The successful Chemnitz 2025 project Dancing Neighbours will be extended in 2026: after giving older people in particular a place to meet in the Capital of Culture programme during the Capital of Culture year through intergenerational dance practice, a new open dance class will open this year, inviting people to dance into May with a mini-festival and performances are planned at the THEATER DER WELT Chemnitz 2026 festival, among others.
New weekly dance class
From now on, the Dancing Neighbours will be offering a free dance class every Wednesday at the Chemnitz Garage Campus for anyone who enjoys movement and wants to dance together. The invitation is aimed at interested people of all ages, with or without previous experience, as the focus is on experiencing movement together and an uncomplicated introduction to dance practice. Later participation in performances is optional.
- Dates every Wednesday, 5-7pm,
Garage Campus, creative workshop (Zwickauer Str. 164, 09116 Chemnitz),
Registration: alexandra.takats(at)chemnitz2025.de or 0176 2819 5619 (Dr Alexandra Takats),
Please bring sportswear, trainers and a water bottle. - All information at: chemnitz2025.de/dancing-neighbours
Dance into May! Mini festival at the Garage Campus and Hartmannfabrik
To mark International Dance Day, there will be a mini-festival on the last two days of April, inviting people to dance into May.
A round of talks on Wednesday 29 April at 6 pm in the Hartmannfabrik will open the festival. Actors from the Chemnitz dance and movement scene will talk about the role that dance can play as a means of interpersonal encounters.
On Thursday, 30 April, there will be movement on the Garage Campus between 1 pm and midnight. There will be movement workshops on offer, including hip-hop, contact improvisation and body percussion. Dance initiatives and clubs present themselves with hands-on activities. Late in the evening there will be a Sober Rave on the programme, a party without alcohol and drugs. Further details will be available soon on the website .
The Dancing Neighbours organise the festival for all generations, amateurs and advanced dancers together with the association Kamenica Musica e.V., which uses low-threshold formats to bring international music and local music history to life. The aim of both groups is to bring together local dance initiatives, associations and actors from the Chemnitz movement scene for a city-wide dance format in the long term. The plan is for the festival series to go into the next round on 26 and 27 September 2026.
Performance group already rehearsing for THEATER DER WELT Chemnitz 2026 festival
The Dancing Neighbours have already united people in dance during performances at various events such as the KOSMOS festival during the Capital of Culture year 2025. A performance group of around 40 people is currently rehearsing under the direction of Japanese choreographer Yoko Ando for a performance at the international festival THEATRE OF THE WORLD Chemnitz 2026. Together with a Japanese senior dance group, the dance production "Shintai to Shintai" (from body to body) will be performed at the Hartmannfabrik on 3 and 4 July. Admission is free.
The aim of the professionally guided dance group is to develop performances that can be shown beyond the THEATER DER WELT Chemnitz 2026 festival and even go on tour. The first international visits and performances are already planned in the European Capital of Culture Trenčín 2026 in November 2026 and in Yokohama in spring 2027.
Yoko Ando has played a key role in Dancing Neighbours since the start of the project, in particular through her choreographic signature and as a teacher. As the founder of the "Challenge of the Silver" senior dance programme in Yokohama, Japan, which has been active for around ten years, she brings extensive experience in working with older dancers and intergenerational formats. This exchange is also supported by the EU-Japan Festival.
