The Tanzmesse is an unusual event for Europe. It combines showcase performances with a market, conference, and workshops. The schedule is packed and there is a myriad of opportunities and choice of how to spend your days and nights. It’s a miracle of organisation and logistics!

This was the 7th Biennial edition of the Tanzmesse and was based at the Forum Noth-Rhine Westphalia (the region of Germany which includes Dusseldorf as well as Essen, Wuppertal, and Cologne), an excellent location for a conference. Two large ground floor rooms held nearly 100 booths, representing individual dance companies, regions and countries. Upstairs there were a further two rooms which housed seminars, discussions and panel meetings. Performances, starting at 4pm and lasting through until 10 or 11pm, took place in a variety of studio and theatre spaces in Dusseldorf and Krefeld. The facilities were extraordinary and the Tanzhaus NRW includes at least six studios and two theatres. One could easily see three shows each night, some of them double or triple bills. Cafes with excellent offerings were thriving at the Forum and the Tanzhaus; receptions seemed to spring up simultaneously in celebration of performances and artists.

Dance/USA, the national service organisation for dance in the USA, brought a sizable contingent of American artists and presenters; CINARS was the banner for several Quebec companies. Betontanc were scheduled to perform Wrestling Dostoievsky, one of the highlights of DDF 2008, but due to illness of a company member, a solo and a dance film created by company member Branko Potocan were presented instead. Outgoing Dublin Fringe Artistic Director, Wolfgang Hoffman, performed in a duet with Sven Till, entitled Paradora. The piece explored the relationship of two men whose movements were constrained by the tall, narrow box in which they were seemingly stuck.

Long days, lots of meetings, even more performances, and a suitcase full of DVD’s to watch back in Dublin — that was Tanzmesse.

Laurie Uprichard - Artistic Director DDF