How does one actually become a professional dancer? What are the differences between a permanent position at a theater and freelancing? What challenges can one expect in everyday professional life? What is life like when you make dance your career?

These and other questions are the focus of the first evening of our new format “Dance in Conversation.” We’ll kick things off with three short dance performances, as multifaceted as the profession of a dancer itself. The guest artistic contributions come from Theater Nordhausen and Thuringia’s independent dance scene. This will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Kathrin Schremb (Thuringian Theater Association), XX (Theater Nordhausen), Max Preißel (Nasty Stylistix and instructor at Tanztheater Erfurt e.V.) and Ester Ambrosino (artistic director of Tanztheater Erfurt e.V.). They’ll share their personal career paths, discuss the challenges of everyday professional life, and also talk about the beautiful moments—is dance a profession or a calling?

The panel discussion is open to questions from the audience. The evening is aimed particularly at aspiring young dancers, but also at anyone who has always wanted to know what life is like when your greatest passion—dance—has gone from a hobby to a career.