New Programme Highlights of the 42nd Edition

The ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival will once again bring the international dance and performance scene to Vienna from 10 July to 10 August 2025. Contemporary dance and choreography will be showcased in an exceptional range, spanning from historical dance highlights and revivals to world premieres. Participants can once again join workshops and research projects, dance under the open sky at Public Moves, or enjoy the nightly ImPulsTanz Soçial at the Burgtheater Vestibül and the ImPulsTanz Soçial Weekender, held on 18 and 19 July at Vienna’s City Hall.

Dancers from the TAO Dance Theatre perform the piece 14.
TAO Dance Theater "14" © Duan Ni

Open-Air Celebration in the Festival Summer

Celebrate with the Senegalese-French artist Amala Dianor, making his Vienna debut. With LEVEL UP, 11 dancers bring flips, spins, floor acrobatics, and elements of street dance to Vienna, set to live music by French electronic producer Awir Leon. This dynamic performance, inspired by short dance choreographies trending on social media, will be presented open air and free of charge at MuseumsQuartier. Additionally, Amala Dianor’s production DUB can be seen on stage at the Volkstheater.

Dance Highlights Now Bookable

ImPulsTanz presents two of Germany’s most significant choreographers at the Burgtheater. Pina Bausch’s iconic and touching Café Müller (1978) will be performed both as a standalone piece and as part of the triptych CLUB AMOUR. Café Müller / Aatt enen tionon / herses, duo. This programme pairs Bausch’s masterpiece with two ImPulsTanz classics from 1996 and 1997 by French choreographer and celebrated dancer Boris Charmatz, who has been artistic director of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch + Terrain Boris Charmatz since 2022 and will appear on stage in Vienna. Additionally, after 32 years, the legendary work Nelken. Ein Stück von Pina Bausch returns in a re-staging with a new cast. Sasha Waltz, making her ImPulsTanz debut, will present her brilliant In C, set to the minimal music of Terry Riley and performed live by the legendary Swiss post-industrial band The Young Gods. The eagerly anticipated new piece Thikra: Night of Remembering by Akram Khan’s globally acclaimed Compagnie will also premiere at the Burgtheater.

Three productions will be presented in collaboration with Johann Strauss 2025 Vienna. Even before the festival, Mathilde Monnier and the Dance On Ensemble will breathe new life into the music of Johann Strauss and its intensity, free from nostalgia, in the world premiere of MUSIQUE – In the Spirit of Johann Strauss on 10 and 12 May at the Volkstheater, with composer Judit Varga at the piano. On 25 and 27 July, six dancers, alongside Eva-Maria Schaller and composer Wolfgang Mitterer, will plunge into a joyful apocalypse in Walzerwut at the Odeon. Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui will explore his fascination with the social significance of Johann Strauss’ dance compositions in Imperial Ball, performed on 3, 5, and 6 December in Halle E. Tickets for the productions at the Burgtheater and within Johann Strauss 2025 Vienna are already on sale.

Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch + Terrain Boris Charmatz "Nelken. Ein Stück von Pina Bausch" © Laszlo Szito
Sasha Waltz & Guests, Terry Riley "In C" © Yanina Isla

New Additions to the Programme

The TAO Dance Theater, awarded the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale 2023, will bring four works from its Numerical Series to Vienna for the first time. From South Korea, Unplugged Bodies will present Homo Faber, combining contemporary dance, British street dance, and Indian Kathak. François Chaignaud, a frequent guest at ImPulsTanz since 2004, will celebrate the world premiere of Último Helecho, a collaboration with musician Nina Laisné and performer Nadia Larcher, blending baroque aesthetics with South American mythology. Further productions by artists such as Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Mette Ingvartsen, and Marie Chouinard are in discussion. The [8:tension] Young Choreographers’ Series will once again spotlight a new generation of choreographers, offering a broad range of artistic works. Following the spectacular 2024 exhibition by choreographer and dancer William Forsythe, the cooperation with MAK – Museum of Applied Arts will continue in 2025.

Dance Beyond Theatres and Museums

Parallel to the performance programme, audiences are invited to dance themselves: at live concerts and DJ sets in the beloved ImPulsTanz Festival Lounge at the Burgtheater Vestibül, at the ImPulsTanz Soçial Weekender at Vienna’s City Hall, or in over 200 workshops and research projects at Arsenal, led by artists such as Zvi Gotheiner, Archie Burnett, Marie Kaae, and Maria F. Scaroni. The highly sought-after Public Moves dance classes will once again take place under the open sky. In addition, the training and development programmes for young dancers and choreographers – danceWEB (mentor: Raja Feather Kelly), ATLAS – create your dance trails (coaches: Guy Cools and Christopher Matthews), and ImPacT (mentor: Kerstin Kussmaul) – will continue.

We look forward to the 2025 festival season!