The Youth Dance Meeting aims to take into account current developments and the many efforts to establish dance as an art form in its own right within cultural education and to locate dance with young amateurs in an artistic context.
Image gallery
„Gravity“, National Youth Dance Company (NYDC)
For this year's Youth Dance Meeting, the jury selected eight outstanding productions from 53 submissions.
The award-winning works include a solo and a trio as well as a large ensemble piece with more than 30 dancers.
The selection ranges from short works lasting a few minutes to full-length pieces lasting just under an hour. The award winners also include an inclusive ensemble.
The 12th edition of the Youth Dance Meeting begins on 27 September with the opening at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and ends on 3 October 2025.
The full-length hip-hop production ‘Gravity’ by the National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) with 33 young dancers from all over England will be performed on 28 September 2025 as a guest performance in the ‘Beyond Borders’ section of the Youth Dance Meeting. Tickets will be available from 25 July 2025 in the Berliner Festspiele web shop.
Invited to the 12th Tanztreffen der Jugend are:
‘Caperucita Roja’
Renata Flores
Young Choreographers, Bad Honnef tanzt e.V., Bad Honnef, North Rhine-Westphalia
‘Fatigateau’
Junior Company Bonn - They Might Be Giants
Permanent co-producer CocoonDance Company + Theater im Ballsaal Bonn, Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia
‘Ich bin leidenschaftlich anders ...’
Basic course in urban dance for class 11
Gerda-Taro-Schule Leipzig, Leipzig, Saxony
‘M.y Y.ear O.f S.tress A.nd R.ealisation’
Art & Dance Junior Company
Art & Dance, Lörrach, Baden-Württemberg
‘Mindcage’ARS SALTANDI Company
Ars Saltandi e.V., Hildesheim, Lower Saxony
‘Selbstgespräche’
AERIALS Ensemble
Pottporus e.V., Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia
‘Spark’
Emma Fischer-Fels, Malu Thiersch, Ben Stüttgen
tanzhaus nrw, Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia
‘touch_taff’
Inclusive youth dance project by the Heidelberg Theatre and Orchestra
(for the Heidelberg Dance Biennale 2025)
Heidelberg Theatre and Orchestra, Baden-Württemberg
Ten dance professionals form the jury for the 2025 Youth Dance Meeting:
Sonia Franken (Cologne), Silke Gerhardt (Schwerin), Modjgan Hashemian (Berlin), Raphael Moussa Hillebrand (Berlin), Mila Lipicar (Cologne), Daniela Rodriguez Romero (Stuttgart), Aliyye Sahin (Berlin), Carmen Scarano (Stuttgart), Lin Verleger (Cologne).
The selected groups cover the entire spectrum of young dance production contexts: the works were created in ballet or dance schools with a contemporary profile, in schools, in independent theatres or youth clubs at state theatres, in independent groups and associations, or even in dance houses.
The young artists emphasise the central importance of dance as a form of expression in their lives. For them, dance is not only a means of communication, but also an outlet for dealing with the pressure and expectations that the world places on them. These themes are reflected in their choreographies. Despite the diversity of the pieces, a generation emerges that is struggling to find its own identity and to assert it against the demands and pressures of society.
Stylistically, the selected works range from contemporary to urban dance: there are contemporary choreographies, improvisational elements, combinations of contemporary dance and acrobatics, urban dance theatre with strong theatrical expression, house, breaking and hip-hop.
The Tanztreffen der Jugend (Youth Dance Meeting) has set itself the task of being a showcase and source of inspiration for the work of young dancers and choreographers.
There are no time, formal or thematic requirements. In addition to the daily public performances at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, an exclusive programme of intensive and impulse workshops as well as performance talks and discussions is aimed at the participating ensembles. Former participants of the other Berliner Festspiele's Treffen junge Szene (Young Scene Meetings) complement the public stage programme with readings and/or music.
The Forum of the Tanztreffen der Jugend will take place from Sunday, 28 September 2025 to Thursday, 2 October 2025 under the direction of Gabriele Reuter and is aimed at dancers, dance educators, choreographers and theatre makers with dance experience. The programme includes various impulse and intensive workshops as well as discursive formats on specific topics. The focus is on collegial exchange. This year's forum programme is dedicated to taking stock. The workshops shed light on the status quo of the tools and methods of artistic practice in young dance.
The Berliner Festspiele's Young Scene Meetings
With its Young Scene Meetings in four categories, the Berliner Festspiele offers young artists a platform in its annual programme: the Youth Theatre Meeting at the beginning of June and the Youth Dance Meeting at the end of September.The schedule will be announced at the end of July.
Further information about the programme will follow early September.
