Dance ambassador Celine
Impressions of the PURPLE Festival 2026
An experience report
PURPLE - International Dance Festival for Young Audiences 2026
Dance Ambassador Nele was on the road at PURPLE Tanzfestival and describes her impressions of the productions ‘Witch Hunting’ and ‘Happy Hype’.
Witch Hunting – par Terre / Anne Nguyen Dance Company
On Sunday, one day after the opening of PURPLE Tanzfestival, I watched the performance ‘Witch Hunting’ at the HAU1-Hebbel am Ufer and I was really overwhelmed. The dancers embodied the emotions as impressively as I have rarely experienced in performances.
With insulated light and exciting music, the dancers appeared on stage one after the other from different sides and formed a community. At first I thought. But the movements continued to turn against each other. You could almost see combative expressions. And yet again and again the community returned to the dance as an aspect that was also recognizable in the clothes. Although each rdancer had in his individual dance style, two dancers inside each formed a pair by the color of their clothes. It was either red, white or blue. Despite this connection of two people each, there was always a sense of community among all the dancers inside. A dance together. But this supposed cohesion turned around. There were always new outsiders inside.
The recurring motif was particularly impressive when the dancers pointed their fingers at themselves, the stage wall or at us - the audience. So I felt directly addressed and was involved in the question of guilt or innocence. Who was guilty? Does the guilt destroy the community? The play left many questions.
What still inspires me to think up to now are the musical excerpts of ‘Freude schöne Götterfunken’, which have been interrupted again and again by beats or modern music. Should this well-known melody of community and peace/freedom show us that there is not only our privileged European world? You can see: One more question.
But despite the questions, the performance was able to convey so much to me. The composition of the different dance styles, such as krumping, popping, hip-hop and traditional and urban African dances impressed me very much and I clapped with full force.
Happy Hype UINCH OUINCH x Mullah + 10. Years PURPLE Anniversary Party
Few are on the road on this icy evening. Unless you're on your way to the end of the Purple Dance Festival, like me and a few others who get off the subway with me. In contrast to the street, there is already a lot going on in Uferstudio 14. The cards are picked up close, greeted, have a drink and are looking forward to today’s performance “Happy Hype”.
When the doors open, my girlfriend and I start to wonder. No chairs? Instead, we sit around the stage and are then directly involved in the performance.
The Ouinchs already have an enormous presence when they enter the room. Dressed in clothes, the dancers play with the audience and finally place us right again.
Then the first beats of DJ Mullah sound. You can't help but go along.
The traditional dance steps and the costumes initially bring a mysterious mood and definitely tension with them.
Gradually, the dancers reveal themselves of their costumes. The hats, skirts, jackets and fabrics fly into the audience and a jacket suddenly lands on my head. But then it's off to a good start. There are a few sports clothes that are definitely needed. The energy level is directly high through the dynamic club moves and through the involvement of the audience, e.g. even on the audience benches, you feel directly involved in the ‘party’ or joie de vivre and energy that is conveyed.
The energy level never decreases and there are always new, sometimes even bizarre parts in which, for example, a rather impressive structure emerges, like a horse with a rider. You can really only be amazed all the time and feel like dancing along.
However, I found it a bit of a pity that even before the piece was finished properly, it was clapped during a quiet spot. But luckily it went on again and every dancer in has a kind of solo part. I found them particularly impressive because everyone was very individual and proudly expressed their own peculiarities through the dance. In retrospect, I also found it remarkable that these peculiarities in the community complemented each other so well and you could clearly see how much fun the dancers had inside.
Finally, it should not be forgotten that the piece was an incredibly good entry into the closing party. Because the dancers brought us - the audience - on stage and the party continued with the impressive beats of DJ Mullah.
