Next Steps
A programme designed by Bureau Ritter to support dance practitioners in Hesse. Funded by the Crespo Foundation.
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Application
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The second round of applications for projects in funding strand A starts on 8 September 2025!
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Applications can only be submitted via the application portal on this website and must be submitted by 31 October 2025, 6 p.m. at the latest. The portal will be available at the start of the call for applications on 8 September 2025.
In principle, professional individual artists (regardless of their training), ensembles, collectives and recent graduates of accredited dance training institutions as well as festivals, venues, universities, production centres, production offices and cooperation networks of various actors in the dance scene are eligible to apply. The prerequisite is a registered office or place of residence (for natural persons) in Hesse.
A total of up to 175,000€ is available for this second call. Under funding strand A, one-year, smaller-scale projects can be submitted with a funding request of at least 5,000€ and up to 25,000€.
You can find the funding principles and all relevant documents and mandatory templates for the application for the second call here.
An independent jury of experts will select the projects for funding. Further information on how to apply can be found under funding and in the FAQs.
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About Next Steps
Dance is an integral part of our culture. It has particular social relevance because of its ability to overcome linguistic and cultural barriers. With its artistic and thematic diversity, dance opens up new spaces for integration, recognition and dialogue.
“Empowering people” – unleashing potential through dance
The funding programme Next Steps reflects the importance of dance as an art form and acknowledges the specific challenges it faces. It does so by addressing dance artists directly and offering them meaningful, long-term support.
In line with the Crespo Foundation’s mission of “empowering people”, Next Steps provides funding for professional dance practitioners in Hesse during all stages of their careers, enabling them to deepen their skills and develop their artistic work. The funding programme is also open to cultural organisations and to recent graduates from accredited dance training institutes.
The programme will be delivered in close collaboration with professional dance artists from all genres in Hesse. Throughout the application process, the Bureau Ritter team will offer advice through a range of informative formats, working with the applicants to develop individually tailored projects.
Scope
Next Steps will support individual artistic projects while also aiming to strengthen the entire professional dance sector. It will do so by helping artists to hone their artistic profiles, by offering training in project management, and by improving the conditions for creating and producing dance.
Emerging artists, for example, can apply for a research grant or for funding for their first production. More established artists might apply for funding to continue their artistic work, to tour existing repertoire, or to engage in collaborations with other artists. From the outset, Next Steps will also focus on networking, on promoting self-efficacy and on empowering dance artists.
Dialogue and encounters
Meetings of all funded projects will be held throughout the funding period to encourage collaboration between and within regional dance scenes. Participating artists will work together to design workshops on topics that are relevant to them. If appropriate, these events will then be opened up to the public, who will learn more about the artists’ work through showings or lecture performances.
If you have any questions about the funding programme and application process, please contact the Next Steps team at Bureau Ritter. You will find the most important questions and answers in our FAQs.
Initiators
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Bureau Ritter
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Funding and support for culture
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Since 2005, Bureau Ritter and its previous organisational iterations have been supporting dance all over Germany by raising substantial sums through a variety of funding programmes (including Tanzplan Deutschland, Tanzfonds Erbe, Tanzfonds Partner, TANZPAKT Stadt-Land-Bund and TANZPAKT RECONNECT). Through its own dance company, the internationally renowned Dance On Ensemble, Bureau Ritter has gained extensive knowledge about the European dance scene, as well as a large network of partners. This has further enabled us to develop effective and sustainable funding programmes to support dance artists and practitioners. As the non-profit organisation’s managing director and long-time trustee of the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, Madeline Ritter is very familiar with the cultural landscape of Hesse. When Bureau Ritter developed and implemented the open-air funding programme INS FREIE! in Hesse in 2021 and 2022, it got to know the state’s incredibly dynamic network of venues and supported them in realising their projects during the pandemic.
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Crespo Foundation
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The Crespo Foundation is a private charitable foundation based in Frankfurt am Main. It was established in 2001 by the psychologist and photographer Ulrike Crespo (1950–2019).
The Crespo Foundation is committed to ensuring that everyone has the chance to determine their own lives and play an active role in shaping society. Through its funding programmes and projects, it creates opportunities for people to develop their potential. It offers its resources and expertise to partner organisations and works collaboratively to achieve structural improvements.
The foundation’s core focus areas – art, creative learning, personal development and educational opportunities – are directly inspired by the work of its founder Ulrike Crespo. Convinced that joined-up thinking about creativity, education and social issues is key to guaranteeing participation in public life, the Crespo Foundation establishes partnerships with actors and experts from all these areas and makes sure that they are in contact with each other.
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Timeline
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8 September 2025
Start call for apllications
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31 October 2025, 6 p.m.
Application deadline
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December 2025
Jury meeting
News
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03. Juli 2025
Attention dance professionals in Hesse: Next Steps is entering the next round! Starting on 8 September 2025, the new call for applications begins – this time exclusively for funding strand A!
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02. Juli 2025
Project meet-up at the Crespo Foundation
Last week, we welcomed all the funded projects from the Next Steps programme at the Crespo Foundation in Frankfurt and spent a day filled with vibrant encounters, creative impulses and new connections.