Dance into May is a collaborative project organized by go plastic company, in which the audience is guided through Hellerau by a city and dance guide in various ways and under moderated instruction, discovering different dance styles in very different locations throughout the garden city.

In the past, Dance into May has focused on the Ruscheweg park, the Waldschänke Hellerau community center, and the Festspielhaus Hellerau festival theater. However, future editions of Dance into May will also explore other locations in Hellerau.

Dance into May always concludes on the forecourt of the Festspielhaus. This then becomes a dance floor where participants and passers-by dance together in a simple choreographed round dance. The day then comes to an end in the adjacent Kulturgarten.

Dance into May opens up professional dance to a wider audience, provides a stage for clubs and dance groups, invites the urban community to participate, and shows how diverse Dresden’s dance scene and its dancers are. Encounters, dialogue, participation, and togetherness arise in a relaxed atmosphere. Everything is connected in and with a shared experience in the Hellerau district.

InPresence Dance Company

The InPresence Dance Company was founded by choreographer, producer, trainer, and dancer Luise Knofe and offers training for aspiring dancers as well as advanced amateurs. The initiative provides opportunities to gain professional experience through regular projects on stage and in film. Stylistically, the company blends elements of hip hop and contemporary fusion with urban and commercial influences.

Gems Crew

Gems Crew e.V. is a queer dance crew from Saxony and beyond. We consist of nine members between the ages of 18 and 30. We are united by our skills in hip hop, breaking, house, and waacking, as well as DJing, art, design, and music. As young organizers, we create open spaces for exchange that respect cultural roots and strengthen anti-racism. We organize regular sessions, workshops, and the Feel Your Gem Battle—a battle where we give space and voice to FLINTA* BIPoC in particular.

4roomsCompany

Since 2021, 4roomsCompany has been developing innovative contemporary dance formats that are brought to new venues. The versatile ensemble combines expertise in movement, music, and communication, bringing dance to life on stage, in public spaces, and in interactive formats for a wide audience. A central concern is accessibility: people from a wide variety of backgrounds are invited to experience, witness, and participate in dance.

remix

remix is a four-member K-Pop (Korean Popular Music) dance cover group from Dresden that has been dancing together as a quartet since 2020. K-Pop music encompasses not only the music itself, but also the accompanying hip-hop-influenced dance style. This style has made a name for itself worldwide and has developed a versatility that is also a key focus for remix.

Lotte Jirka & Janosch Horn

Where do we meet? Contact Improvisation asks: Where and how do we come together? Unaware—but not unconscious. Playful, questioning, connected, falling, free, and imperfect.

Janosch Horn likes the color purple, honesty, and sometimes having some peace and quiet. He is a freelance dancer, dance teacher, and organizer of dance events in the fields of contemporary dance and contact improvisation.

Lotte Jirka lives in Dresden and is fascinated by improvisation and movement exploration. She organizes and teaches various formats centered on the contemporary dance form Contact Improvisation.

Tango Argentino

Argentine tango is a wordless dialogue between two people. Two gazes meet, an embrace develops—two bodies merge into a movement that is carried along by the music. Instead of fixed choreography, the dance arises in the moment: from improvisation, connection, and attentive listening between the dancers.

Tango can be experienced in many places in Dresden – at free dance evenings, in various dance schools, or at the Bailamos e.V. tango club. A regular partner is not necessary; dancing with different people is part of the essence of this dance culture. Tango functions like a common language that connects dancers worldwide.

B.O.P.

The B.O.P. constellation consists of artists Caroline Beach, Casey Ouzounis, and Josef Panda, who combine influences from dance, pop music, visual arts, and performance in their work. The three met through various collaborations in Dresden’s art and culture scene. Their intersecting paths, interest in interdisciplinarity, and penchant for the absurd have now brought the artists together for their first performance as B.O.P. for Dance into May.

Company Class with Cindy Hammer

Cindy Hammer‘s training consists of three parts: an intensive full-body warm-up, various technical sets for practicing movement sequences, and a section focusing on improvisation and movement concepts. The program is aimed at professional dancers and advanced dancers.

Cindy Hammer has been working as a freelance dancer, choreographer, and performer in national and international projects for over ten years. In addition to her work as artistic director of the go plastic company, she regularly participates in productions by various choreographers and companies. In her movement practice, she combines contemporary approaches with influences from urban dance styles and engages intensively with their history, qualities, and forms of expression.

Impulse at go plastic STUDIO LAB:
go plastic Company Class
Monday, May 04 from 10 – 11:30 a.m.
Level: Advanced / Professional
Language: German / English

Company Class with Kevin Albancando

Kevin Albancando‘s training combines technical work, musicality, and dynamic movement qualities from contemporary, breaking, popping, and waving. The focus is on physical presence, rhythmic precision, and the development of individual forms of movement expression.

