In Hoyerswerda, the project ‘A City Dances: Decision!’ brings people together in the abandoned shopping space of the former Karstadt building through a specially developed dance theatre production. The project artistically brought together and symbolically linked the historically and structurally separate districts of Altstadt and Neustadt. Through open workshop sessions, rehearsal phases, design teams and participatory formats, a collaborative work was created with residents from all parts and walks of life across the city.

‘Hoyerswerda is loved, hated, ridiculed, sung about, admired, left out or categorised as right-wing. [...] Here, tradition clashes with progress, and market pressures with concepts that seem almost fantastical. The question that has been asked over the decades – “What sort of town do we want to live in?” – is both a driving force and a topic of debate.’ 

- Dirk Lienig

Stage play ‘A City Dances’

TV presenter MIRKO invites the audience to a major television show. The setting is dazzling, the theme sombre. Hoyerswerda is ageing, whilst more and more people are leaving the town. Mirko poses the provocative question: Who will do all the work once the elderly have retired and there are no young people left?

Applicant
Kulturfabrik Hoyerswerda e.V.

Funding Programme
General Project Funding

Location
Hoyerswerda, Saxony

Project period
2026

Topics
Dance, Performance, Structural Change, Identity

Website
kufa-hoyerswerda.de