DanceMap is a three-year artistic research project that aims to safeguard and promote the rich but often overlooked heritage of 20th and 21st century European dance. It brings together researchers, artists, cultural organisations, archives, and policy experts to pilot new ways of documenting, understanding and sharing embodied cultural knowledge. Grounded in values such as diversity, inclusivity and conviviality, DanceMap combines research, data science, artistic practice, outreach, advocacy and policymaking to ensure dance is recognised as a vital part of Europe’s cultural legacy – and its future.

DanceMap is funded by Horizon Europe, the European Union’s funding programme for research and innovation, and runs from January 2025 to December 2027.

Making dance heritage more visible

A lot of Europe’s dance history is hard to find, scattered across small, personal archives – or already lost. DanceMap aims to bring this knowledge together in one place, making it easier to understand what exists, what’s missing, and how we can protect it for the future.

Recognising shared values

Dance is a powerful way of expressing values such as cultural pluralism, shared experience and belonging. By highlighting underrepresented or marginalised voices and bodies, DanceMap aims to broaden how we understand our cultural history.

Improving digital access

Even where dance materials exist, they’re often not well connected or easy to search. DanceMap works on new digital solutions to help describe, link and share dance archives and collections across platforms – especially for complex, embodied practices.

Supporting creative use of heritage

Artists and cultural institutions often don’t have the tools or time to work with archival material. DanceMap helps make documentation part of everyday creative practice, so that heritage is not just preserved – but kept alive in performance and education.

Reaching wider audiences

There are very few cultural spaces dedicated to dance heritage. DanceMap works to make it more accessible – through exhibitions, performances and digital tools – so that more people can discover, engage with, and be inspired by it.

Influencing policy and funding

Dance is still undervalued in cultural policy. DanceMap provides tools and research that help policymakers and funders understand its importance, and support stronger, more sustainable ways to protect and promote Europe’s dance heritage.

The consortium:

• Bureau Ritter
  (Berlin, Germany) as lead partner
• C-DaRE
  (Centre for Dance Research) at Coventry University (Coventry, UK)
• University of Antwerp
  (Antwerp, Belgium)
• Motion Bank
  research group at the University of Applied Sciences Mainz (Mainz, Germany)
• Deutsches Tanzarchiv Köln
  (Cologne, Germany)
• STUK House for Dance, Image and Sound
  (Leuven, Belgium)
• Culturgest
  (Lisbon, Portugal)
• Noa Eshkol Foundation
  (Holon, Israel)
• Station Centre for Contemporary Dance
  (Belgrade, Serbia)
• Lokomotiva Centre for New Initiatives in Arts and Culture
  (Skopje, North Macedonia)
• Nomad Dance Academy Slovenia
  (Ljubljana, Slovenia)
• Nomad Dance Academy Croatia
  (Zagreb, Croatia)
• Brain Store Project
  (Sofia, Bulgaria)
• Rosas
  (Brussels, Belgium)
• Culture Concepts
  (Berlin, Germany)
• Goethe-Institut – Associate Partner
  (Germany)

• Director: Lisa Marie Bowler
  Coordinator: Hannah Nicholson
  Email: info@dancemap.eu
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• Newsletter
  DanceMap is led by Bureau Ritter. To be kept up to date with project news, sign up for Bureau Ritter’s newsletter here.