Kunstpreis for Impulstanz

Vienna’s ImPulsTanz International Dance Festival was recognised in the "International" category at this year’s Bank Austria Art Award. Valued at €70,000, the award is given in support of cultural projects in Austria.

Introduced in 1988, ImPulsTanz has become Europe’s biggest contemporary dance festival. It provides a creative atmosphere for performances, workshops and research projects in the genre, with local community integration. Individual dancers and choreographers, full companies, teachers and artists in the field come together to share new projects and exchange techniques and knowledge.

Participation in the festival speaks for its success and popularity: In 2012, over 50 dancers and companies presented new productions. With over 100 performances in all, hosting over 100 teachers and 212 workshops (for pro and amateur dancers), the event boasted approximately 3,000 attending students. Participants hailed from Austria and internationally.

This prize was given for the third year in a row and is the highest for art organisations in Austria. Altogether the Kunstpreis injects €218,000 into the Austrian art scene. Other winners included Soho in Ottakring in the category "Regional Projects", the Diagonale Austrian film festival’s trainee programme in the category "Art Education", and the writer Thomas Trenkler of Der Standard for "Cultural Journalism". The six winners were selected out of 313 applications.