Berlin. Founded in 1989, it showcases contemporary dance performances, recognised companies, innovative choreographers and new aesthetics and formats from around the world. Tanz im August events are shown at locations throughout Berlin in collaboration with various venues.

Along with international companies, the festival features recent work by Berlin artists, together with numerous German and world premieres. With a series of encounters and discursive formats, Tanz im August also invites its audience to take an active part in the festival and to meet its participating artists.

The strengthening of forward-looking tendencies receives as much attention as large-format productions. Tanz im August displays a wide range of current developments in contemporary dance and places them within social and ecological concerns of our globalised world.

Some of the strategies of the festival’s 2023–25 editions include a long-term programme-development partnership with a network of international advisors and institutions, and a systematic opening out into the city’s everyday urban landscape. Ricardo Carmona and his team combine these aims with the intention to highlight more sustainable ways of production and presentation, and to reflect on them artistically.

As part of HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Tanz im August also sees itself as a learning institution. In working towards becoming a discrimination-critical, accessible and (ecologically, socially and economically) sustainable institution, all staff members receive further training in workshops and consultations with outside experts.

The spaces of Tanz im August – both physical and online – should also be open for many. A netiquette sets out the rules for our social media channels.

In March 2020, the Alliance of International Production Houses has released a committment to non-discrimination. As part of HAU Hebbel am Ufer, we are also committed to an active and preventative approach against all forms of discrimination in our work.

The Statement on international invitation policy was originally written by the Kampnagel team for their theatre in February 2024 and we, as part of HAU and as members of the alliance of international production houses, share Kampnagel's position.