Tanja Liedtke
Awards
As part of the 40th edition of “Choreography – International Competition for Choreography” from June 11 to 13, 2026, the following major prizes will be awarded:
Tanja Liedtke Award Choreography Hannover endowed with €25,000
Dr. Christiane Hackerodt Art Foundation Award Choreography Hannover endowed with €10,000
Ruth Schwieger Award Choreography Hannover endowed with €8,000
Condor ChoreoVision Award Hannover endowed with €5,000
Audience Award endowed with €2,000
Production Awards
In addition, the following production awards will be granted:
Production Award Musiktheater Landestheater Linz / TANZ LINZ – Director Roma Janus
Production Award Mecklenburg State Theatre – Director Jonathan dos Santos
Production Award National Theatre Mannheim – Director Stephan Thoss
Production Award Theater Chemnitz – Director Sabrina Sadowska
Production Award Ballet Theater Ulm – Annett Göhre, Dance Theatre Director and Chief Choreographer
Production Award Staatstheater Braunschweig – Director and Chief Choreographer Gregor Zöllig
Production Award Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz – Ballet Director Karl Alfred Schreiner
Production Award b12 Festival, Berlin – Co-Director Johannes Wieland
For the production awards, the following conditions apply:
– a fee of at least €3,000
– coverage of travel expenses and accommodation during the rehearsal period
– development of a choreography of at least 20 minutes, preferably with more than 4 dancers from the company
– guidance and support by the company management and rehearsal direction
The production awards are granted by the management of the respective company to a choreographer considered suitable for their ensemble. There is no guarantee that these awards will be assigned.
Guest Performance Awards
Tanzlabor Roxy Ulm invites selected works presented in the competition for guest performances – Director Pablo Sansalvador
EISFABRIK Hannover invites selected works presented in the competition for guest performances – Director Wolfgang A. Piontek
Background Information
Supporters
Tanja Liedtke (October 6, 1977 – August 17, 2007) was a German dancer and choreographer active in Australia. She studied in Madrid and in the United Kingdom at the Elmhurst School for Dance and the Rambert School. In 1997 she moved permanently to Australia. In 2007, she was appointed Artistic Director of the Sydney Dance Company as successor to Graeme Murphy. Shortly before taking up the position, she died in a traffic accident in Sydney. In 2008, her parents founded the Tanja Liedtke Foundation, dedicated to supporting arts and culture, with a particular focus on contemporary dance.
Ruth Schwieger supported the choreography competition for many years as a patron. The promotion of young choreographers at the beginning of their careers was especially close to her heart. Following her unexpected passing in 2023, her husband Rüdiger Schwieger established a dance award in her memory, continuing her commitment to emerging dance artists.
The Dr. Christiane Hackerodt Foundation for Art and Culture, founded in 2013 in Hanover as a non-profit foundation, focuses on the promotion and research of contemporary art from an international perspective, particularly in relation to East and West. The foundation supports both emerging and established artists who explore new creative approaches to reality. It regularly contributes to the cultural landscape in Hanover and stimulates artistic and social discourse through publications and exhibitions from its international contemporary art collection. Its international engagement is reflected, among other things, in its long-standing cooperation with the German Study Center in Venice.
condor invest GmbH is active in the fields of real estate, tourism, hospitality, and cultural sponsorship. For more than 30 years, managing partner André Bruns has been deeply committed to contemporary and modern dance. In addition to supporting the dance company in his hometown of Osnabrück, he particularly supports young dancers on their path toward pursuing a choreographic career. It was out of this commitment that the idea arose to sponsor an advancement award for a young talent at the renowned choreography competition in Hannover.