side.kicks has been in existence since 2013 and presents works by choreographers from Tanztendenz’s national and international networks at schwere reiter. side.kicks does not see itself as merely a guest performance format, but is generally the culmination of a longer, collaborative process. The program invites productions and artists who have previously been connected to Tanztendenz through institutional partnerships, past residencies, or collaborative working processes.

This is how the collaboration between Alexandra Rauh from Nuremberg and her co-choreographer Stephanie Felber (Munich) came about through the Tanztendenz network TanzPulsSüd, and Isabella Oberländer was already a resident artist at Tanztendenz in the spring of 2026 through the association’s connections with the Irish group Tipperary Dance. A newcomer to the side.kicks program is Munich-based choreographer Quindell Orton, who completed a residency in Mannheim as part of TanzPulsSüd, while Scottish choreographer Colette Sadler has already been both a resident artist and featured in various Tanztendenz formats with her work.

How does dance “think” in/with animals? How do nonhuman corporealities, sounds, rhythms, and weights manifest themselves? And how do animal and nonhuman perspectives transform our understandings of the body, movement, and choreographic practice? 
The symposium "Animals, Animalities, and Nonhuman Agencies in Contemporary Dance" brings together contemporary and historical perspectives from dance studies, philosophy, art, and choreographic practice.
Lectures, discussions, performances, and an artistic-research intervention by Grafocognición create a shared space for exploring animals, animalities, and non-human agencies in contemporary dance in dialog with current debates on ecology, posthumanism, and multispecies relations.

With contributions by: Miriam Althammer, Thomas Betz, Mariama Diagne, Esther Köhring, Tina Meß, Sofia Muñoz Carneiro, Martin Nachbar, Federico Rodríguez, Katja Schneider und Jessica Ullrich.