Kevin Albancando Tuntaquimba is a freelance dancer, choreographer, and dance educator. Raised in Freiburg, he now lives and works in Leipzig. In his current practice, he explores the intersections between urban and contemporary dance. A formative period was his work with the dance and action theater Pan.Optikum, with whom he has performed in large-scale projects in public spaces throughout Europe and Mexico since 2011. Since 2019, Kevin has been realizing projects primarily in Baden-Württemberg and Saxony, often in interdisciplinary collaborations. Most recently, he created Soft War—a piece in cooperation with author Martina Hefter and musician Patrice Libep, which premiered at the Schauspiel Leipzig in 2024.

Impulse at go plastic STUDIO LAB:
go plastic Company Class
Tuesday, May 5 from 10 – 11:30 a.m.
Level: Advanced / Professional
Language: German / English

Urban / Contemporary Dance Class with Cindy Hammer

This class combines influences from urban dance and contemporary dance. Participants work on grooves, coordination, and dynamic movement sequences, developing movement systems that combine flow, rhythm, and expression.

Impulse at go plastic STUDIO LAB:
Urban/Contemporary Dance class with Cindy Hammer
Wednesday, May 6 from 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Level: Open Level
Language: German / English

Open rehearsal go plastic „TUNE BACK (time)“

During the open rehearsal, we will provide insights into the current creative process behind our new production, “TUNE BACK (time).” Interested visitors can watch the rehearsal process and then ask questions or engage in conversation with us.

Thursday, May 7 from 4 – 6 p.m.
Language: English

Contact Workshop & Jam with Lotte Jirka

Janosch Horn likes the color purple, honesty, and sometimes having some peace and quiet. He is a freelance dancer, dance instructor, and organizer of dance events in the fields of contemporary dance and contact improvisation.

Lotte Jirka lives in Dresden and is fascinated by improvisation and the exploration of movement. She organizes and teaches various programs centered on the contemporary dance form of contact improvisation.

Impulse at go plastic STUDIO LAB:
Contact Workshop & Jam with Lotte Jirka
Thursday, May 7 from 7:30 – 10 p.m.
Level: Open Level
Language: t.b.a.
Registration for the Contact Workshop with Lotte Jirka is available at lotte.jirka@gmx.de.

The workshop introduces the basic principles of contact improvisation: weight sharing, listening with the body, reaction and movement in dialogue. Afterwards, there will be time for a group jam session where participants can dance freely and experiment.

go plastic Company Class with Suzette Sagisi

Suzette Sagisi (she/her)* is a Filipina-American dance artist born in California and based in Europe. With a commitment to both rigor and play, her artistic interests lie at the intersection of identity and culture. Recent performances include _Ocean Futures_ with Alvin Collantes (Berlin), _Life.Styles_ (Singapore), and Paris Fashion Week for Valentino with Julie Bruyere (Paris). Suzette’s performance experience ranges from evening-length works to museum exhibitions to music videos such as two colors x Safri Duo’s _Cynical_ and Beyoncé’s _Run the World (Girls)_. Suzette enters her fourth year working with go plastic, excited and grateful.

Impulse at go plastic STUDIO LAB:
go plastic Company Class with Suzette Sagisi
Friday, May 8 from 10 – 11:30 a.m.
Level: Advanced / Professional
Language: English

»Play, play, play. Let’s tune in to the body and research together. We’ll move through improvisation and set material, allowing for moments of connection and clarity. Stylistically, it’ll feel one part contemporary, one part post-modern, and one part please-hit-the-two-and-the-four.«

Suzette’s training combines dynamic movement practice with improvisation, musical sensitivity, and spatial awareness. The focus is on physical precision and an open approach to movement and expression.

Yoga for Dancers Class with Luise Knofe

This yoga session is specifically designed for dancers and people interested in movement. Flowing sequences strengthen mobility, stability, and breathing awareness, preparing the body in a sustainable way.

Impulse at go plastic STUDIO LAB:
Yoga for Dancers Class with Luise Knofe
Saturday, May 9 from 11 – 12 a.m.
Level: t.b.a.
Language: English

Luise Knofe is a dancer, choreographer, and creative director from Dresden. After completing her studies at the Palucca University of Dance Dresden, she worked internationally as a dancer and choreographer for TV productions, music videos, shows, and theater projects. Her work combines contemporary and urban dance languages and regularly takes her to projects in Europe, the USA, and Asia.

Choreography Contemporary Fusion Workshop with Luise Knofe

In this workshop, Luise works with choreography and movement material between contemporary dance, groove, and personal expression. The focus is on groove and musicality.

Impulse at go plastic STUDIO LAB:
Choreography Contemporary Fusion Workshop with Luise Knofe
Saturday, May 9 from 12:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Level: Advanced / Professional
Language: German & English

Workshop & Jam Session with the Gems Crew

The Gems Crew invites you to an open workshop followed by a jam session. The focus is on community, exchange, and movement together. After a short introduction, the space opens up for free dancing and spontaneous encounters.

The Gems Crew is a dance crew from the urban dance scene that stands out for its energetic performances and strong sense of community. In workshops and jams, the crew combines different urban dance styles and creates spaces for exchange, improvisation, and dancing together. Their focus is on groove, creativity, and the shared experience of dance as a cultural practice.

