tanz.dance – The 2023 chronicle

Founded in a small kitchen in 2021, tanz.dance is a forum where journalists from all over the world can talk about how people think with their bodies. After all, it is our bodies that distinguish us from computational processes and other often rather theoretical speculations. Bodies are alive. Bodies make art. That’s why the subtitle of tanz.dance is “The Body’s Art”.

The Canadian magazine “Dance international” once described tanz.dance as “The New Yorker of dance”. In the 2023 edition, a host of well-researched and sensually illustrated stories tell of the situation of the arts in Ukraine, of queer dance makers in Mexico, of quiet mastery in Kyoto and loud dance interventions in Western Pomerania, of ancient dances in Uzbekistan and undiscovered dances in Greenland, of dance heroes like Trajal Harrell and dance heroines like Florentina Holzinger, of dancing uprisings in Iran and decent people at the Tanztheater Wuppertal.

Because there’s very little nutritious reading out there about dance. Those who are satisfied with fast food should not be surprised that highly-qualified, experienced dance journalists around the world are having to turn their backs on their profession. In tanz.dance, however, gourmet dance journalism lives on as an independent entity, a journalism that is practiced with knowledge and a sense of proportion, with camera, pen and voice.

Paper, print, and publishers devour the vast majority of the income from a conventional publication. The warehouse, the retailer… everyone wants money. Only those who shape the content come away empty-handed. Being sustainable and paying authors fairly can only work if we use digital means that are accessible all over the world and at the click of a button. The best way to enjoy the stories is on a tablet or iPad, or even on a desktop or cell phone.