english information : CITY DANCE KÖLN

City Dance – A FRAGMENT

The desire to help others experience dance in its most human power as a collective, democratic process with participants from diverse artistic disciplines was the jumping-off point for “City Dance Köln” which traversed the city of Cologne in September 2016. Based on an idea by the dance pioneer Anna Halprin, the project devised unfamiliar sight lines from the outskirts across the river, down streets and through parks; brought dance to the most unusual places and united more than 5,000 passersby, artists and Cologne residents. The cathedral city was transformed into a place for togetherness and exploring the potential for collective movement. As a part of tanz nrw 17, the City Dance ensemble will revive three fragments of this community project.

Information about City Dance Köln

The City Dance Köln is a 12-hour long collective walk with over 300 professional and non-professional dancers and musicians, orchestras, choirs, citizens of Cologne, and of course – you!

Together, we will discover the most diverse places of the city – places with a rich history, non-places and hidden places.
The artistic collective of City Dance has created an all-day utopia for Cologne. A utopia that is meant to linger in the city for while: because as a community project, we want to invite you to participate, to observe, to join us to create this day together! The City Dance Köln will make its way through the city and will take along whatever appears on its wayside: impressions-people-means of transportation-the river-highways-public buildings-shopping streets-low grounds-a parking levels-the park. Whatever it touches, begins to move. City Dance Köln will rule the day. It will create unusual points of view, as dance, music and action meet us in the most unexpected places. Just after dawn, the participants of the morning walks, coming from Kalk, Nippes, Rodenkirchen and Poll, will gather on the meadows of the Rheinpark for a warm-up. Later, they will cross the Rhine in gondolas, plunge into the ancient moat of Fort X, conquer the impressive Higher Regional Court, perform at the Ebertplatz, parade along the Eigelstein street and celebrate in front of Cologne’s central station.

Programm06:30–08:30 Morning Walks
There are three tours to choose from: one starting in Kalk (10 Euros), one starting in Nippes (10 Euros) and one being an inflatable boat tour that includes paddling on the Rhine (25 Euros). All of the tours end at the Rheinpark from which point the next part of City Dance can be accessed.
If you’d like to participate in any of the morning walks or would like more information, please send us an e-mail at:touren@citydance-koeln.de

09:00–10:15 Warm Up and Yoga in the park
Join us for a class of either Vinyasa Yoga, Somatic Flow, or Yoga Flow/Body Sensing. Later, we will join our forces for the ‚Planetary Dance‘ inspired by choreographer Anna Halprin. Bring your own yoga mat if you wish. There will be a stand to buy coffee and crêpes.

10:30–12:00 Crossing the river by cable railway
Receive a discount voucher and pay only 2 Euros to cross the Rhine by cable railway and watch synchronized swimmers and other performances from inside your gondola.

11:00–12:00 Choir performance
A parking lot under the Zoobrücke will become the stage for a choir performance in which voices, sounds and Butoh dance will intertwine to create a unique acoustic space.

11:30–12:45 Lindy Hop Party
The live band ‚Das triologische Quartet‘ and the dancers of the Lindy Hop ensemble ‚Hop Spot‘ will fire up the grass ground next to the Zoobrücke with a performance that is inspired by the style of the 1930’s. Join the dance or sit and watch while enjoying an ice cream or drink, from our ice cream stand.

13:00–13:25 Interventions in the Lentpark
After rocking the Lindy Hop party, come and join us while we walk over a pedestrian bridge to see several performances on the way featuring cow bells, violins, alphorns, and the performance ‚Nature Morte‘ amidst a dense, green scenery.

13:30–14:00 Dance and Music in the ancient fortress
In the impressive former Prussian Fort X, dancers from the HfMT (the university for dance and music of Cologne) as well as several choirs, chime players and tango dancers will create a walk for all your senses, that passes a performance happening on a balcony in the Merlotstraße.

14:30–15:15 Performance at the Higher Regional Court
This impressive building will set the scene for the dance company MOUVOIR, the Asasello Quartet, the Ensemble Garage, the Youth Ensemble for New Music and the choir O de Cologne, creating a performance of sound and dance that will fill the court’s stairs and balconies with sounding resonances and echoes.
Please note: there will be no late seating, so please be on time.

15:15–16:00 Rhieler Street Parade
On we go, with an intergenerational parade celebrating our diversity and individuality by carrying portraits of us protesters or simply empty signs, in reference to an idea of choreographer Anna Halprin. If you like, bring a printed out, DIN A-4 size portrait photo of yourself and glue it to a stick. Several students of different high schools, choirs, musicians and the dance company MOUUVOIR will join you in this endeavor.

16:00–17:00 Picnic and Dance-Battle on the Ebertplatz
Bring and share your favorite food while watching a live paper sculpture develop and witness a dance battle of styles like vogueing, K-pop, tap dance and contemporary dance unfold to the sounds of several different DJs. Students of the media arts university of Cologne will complete the battle with projections of videos and there will be a food truck serving hot food as well as cold and hot drinks.

17:15–18:00 Demonstration on Eigelstein-Street
This demonstration for cultural diversity and tolerance will start at the Eigelsteintor and is joined by the Russian-German choir as well as a project of the ‚Fliehkraft e.V.‘ – a theatre group composed of refugees. Together with Belgian DJ Elephant Power we will dance towards the Breslauer Platz where the women’s police choir will be waiting for us.

18:00–18:30 DANCE FOR ALL in front of Cologne’s Central Station
As a cumulative high point of City Dance Köln, the forecourt of Cologne’s central station will become the stage for a large DANCE FOR ALL, a festival of different cultures and generations. The SBOK-brass orchestra, the gay and lesbian choir of Cologne, the ‚Sambateurs‘, dancers and the more than 300 participants will join you. Please find a video tutorial of the choreography here: www.citydance-koeln.de/mitmachen