Apply for participation at tanzpol Festival 2027!

The tanzpol Festival has already taken place twice in Berlin, in 2022 and 2024, and is returning in 2027 for its third edition. The festival is an initiative of tanzpol Berlin, an independent Berlin-based collective founded by Ashkan Afsharian and Johanna Kasperowitsch. The 2027 edition is funded by the Capital Cultural Fund (Hauptstadtkulturfonds, HKF).

As in 2022 and 2024, tanzpol’s work for the 2027 edition centres on artistic work from Iranian and Afghan contexts in the performing arts. Beyond this, the festival sets out to be a place that, at selected points, brings this focus into dialogue with other works of artists from the Berlin scene, that face and deal with questions of displacement and migration and therefore are structurally disadvantaged. With this approach, tanzpol wants to stay true to its profile while also broadening it, making it more inclusive, reflecting on it critically and relating it to other marginalised artistic positions.

Artists are invited to apply with their productions for the main festival programme, which will take place at Uferstudios from 19 July to 1 August 2027.

We explicitly welcome applications from Iranian and Afghan as well as other migrant artists in Berlin who have not yet built strong networks with the relevant institutions of Berlin’s dance and performance scene, in other words, artists whose work is not regularly and widely visible there.

For the 2027 programme, we will be reviewing professional productions in dance, performance, contemporary circus, site-specific work for public spaces and other experimental performative formats.

Eligibility criteria:

*You identify as a member of, or belong to, a structurally marginalised group and/or are affected by structural discrimination, particularly on the grounds of racialisation and origin, but also on the grounds of gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, being Deaf or other social power imbalances and inequalities.

*You have a clear connection to Berlin (Berlin is the centre of your life and work, and/or you have made use of Berlin’s funding structures, and/or your work has mainly been shown in Berlin).

*You have had little opportunity so far to show your work on established Berlin platforms (such as Volksbühne, HAU or Sophiensaele).

*Your production comes from the independent scene (the people involved work primarily in the independent scene).

*Student productions are not eligible.

*Works in progress are not eligible.

Selection criteria:

Our selection is guided by the following overarching criteria:

*Presenting underrepresented, migrant, displaced and thus structurally disadvantaged groups in the Berlin scene in all their diversity.

* Artistic positions that have had little opportunity so far to reach a wide audience in Berlin and/or have few well-developed networks with established Berlin institutions and venues.

*Concrete, completed projects.

What we offer:

*Flat fees per person:

Performance fee: €450 per performance.

Technical set-up and rehearsals for restaging the piece: €200 per day, for up to two days in total.

*additional Resources: professional technical support, free rehearsal space by arrangement in Studio 9 at Uferstudios (sound system, dance floor) between 19 July and 1 August 2027, access to the festival’s networking opportunities and discounted access to the entire festival programme.

*Please note that we are unable to provide rehearsal space outside the period from 19 July to 1 August 2027.

How the selection works:

The works for the programme will be selected by the festival’s artistic directors (Johanna Kasperowitsch and Ashkan Afsharian) together with a programme advisory board of experts. The members of the advisory board are Sara Nabil, Sina Saberi and Sevi Bayraktar.

Step 1: All applications received that meet the formal requirements will be reviewed individually by the advisory board and the artistic directors.

Step 2: In January 2027, the advisory board and the artistic directors will meet online to select a shortlist from all submissions that meet the formal requirements. This meeting will be in parts open to the public! Through this, we aim to be as transparent as possible about our criteria. However, members of the public cannot contribute to the discussion. The Zoom link, which lets you follow the meeting as a silent observer, will be available on the tanzpol website. Names of artist will not be mentioned in this meeting due to data protection.

Step 3: Where needed, we may talk with the shortlisted artists about the content and production conditions of the submitted work, and/or the artistic directors may come to see the work live in Berlin.

Step 4: In early February 2027, the selection panel will meet a second time, in a closed session, to narrow the shortlist down to a final round of no more than 20 submissions.

Step 5: By end of February 2027 at the latest, the artistic directors will decide on the final selection of works in a closed process.

Good to know:

Applications that reach the final round (Step 4) but are not ultimately selected for the programme will each receive €100 as compensation for their time and effort.

How to apply:

Please note: the application form is mandatory for all applications! There, to add the link to a video of the full work is essential. Please fill in the application form in full.

Exception for deaf applicants only:

Send us the full video of the performance, the title and your full name to .

Deadline and contact:

Please send your application no later than 10 December 2026!

If you have any questions about the application process, feel free to contact us at any time:

Ashkan Afsharian at (in German or Farsi)

Johanna Kasperowitsch at (in German or English)

We look forward to your submissions!

Tanzpol-Team