The company features an international ensemble of 10 dancers plus guests from different countries such as Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France, Spain, Taiwan, and Martinique. With different backgrounds and professional experiences, the group is very eclectic. Some dancers, for example, have been working with Iván Pérez for years, others have just arrived, and some were independent dancers before. DTH advocates for an inclusive environment, rethinks the structures of a German theatre, and encourages dialogue and exchange between artists.

On the ensemble’s history
Under the artistic direction of Iván Pérez, Dance Theatre Heidelberg (DTH) is the established dance ensemble at Theater und Orchester Heidelberg. Since its inception in September 2018, the newly named company has successfully gained audiences’ and critics’ trust through its high artistic quality productions and contemporary dance aesthetic. Its repertoire includes various creations by Iván Pérez – often in collaboration with the Philharmonic Orchestra Heidelberg – and commissioned works created by guest choreographers. DTH is also co-responsible for the Tanzbiennale Heidelberg, the city’s international dance festival, which spans nine days and was established in 2014 thanks to TANZAllianz – a cooperation between Theater und Orchester Heidelberg and UnterwegsTheater.

Iván Pérez
Artistic Director Dance Theatre Heidelberg
Since September 2018, the Spanish choreographer Iván Pérez is the artistic director of Dance Theatre Heidelberg (DTH) at Theater und Orchester Heidelberg. He is also curator of the Tanzbiennale Heidelberg and the Choreographic Center Heidelberg. Pérez is a former member of the Netherlands Dance Theater, where he had his professional choreographic debut in 2011 with »Flesh«. Since then, he has made new works for companies such as the Paris Opera Ballet, Balletboyz, Ballet Moscow, Compañía Nacional de Danza and Dance Forum Taipei amongst others. Within Dance Theatre Heidelberg, Pérez creates big scale works, promotes new choreographic voices and develops communities around dance.

»Collective behaviour is a recurring theme through most of my work. I´m particularly interested in the collective responses among my dancers and the dynamics and tensions on stage that the bodies could create.«

Iván Pérez