The next edition of one of Germany’s foremost dance events, the COLOURS International Dance Festival, planned for summer 2023, has been postponed due to issues around Covid-19, the organisers said this week.
Founded in 2015 and held biennially until 2019, it took COLOURS just a few years to emerge as a major player in the European festival landscape. In spring 2021, Theaterhaus Stuttgart and the team around Eric Gauthier, Meinrad Huber and Claudia Bauer, postponed the the edition to this year after the world entered pandemic lockdown.
“The happiness in the hot summer of 2022 was all the greater – the audience and the international companies enjoyed the festival to the full,” said a COLOURS spokeswoman. “The video review gives a good impression of the cheerful atmosphere and artistic excellence of the programme.
“Until recently, the organisers had planned the fifth edition for 2023, in line with the original biennial schedule. To our great regret, it is becoming increasingly clear: This won’t work. The reason is as compelling as it is symptomatic of the current economic crisis. Some indispensable sponsors have withdrawn from their commitment. Now COLOURS needs more time to reposition itself.
“After some thought, we also discarded the option of 2024 for the next edition. In the summers of the even years, major football events compete with culture. The 5th COLOURS International Dance Festival will therefore take place in 2025 and thus return to the familiar interval of the odd years. The COLOURS team will no doubt make good use of the remaining time: for a great celebration of dance that will once again mobilise the whole of Stuttgart and the dance scene worldwide”.