International Competition for Choreographers

25th International Competition for Choreographers Hannover

170 applications from 45 countries were sent in to the 25th International Competition for Choreographers. This is a new record!
The pre-selection committee – represented by Ed Wubbe (art director of the competition since 2004), Jörg Mannes, and Pierre Wyss – selected 15 choreographies, which were presented on stage in the opera house.


Eight of these choreographies reached the final: Fang-Yu Shen, Michal Rynia/Nastja Bremec, Anton Zvir, Noémie Ettlin, Ihsan Rustem, Giuseppe Spota, Gillaume Côté, and Gentian Doda.

The jury of this 25th competition in Hanover were: Eric Gauthier, Gauthier Dance, Stuttgart; Kiri Haardt, University of Arts, Bern; Prof. Birgit Keil, director of the Ballet of the State Theatre Karlsruhe; Jörg Mannes, director of the State Opera Ballet Hannover; Christian Spuck, chief-choreographer of the Ballet Stuttgart; Yair Vardi, director of the Suzanne Dellal Center, Tel Aviv, Richard Wherlock, director of the Ballet Basel, and Ed Wubbe, director of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. They awarded the following prizes:

1st place
Gentian Doda, Albania, "1/2 waltz"
The art director also awarded the
Scapino Production Award to
Gentian Doda, Albania, "1/2 waltz"





2nd place
Giuseppe Spota, Italy "Un/Attainable"
State Theatre Wiesbaden, Germany

3rd place
Guillaume Cote, Canada "No 24"
National Ballet of Canada

The critics-jury, Kerstin Hergt, Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung; Henning Queren, Neue Presse Hannover; Katja Werner, and Klaus Witzeling awarded
the Critics' Award to
Fang-Yu Shen, Taiwan "In a Frame of Reference"

The Audience Award went to
Ihsan Rustem, United Kingdom "State of Matter"
Tanz Luzerner Theater, Switzerland

The prize money was distributed as follows: 1st place: €6,000, 2nd place: €3,000, 3rd place: €2,000, Critics' Award: €1,500, Audience Award: €1,000.

(pictures by Alexander Spiering)