Working Theme:
What do we need in the ballet studio and during rehearsals in terms of leadership, health, respectful communication and transparent decision-making?

Dear colleagues and members of the dance community,
We are pleased to announce the first congress “Ethics in Stage Dance” and warmly invite you to participate.

Dancers, directors and ballet masters are expressly invited, as the aim of the congress is to foster dialogue across hierarchies and on equal footing. We seek to learn from one another, to better understand our respective perspectives, to share challenges, to develop approaches to solutions and to strengthen one another. There will be space both for pragmatic ideas that can be implemented immediately and for broader questions that we may continue to explore together or deepen at future congresses.

In preparation, we conducted a survey from which four central fields of work emerged: leadership, health, respectful communication and transparent decision-making.

Under the guiding question
“What do we concretely need in the ballet studio and during rehearsals?”
we will examine these topics together, refine them and develop practical approaches.

The day will open with a short keynote address on ethics by Prof. Dr Christina Breuer. We will then continue working in open formats and collegial exchange: analysing challenges, reflecting on best-, better- and worst-case examples, developing concrete ideas and sharing useful tools – always with a focus on practical implementation. The day will be moderated by Christina Barandun. A detailed programme will follow upon registration.

Our aim is to bring together the collective expertise of as many perspectives as possible and to make the resulting body of ideas available online afterwards. In order to establish a broad and sustainable foundation of knowledge, we would greatly appreciate your support in enabling colleagues to attend through leave arrangements and by covering travel and accommodation expenses.

Participants have the opportunity to attend the evening premiere of Radio and Juliet by the NRW Junior Ballett. The registration deadline for the congress is April 30, 2026.

Registration for 30 May 2026: Click here

To prepare the content and further refine the four thematic fields, we also invite you to a digital meeting:

10 April 2026 | 18:30–20:00 | via Zoom | Registration: Click here

During this meeting, we will develop specific guiding questions for the four fields of work, which will form the foundation of the congress day. 

Zoom-Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86110866084?pwd=fZClWbyXFSBdBf0FZWL3x3TdbrgUWb.1