Picture credit: Colours International Dance Festival/Simon Wachter

Choreographer and Dancer Eric Gauthier (who might be known so some of you from former posts about his shows at Theaterhaus like Alice! (link)) is the creative brain behind Colours International Dance Festival. He brought it to Stuttgart in 2015 for the first time and overnight it became one of the most beloved festivals in town. And now, in 2017, it’s back! Check out this amazing teaser video! 😀 Do you recognize the places in Stuttgart, where the two guys are dancing?

At Colours International Dance Festival contemporary dance companies from all over the world meet in Stuttgart between July 6 and 23. Styles and formats range from ballett to dance theatre, from circus to performances, from traditional dances to tap dance or breakdance. But the festival is not only about the professional performances. Actually, we’re not supposed to sit and watch all the time but to get up and be moved by colours ourselves!

There will be high-profile participation activities in the Stuttgart city centre, too: On June 30 the market square in front of the city hall will become a huge dance floor, starting at 4 pm. Eric Gauthier, members of his and the international dance companies and the one or other surprise guest will spend three hours getting his city into the groove. The goal is to get EVERYBODY moving, not just enthusiastic amateur dancers but also older people and children, wheelchair users and those normally devoted to passively looking on. I have participated the warm-up in 2015 and it was amazing to see so many people dancing together in the middle of the city. If you want to get an idea of what this special event looks like, check out my post about it from 2015 (link).

In addition to the performances, Colours International Dance Festival offers an extensive supporting programme with workshops by international choreographers, many of whom are part of the festival line-up. Levels range from professional to amateur, with a particular focus on people who just enjoy dancing. In 2015 I participated in the workshop “Dance for everybody” and had a blast! In only three hours Eric Gauthier made us perform like pros in a choreography he came up with during the workshop. It was amazing. In my post from 2015 about the workshop you get a glimpse of how it looked like (link).

And these are some more of my personal highlights of Colours International Dance Festival 2017:

• The surreal, multimedia performance by AΦE: WHIST (link) where the audience will be wearing virtual reality headsets.
• The COLOURS KIDS DAY (link)  on July 23 at Wilhelma where young dance enthusiasts learn how to move like certain animals.
• The open rehersals of “Eric Gauthier Dance Company/Meet the talents” (link) that will be held between July 11 and 16 from 6 to 9 pm at Theaterhaus. Entrance is free!

Colours International Dance Festival is definitely one of my favorite events of the year! I can’t wait for it to start!

Have you participated in the festival in 2015? How did you like it? And do you plan to watch the one or other show this year? If you, which one(s)?

More information about:

Colours International Dance Festival

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