PROGRAMME
Today’s guest is Gui B.B, who’s work I Have Such a Horrible Voice was invited to this years [8:tension] Series. Gui talked about precarity, how easily one can get in debt and what this does to a person. She talked about starting a lot of things but not finishing them, about taking risks and the blurry area between life and art.
Almud Krejza spoke with Gui during the ImPulsTanz Festival 2025.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Applepodcast, Podcastaddict and Deezer.
This time, it’s Adam Russell-Jones, whose work Release the hounds was invited to this year’s [8:tension] series. Adam spoke about his transition from being a ballet dancer in big companies to making his own work as independent choreographer, about the attraction as well as danger of dancing until complete exhaustion. How the collaboration with musician Moritz Haas evolved and what a drunk stranger on the U8 in Berlin has to do with his piece.
Almud Krejza spoke with Adam during the ImPulsTanz Festival 2025.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Applepodcast, Podcastaddict and Deezer.
Today’s guest is Mélissa Guex, whose work DOWN (full album) was invited to this year's [8:tension] series.
Mélissa talked about her fascination with big crowds, the magic of instant connection, and how she met drummer Clément Grin, with whom she created the piece. She shared how she sometimes prefers speaking with her body to speaking with her mouth, and reflected on the importance of warming up and accepting downs.
Almud Krejza spoke with Mélissa during the ImPulsTanz Festival 2025.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Applepodcast, Podcastaddict and Deezer.
Today’s guest is Marika Peura, who’s work Amalgam Melee was invited to this year’s [8:tension] Series. We talked about violence – and what difference it makes, who defines what violence is. About the longing for belonging. And how to appropriate a culture which is your own, but is still not very familiar. We also talked about dynamics one cannot control, neither in real life nor on stage.
Almud Krejza was talking with Marika Peura during ImPulsTanz Festival 2025.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Applepodcast, Podcastaddict and Deezer.
This time, our guests are Lisen Pousette and Olivia Rivière, the makers of the performance DUNKEL, which was invited to this year’s [8:tension] Series. We talked about the time when they met in choir school and how singing is their natural habitat. How they moved on from soprano and alto to heavy metal and growling and about their ongoing fascination with the deconstruction of the voice.
Almud Krejza was talking with Lisen Pousette and Olivia Rivière during ImPulsTanz Festival 2025.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Applepodcast, Podcastaddict and Deezer.
This time, our guest is Martina De Dominicis, who’s work Latente was invited to this years [8:tension] Series. Martina talked about nostalgia as something more than missing the past, but missing the future, which one thought would come but did not. About how fruitful it can be to trust in one‘s gut-feeling. And about the importance of unlearning as well as of doing things one can not do - yet.
Almud Krejza was talking with Martina De Dominicis during ImPulsTanz Festival 2025.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Applepodcast, Podcastaddict and Deezer.
Today’s guest is Matteo Haitzmann, composer and choreographer, who’s work Make it Count was invited to this years [8:tension] Series. He told us which lessons from being a danceWEBber back in 2018 came in handy now, being back at the festival for a residency. How the restrictions during Corona times made him accidentally invent a new instrument. And which role the village he grew up in still plays for him when creating.
Almud Krejza was talking with Matteo Haitzmann during ImPulsTanz Festival 2025.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Applepodcast, Podcastaddict and Deezer.
In 125 performances – including seven world premieres and 30 Austrian premieres – we were delighted to welcome around 53,500 visitors to the theatres, the museum, exhibitions, readings and talks. 260 workshops with nearly 47,800 attended class units filled the Arsenal and 19 other venues with an abundance of life and dance. 367 Public Moves classes drew over 25,000 active participants as well as just as many spectators into the open air. And on 32 evenings in the Festival Lounge, as well as two Party Nights at City Hall, dancing continued late into the night. In total, we counted around 200,000 visitors – more than ever before in the festival’s nearly 40-year history. ImPulsTanz 2025 was therefore not only completely sold out, but also the most highly attended edition to date. We are already looking forward to seeing you again – at the next ImPulsTanz Festival from 9 July to 9 August 2026!