Impulse at go plastic STUDIO LAB:
Workshop & Jam Session with the Gems Crew
Saturday, May 9 from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Level: Open Level
Language: German & English

A performative installation between ritual and resonance

Between the last and the first breath of the year – where time slips through the cracks and certainties waver – we locate RAU(E)NÄCHTE. The new production of the go plastic company unfolds a multilayered landscape of sound, body, and narration, inspired by the twelve mysterious nights between the years.

The Rauhnächte – once customs, superstitions, and protective rituals – are today a space for projection, resonance, and cultural memory. RAU(E)NÄCHTE asks about the potential of this in-between space: What remains when the noise fades? What do we hear when we truly listen?

Twelve figures – developed from mythological, regional, queer-feminist, and pop-cultural fragments – take shape in two experiential spaces: as a walk-in installation and as a resonant, tangible search for traces along a performative table. Bodies become archives, voices carriers of memory, movement a ritual.

The staging interweaves contemporary dance with audio art and installation – accessible and multisensory. It opens spaces for blind and visually impaired audiences as well as for those willing to explore other modes of perception.

RAU(E)NÄCHTE is not a retelling, but an invitation: to pause, to feel, to listen together.

Information

January 29, 30, 31 (each at 8 p.m.)
February 4, 2026 (8 p.m.)
February 5, 2026 (11 a.m.)

Venue: HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts, (East Wing),
Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 56, 01109 Dresden 

Recommended age: 12+
Language: German & English
Duration: approx. 90 minutes

Important information about tactile guidance: an integrated audio description with tactile guidance will take place before each event at 7:00 p.m. Registrations must be made in advance at barrierefrei@hellerau.org.

Information about the pick-up service offered by HELLERAU will follow soon.

Cast & Crew

PERFORMANCE: Cindy Hammer, Pernille Sonne, Momo F. Tanner (For the dates in Dresden: Cindy Hammer, Rika Yotsumoto and Julia Amme)
AUTHORSHIP: Cindy Hammer, Susan Schubert, Pernille Sonne, Momo F. Tanner
CHOREOGRAPHY / DIRECTION: Cindy Hammer, Susan Schubert, Momo F. Tanner
PRODUCTION DRAMATURGY: go plastic company
MUSIC / SOUND DESIGN: Johannes Till, go plastic company
RECORDING DIRECTION / SOUND DESIGN / MASTERING: Johannes Gerstengarbe (Ballroom Studios)
LIGHT DESIGN: Martin Mulik
STAGE SOUND COORDINATOR: Christian Döpping
STAGE / MATERIAL: go plastic company in cooperation with the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (Friends’ Association, Theater Design/Scenic Painting)
TECHNICAL DIRECTION: Benjamin Henrichs
ART WORK / PHOTO / CI: Stephan Tautz
ACCESSIBILITY REPRESENTATIVE: Pernille Sonne
PR / PUBLIC RELATIONS: Thomas Natzschka
SOCIAL MEDIA: Lea Schweinfurth

Partners & Funders

A production of go plastic company in co-production with LOFFT – DAS THEATER and HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts. Funded by the Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Funded by the City of Dresden – Office for Culture and Monument Preservation. Funded by the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony. This measure is co-financed with tax funds on the basis of the budget approved by the Saxon State Parliament. Funded by the City of Leipzig – Department of Culture.

With the kind support of: Ballroom Studios, minor pole e.V., TENZA, Pathos Munich, Schwere Reiter.

COME OUT AND PLAY. THE CITY IS YOURS.

What do skyscrapers and cloud formations have in common? Quite simply: what you make of them by yourself. And the ASPHALTWELTEN app opens up just that in lots of playful challenges: new urban worlds in a very private and interactive focus.

Fountains become your stage, walkways your playground and parks turn into your individual creative laboratory.

With your smartphone and the ASPHALTWELTEN app, you can discover how much playground there is in your surroundings and how much creativity you have inside of yourself. Experience how your view of your city changes when you spend time in and with it intensively and without distraction. Let yourself be challenged again and again. Every day.

How the app works

The ASPHALTWELTEN app invites you once a day to a small challenge in public space. By using video, photo, text or speech, you are called to complete a task and document it with one of the tools offered within the app. You don’t need any previous knowledge or skills for this. A smartphone, a lot of curiosity and a little creativity are all you need.

More about the ASPHALTWELTEN app can be found here.

The ASPHALTWELTEN app is free of charge, was released on July 5, 2023 and is available at Google Play Store and in the Mac App Store.

Crew

Artistic direction & Content / Concept: Cindy Hammer & Susan Schubert

Programming / Technical development: Ralf Michael

Art Work / Design: Stephan Tautz, Dominik Glöß, Stefanie Niechciol

Project management: Marita Matzk, Conrad Schneider

Distribution / Acquisition: Dirk Förster

Legal advice: Spirit Legal

PR: Thomas Natzschka

Social Media: Lea Schweinfurth

Funding

Funded by the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony and the Federal Government  Commissioner for Culture and the Media in the NEUSTART KULTUR programme, tanz:digital assistance programme of the German Dance Association.

This measure is co-financed by tax funds on the basis of the budget passed by the Saxon State Parliament.