Munich's rodeo festival draws more than 1,800 visitors

The ninth rodeo festival for dance, theatre and performance has ended in Munich after attracting more than 1,800 visitors. Running from 9 to 17 October under the motto "Holding Ground", the festival presented ten productions from Munich's independent performing arts scene at five venues across the city.

The programme included the world premiere of "Making of an Animal" by Quindell Orton and a guest performance of "Die Verwandlung" (The Metamorphosis) by Manuel Gerst. Artists explored new ways of finding their place between the human and the non-human, body and material, and past and present. Performances combined dance with sign language, acrobatics with performance art, and documentary material with music, singing and spatial installations. Themes included remembrance culture, migration, property, the environment, racism, disability and relationships between humans and animals.

The festival was organised by Theater und Live Art München e.V., with artistic direction by Antonia Beermann and Ute Gröbel and dramaturgy and programme curation by Anna Donderer. A wider supporting programme addressed democratic freedoms, archives, remembrance culture and practices of solidarity.

The festival closed on 17 October with the tenth anniversary of the HochX venue, under the title "10Hoch10 Bling Bling". The ten-hour celebration featured a guest performance of "bonappétitsixsixsix" by Alex Franz Zehetbauer, live music and a party set by DJ* BiMän, marking a decade of the venue's role in Munich's independent arts scene.

The end of this year's festival also brings a change in personnel. Curator and dramaturge Anna Donderer is leaving the team, and dramaturge Peter Sampel will take over as co-director for the next editions of the festival in 2028 and 2030.