What is the internationale tanzmesse? 
The internationale tanzmesse is a biennial marketplace and festival platform for communicating and networking in the field of contemporary dance. At the Tanzmesse international dance companies and artists present their work live on stage and choreographers, dancers, agencies, presenters and cultural institutions network and present their work in a lively marketplace. The internationale tanzmesse nrw also hosts numerous international gatherings and meetings. The Tanzmesse is a project of the Gesellschaft für Zeitgenössischen Tanz, based in Cologne, Germany.

History of the Tanzmesse
The Tanzmesse was initiated in 1994 as the “Tanzmesse NRW” in Essen, Germany. The founders of the Tanzmesse NRW were the Gesellschaft für Zeitgenössischen Tanz NRW e.V., Stadt Essen, the Kultusministerium NRW and the Stiftung Kunst und Kultur NRW.

The original aim of the Tanzmesse was to create a platform for dance companies from North-Rhine Westphalia where they could introduce and present choreographic work from the region to a larger regional audience as well as to the professional dance world. The Tanzmesse sought to create a presentational duality of performance and discussion. The companies could perform their works as well as talk about their projects in a marketplace environment. In 1997, the second Tanzmesse in Essen expanded the marketplace to include international companies and organizations to become a “World Market of Dance Regions”.

In 2002 the internationale tanzmesse nrw was relocated to the City of Dusseldorf, the capital of North-Rhine Westphalia, to take advantage of additional stages and the excellent facilities at the NRW-Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft.  The last Tanzmesse edition in 2012 took place from 29 August to 01 September. In the exhibition halls in the NRW-Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft, where all four exhibition spaces have been used due to high demand, 500 companies are represented at 130 booths. With 1,413 registered visitors from 50 countries the last Tanzmesse edition has set a new visitor record. On the four Tanzmesse days 60 dance companies performed in the theaters of Düsseldorf and Krefeld, presented performances in the new format “Performance Parcours” on the premises of the Hans Peter Zimmer Stiiftung and introduced their work in an Open Studio session in the tanzhaus nrw.

Today the internationale tanzmesse is an international hub for dance professionals from around the world and for the dance audiences of the region. The Tanzmesse is a festival, marketplace, discussion platform, and network.