ImpulsTanz

This weekend, Vienna's contemporary dance festival, ImpulsTanz, began with an outdoor performance in the courtyard of the Museumsquartier. In its 27th year, ImpulsTanz is an annual city-wide dance festival that runs for about a month with shows, lectures, and workshops. The shows (performed by local and international groups) run every day at about eight venues throughout the entire city. (For you theater folk—it's like the Edinburgh Fringe, but for dance.)

The best part about the opening night performance was that it was free! For me, this was just another shining example of how artistically alive this city is (Seriously, if you are interested in music, opera, dance, theatre, etc. etc. you need to visit Vienna... or maybe just move here permanently so you can fall in love with the next musical genius and make lots of Mozart-like artsy genuis babies).

Anyway, the opening night performance was held in the Museumsquartier courtyard, on a temporary built stage elevated above ground level. It was shaped like a runway, with a section in back for a band, but then a long portion that stretched out into the audience for the dancers to perform on. There was also a screen in back for projections. I would try to explain what the piece was about, but I really have absolutely no clue. It was partially video, partially music, and partially performance, and even though it was in English, I still couldn't quite understand what the performance was getting at. Is it possible for something to be too artsy?

One thing is for certain: when they say "contemporary," they mean "contemporary." This festival promises to be anything but traditional.