The Tanzzentrale of the Nuremberg Region was founded in 1997 by a group of regional choreographers and dancers and from the very beginning has been situated in studios which are part of the KUNSTfabrik complex in Fürth, Bavaria, centrally located on the corner of Kaiserstr./Karolinenstr. Originally, the former factory space had been converted into dance studios by Jutta Czurda and her company CZ Tanztheater. When she disbanded the company the studios became the obvious location for the Tanzzentrale, with studios ideal for dance production. And so the Tanzzentrale has become the artistic home for dance-makers who live and work in the region. As a centre for artistic production, research, discussion and networking the Tanzzentrale offers a varied and ever-expanding programme and has become a hub for both dance artists and for the public at large.
The Tanzzentrale studios, which are financially supported by the cities of Nuremberg, Fürth and Erlangen and by the state of Bavaria, provide freelance choreographers, who receive communal funding, with professional rehearsal and working conditions. At present seven choreographers are „producing artists“ of the Tanzzentrale and create 10-15 productions each year, which, following their premiere at a regional venue, often in co-operation with the Tafelhalle im Kunstkulturquartier, tour nationally and internationally.
The Tanzzentrale offers professional training for dancers and dance teachers three times a week, taught in blocks by Tanzzentrale members and international guest teachers. A wide variety of workshops complement the programme. In addition to the creative production and training possibilities on offer, the Tanzzentrale sees itself as a centre for dance networking, discussion and research, not only on the local and regional level, but nationally and internationally. The Creative Residency programme, which was started in 2008, is now firmly established and offers dance and performance artists, who are chosen after a rigorous application process, a space for creative research and development and offers in the public „showings“, which are an integral part of the residency, an insight into the different stages of artistic creation, in a casual and open atmosphere.
The Tanzzentrale has on several occasions been involved in the organisation and programming of regional dance festivals, reaching out to a wider audience – Transformance CityXchange (2015), tanz.tausch (2018), and the Nuremberg contribution of Tanzplattform Deutschland (2020). In addition the Tanzzentrale has successfully organised its own dance festivals within its studio theatre location. Since 2019 it has also been the home of „Raw and Polished“, an open-stage format, held three times a year.