Dear friends

We are happy to share with you the programme for our 2024/25 season! Since Ioannis Mandafounis took over as artistic director in 2023, many new and exciting things have begun. Many of you have probably already seen a good bit of what this new beginning means artistically. Live choreography - Ioannis Mandafounis' improvisation method, which the ensemble now mainly works with - means that all the dancers’ movements on stage are improvised.

You can therefore see a great deal of the individual artists' personalities, their characters, their habits, as well as their own individual imprints stemming from different choreographic traditions. This special way of working requires a high degree of connection and trust. As the ensemble continues to come together, even more becomes possible. This process is anything but complete and will continue into the future.

We would also like to deepen our connection with you, the audience. The foundation is there, but looking forward, one thing is clear: without you we are nothing. Our stage works only become complete in your perceptions. So additionally, we also want to invite you to take part in our education programme, exchange ideas with us, learn and dance together - perhaps you will even become part of a performance yourself?! For a real relationship to flourish, one has to open up a little. With this in mind, we collaborated with the photographer Sitara Thalia Ambrosio for this season's images. She is a resident artist in Hellerau in 2024 and was honoured with the PORTRAITS - Hellerau Photography Award 2023. With her sensitive yet precise eye, she accompanied us for a week and captured special moments behind the scenes.

It fills us with joy and pride that our work has already garnered great international interest after such a short amount of time. This season, we will be taking our productions to Antwerp, Paris, Turin, London and Kyoto - as well as to the Ruhrtriennale in Essen. And without giving away the whole programme just yet: this season, in addition to the works of Ioannis Mandafounis, we have again invited guests to develop choreographies for our ensemble. One of them is William Forsythe.

We thank you and our partners, patrons and sponsors for your trust and support. We hope you enjoy discovering the new season and look forward to welcoming you to our performances.