Tanzwerkstatt Europa 2024: Munich Week 2 Diary
Where I danced, what I saw, and what I ate.
Photo by Lonely Girl, Lonely World.
Tanzwerkstatt Europa (meaning “Dance Workshop Europe”) is an annual dance festival every August in Munich, Germany. Organized by JOINT ADVENTURES, it is a training ground for dancers amateur to professional. The Festival offers a selection of unique classes each year, from contemporary and ballet to vogue, heels, and even boxing over the course of two weeks.
I attended Tanzwerkstatt Europa from July 30 - August 9, 2024.
Tanzwerkstatt Europa is more local to Europe than b12, which attracts hundreds of students across the globe to its midst. In comparison, most of Tanzwerkstatt’s 100+ participants this year hailed from neighbouring countries. Nevertheless, the Festival packs an amazing lineup of workshops and public performances. What’s unique is that they use a spider network of local dance schools and artist studios to present their itineraries, instead of centering everything in one location.
This offered me the opportunity to dance in the morning, sightsee for a few hours, and round off each day with another dance session at night. I had such a wonderful time exploring Munich this way.
For week 2, I chose to attend Esther Balfe’s “Sensational Ballet” (advanced/professionals) and Monja Cupic’s “Functional Athletic & Basix Boxing Training” (all levels).
See below for the full week 2 timetable:
Schedule from Tanzwerkstatt Europa's website. Stars indicated my classes.
This year the workshops were held at Iwanson International School of Contemporary Dance, Tanztendenz München e.V., and Halle6.
Past Week:
Week 2: August 4 - 9, 2024.
August 4 — No classes.
I thought I’d spend some time in the hostel working on my laptop — I felt pretty tired — but my itch to get some sunlight eventually brought me out. I’d discovered a curated Google Map of Munich on the Tanzwerkstatt website and followed it to Dantebad, a local heated swimming pool.
Dantebad was 40 minutes away, but wow! it was worth it.
Located near Olympiapark, Dantebad hosts an Olympic-size lane pool, kiddie splash pool, and huge park with additional water slides. The kiddie pool was my favourite ;) It’s got an impressive whirlpool function that runs every 15 minutes, and, honestly, who can resist that?
The raked cement viewing area nearby was the perfect suntanning spot, especially for someone like me who isn’t the most comfortable laying down on grass (I know. So sue me.).
On the way, I noticed a large group of locals crowded outside what turned out to be Ballabeni Icecream. Sometimes following the crowd is the right decision. I stopped to buy a scoop on the way back, and I can officially say that I’ve found the best eis in Munich.
I met up with a hostel friend to ride the Umadum ferris wheel together. We asked about Sky Thrill, which gets you on an open platform on the wheel with only bungee chords for survival, but 40+ EUR was too expensive for us.
Did you know there’s a sheep farm on the roof of one of the nearby buildings?
August 5 — First day of week 2.
Moved out of Wombat’s (they have a 7-night-maximum policy) and into an Airbnb much closer to the studios.
There’s a breakfast place right by it called Café Bistrot Treffpunkt, and I kid you not, those sunny-side eggs sent my soul to heaven and back.
So glad to be in ballet class again. It’s so grounding.
Finally, finally, I tried out the cute asian café I passed in Sendlinger Strasse last week, Niu Asian Café. They specialize in mille crepe cakes, my absolute favourite, and rainbow coffee.
One slice and one coffee is definitely enough. The whole place is an Instagrammer’s dream.
August 6 — My scapula isn’t feeling the best. This afternoon I went swimming again at Schyrenbad, another high-ranked pool. The water felt cool against my back, but I felt stiff again after getting out. I still prefer Dantebad, since the only place to lie down at Schyrenbad is on the grass.
While I loved Café Bistrot Treffpunkt for breakfast, it’s also super expensive. Instead, I trekked to HIT Supermarkt nearby for some salad bar goodies, and — oh my gosh — is that individual mochi for sale??? Divine.
At night I met with a friend at Alte Utting, a unique collection of food shacks and bars located on a huge ship on land. I had my first white stockbrot (bread on a stick)!
Dressing and lying down is a struggle right now with my scapula. Sigh.
August 7 — Good thing Iwanson had a sports therapist working the front desk because I really needed some KT taping done. My scapula felt so much better after the tape.
Upon another recommendation from a hostel friend, I went to Schmalznudel, an über-popular café with locals and tourists alike serving traditional Bavarian pastries. Holy sh*t. Their namesake schmalznudel is SO GOOD. It’s fried dough with a sprinkling of sugar. I only regretted not sitting down to eat it to give it its deserved appreciation.
Today was a bucket list food day. I went to Matcha Rina in the Mercedes-Benz exhibition next after seeing it on Google Maps. Like its reviews, the matcha drinks are not great, but I unexpectedly found the coolest toilet in Munich upstairs of the exhibition. Who knew?!
Boxing is going well. I didn’t know before, but I really like circuit training.
August 8 — Ok, my scapula is none the worse today. That’s a good sign.
I’m quite low on money now, so I visited Cafe Haferkater again for a cheap bowl of delicious oatmeal.
Today’s plan was to see Eisbachwelle, a local spot for river surfing (!). I didn’t even know that was a thing.
However, it started pouring as soon as I got on the tram, and I stayed under the tram station eaves for over 20 minutes once I got out. I didn’t mind. I’m a peaceful pluviophile that way.
I did eventually get to Eisbachwelle just a few steps away, and * insert gasp of delight * those surfers are SO COOL!!! I could watch it all day. The funny thing is I haven’t even seen any of the Olympics yet, but I daresay you can’t get a better view of surfing than here.
Speaking of seeing stuff, I haven’t been to any of Tanzwerkstatt’s performances yet… I should. I really should. But I’m also tired from walking around the whole day between classes.
Ah, well. At this point there’s no use being conflicted over it.
August 9 — Remember when I said my scapula was none the worse? It got worse today. Much, much worse.
In fact, as soon as we started ballet and I held my arm in second, I couldn’t move it anymore. It felt stuck. I slowly dropped it down with my other arm and stepped outside to take a breather. I tried asking for anti-inflammatory pills (they weren’t allowed to give any to me). I tried rolling it out.
Finally I couldn’t take the pain anymore and tearfully asked the front desk if it wouldn’t be too dramatic to call me an ambulance. The movement of my diaphragm aggravated my scapula even more with each breath.
Long story short and half an hour later, an ambulance was finally called for me, and I was transported to the university hospital.
My anxious day didn’t end there, oh, no. But that’s a whole other story coming soon.
By the end of the day, I’d received treatment and still boarded my Nightjet train to Amsterdam.
So long, Munich. We ended on a rough note, but I enjoyed my time with you.
Week Summary: Well, week 2 didn’t go as expected at all. I was really crossing my fingers that I’d be able to leave my summer of dancing without any major injuries, but perhaps that was too much to hope for. It’s back to physiotherapy, rest, and recuperation for me.
The Festival itself was really great, though. I highly recommend anyone looking for an inclusive and well-organized program to check them out.
Till next we meet, my friend.
Photo by Lonely Girl, Lonely World.