Tanzfestival Rhein-Main Returns with "Moving Democracy" Theme and International Guest Performances

The Tanzfestival Rhein-Main, held from October 30 to November 15, 2020, features guest performances by Lia Rodrigues, Ali Chahrour, and Dana Michel under the motto "Moving Democracy," which frames democracy as a "living, physically experienceable practice." The festival, first launched in 2016 by Frankfurt's Mousonturm and the Hessian State Ballet, has shifted the region's dance focus from Frankfurt to a broader area including Offenbach, Darmstadt, and Wiesbaden. This decentralization follows the 2003 dissolution of William Forsythe's legendary ballet company at Frankfurt's Städtische Bühnen and his founding of the private Forsythe Company, which he left in 2015; the ensemble now operates as the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company. A year earlier, the state theaters in Wiesbaden and Darmstadt disbanded their small dance companies to form the Hessian State Ballet, a 28-dancer ensemble with international reach. While the Mousonturm acts as the festival center, its stages are relatively small, and the most spectacular events occur elsewhere; the 60-kilometer distance from Hanau to Wiesbaden (about 80 minutes by train) makes classic festival-hopping impractical. This year's program includes Lia Rodrigues's "Borda" at the Mousonturm and "Encantado" at the Staatstheater Darmstadt, Ali Chahrour's "When I saw the Sea" at the Frankfurt LAB, and Dana Michel's "You cannot can" at the Hallenbad Höchst.