Today’s guest is Netti Nüganen. Known to ImPulsTanz audiences as part of a number of Florentina Holzinger’s productions, she first presented one of her own performances at this year’s festival. Her piece The Myth: last day, a pseudo-archeological excavation turned punk concert, is an exercise in how history is constructed. With author Sean Pfeiffer, Nüganen further reflects on this intersection of fact and fiction. They also discuss how engaging with both text material and physical objects constitutes her performative practice.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Podcastaddict and Deezer. New episodes every Thursday!
Today’s guest is Camilla Schielin, a dancer-choreographer working in Vienna. After showing her solo piece into (quickening ground) at ImPulsTanz, she talked with author Sean Pfeiffer about the development of the piece, the music and dance styles that influenced it, and how other performers shape her work.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Podcastaddict and Deezer. New episodes every Thursday!
Today’s guest is Luca Bonamore, a dancer and choreographer from Vienna. His latest group piece, Silent Lovers, is concerned with cruising - a historically queer practice of public sexual encounters. In his conversation with author Sean Pfeiffer, Bonamore discusses his start as a dancer, what it means to open up the private to the public, and navigating the multitude of Viennese spaces he performs in.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Podcastaddict and Deezer. New episodes every Thursday!
In episode 17 our guests are choreographer-performer Jette Loona Hermanis from Estland and visual artist and stage designer Anna Ansone from Latvia. They sat down with author Sean Pfeiffer to talk about their collaborative piece FrostBite, a post-nuclear fantasy between theatre, dance and installation. They also discuss the importance of genre, fashion and improvisation in their work, and how they channelled child’s play in developing the piece.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Podcastaddict and Deezer. New episodes every Thursday!
This episode’s guests are j. bouey and Tyrone Bevans, both waacking dancers and choreographers based in New York. With author Sean Pfeiffer, they discuss the history of waacking and the world premiere of their duet A Message at ImPulsTanz. They also talk about finding inspiration in the 1970s and dance as a vehicle for liberation.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Podcastaddict and Deezer. New episodes every Thursday!
Today’s guests are Viní Ventania and Vitória Jovem, performing together as Irmãs Brasil, the „Sisters of Brasil“. Their duet Eunuchs, a haunting and commanding piece about the historic and on-going hate and violence against gender-nonconforming bodies, was one of two winning works at this year’s ImPulsTanz – Young Choreographers’ Award. Speaking with author Sean Pfeiffer, they reflect on their time in Vienna, the discussions their performance sparked at the festival, and how Eunuchs as a piece of art is still evolving.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Podcastaddict and Deezer. New episodes every Thursday!
This episode's guest is Xenia Koghilaki, dancer and choreographer working between Athens and Berlin. With author Sean Pfeiffer, she discusses her research into crowd dances and moshing. She talks about the resulting piece Slamming, and how anticipation and release function as structural devices in her work.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Podcastaddict and Deezer. New episodes every Thursday!
This episode's guest is Astrid Boons, a Belgian choreographer currently working in the Netherlands. Her piece Khôra aims to find humanity in an increasingly technologized world. Her conversation with author Sean Pfeiffer touches upon the philosophical underpinnings of the work and how collaborating closely with the performers shapes her process.
The [8:tension] podcast is available on the Life Long Burning website, on Spotify, Podcastaddict and Deezer. New episodes every Thursday!
Together with design studio CIN CIN and 3D makeup artist Ines Alpha ImPulsTanz has won the golden KUNSTSTÜCK Kulturaward 2023 by Kultuformat in the category “Performing Arts & Culture” for our festival campaign 2021 featuring Breanna O’Mara and 陳威達 DaDa Elle (DaDa JV). A big thank you goes to everyone who has voted for us. Here’s to you too!
For the 40th edition the workshop centre returns to where it all began back in 1984: to Schmelz. To mark the anniversary, over 130 teachers – including Joe Alegado, Fabiana Pastorini and Perel – invite beginners and professionals to give their all in Ballet, Jazz, Bodywork, Voguing, Improvisation, Modern Dance and HipHop. Among the performance programme other highlights include international greats such as Meg Stuart and Lucinda Childs and new faces like Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe or Marina Otero. With Liquid Loft and toxic dreams, the local scene also announces itself famously. From Tuesday, 18 April, all workshops and research projects can be booked, the pre-sale for selected productions starts on 9 May and tickets for the entire programme are available from 6 June.