Dance as a space for social togetherness

Dance isn’t just something that happens on stage: it is a space for encounter, where lived togetherness can be experienced by all. While the DANCE ON ENSEMBLE develops and showcases the artistic potential of professional dancers over 40, DANCE ON Participation opens up contemporary dance to people with no previous experience, encouraging creative engagement across society.

DANCE ON Participation is an intergenerational programme, especially welcoming older adults to explore contemporary dance through workshops, rehearsal and performance visits, and introductions to pieces. These formats do more than stimulate movement and creativity – they strengthen social interaction and spark ideas for a vibrant culture of togetherness.

At the heart of the participation programme is the Dance On Lab: since 2017, a group of dance  enthusiasts over 60 has been creating performances together with Laura Böttinger, the artistic director, and other choreographers, which are presented publicly.

In response to demographic changes, DANCE ON Participation consciously raises socio-political questions: How do we want to live in the future? How can older people be actively involved in shaping community, culture, and everyday life? How can art – dance in particular – counteract loneliness in later life?

Our workshops and projects in care facilities, as well as the feasibility study Bewegte Pflege, conducted in collaboration with the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences at Deggendorf Institute of Technology, put these questions into motion. They embody and reflect dance as a medium that connects cultural participation, social responsibility, and intergenerational encounter.

In this way, participation at DANCE ON becomes both a political and artistic impulse: it demonstrates how dance not only offers aesthetic experience but also reflects and shapes concrete social processes.