In Halle A new festival for contemporary dance begins on 12 November 2026. Performances and workshops are scheduled at various venues across the city until 22 November. The ZETT Festival aims to present dance not only on theatre stages, but also in places where people encounter it in everyday life.
According to Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, venues include the city park, studios, a Montessori school and the Format video library. Events in public spaces are free of charge. There are fees for performances at WUK Theater Quartier and for workshops. Several contemporary dance performances are planned at the theatre on 20 November.
The festival is organised by the ZETT network, a group of freelance female dancers from Saxony-Anhalt who have joined forces. According to the funding application, it has 14 members who work in Halle, Magdeburg and the surrounding area. The group was founded in 2024 in connection with the “Tanz offen” festival in Bernburg .
The choice of venues is part of the concept. People who come across a performance in a park or another public space do not need to have decided in advance to go to the theatre. The situation is also different for the artists: the distance from the audience can be smaller than on stage. The dancer Na’ama Arbel described this closeness to MDR as a special experience for those involved.
The programme also includes workshops that require no prior dance experience. According to MDR, there are also activities for people with disabilities. The festival thus combines two different forms of participation: watching artistic performances and moving oneself in a workshop.
The works vary in style. Dance educator Antonia Balzer told MDR that some works are political, while others are more lyrical and atmospheric. Balzer is appearing at the Montessori school with a dance theatre production for children and young people. In one of her works, Arbel explores identity and migration.
The network also has a cultural policy aim for the festival. In the funding application, its members describe a structural gap for contemporary dance in Saxony-Anhalt. They want to raise the profile of the scene and bring dance professionals together. A document on Halle’s cultural funding recommended a grant of €5,000 for the project; €10,000 had been requested. However, a recommendation does not prove that the money was actually paid.
According to MDR, the festival also received funding from the state of Saxony-Anhalt. The organisers hope, the report says, that there will be enough interest for them to receive state funding again next year. At the start of the festival, it had not yet been decided whether it would return.
Editor: Celestina Fuentes (Article created with AI assistance).