The art of contemporary dance is understood and taught as a physically, artistically, and intellectually challenging phenomenon at the Center of Contemporary Dance. The adaptive contemporary program offered at the Center is designed for highly-motivated, creative, inquisitive, and independent students and is constantly evolving as professional methods change.

The Center for Contemporary Dance also considers itself a transdisciplinary center for dance research that uses dance as a vehicle for collaboration with other institutions and partners in order to increase what we know about the body, movement, dance, and performance and develop concrete forms of artistic and academic events.

An academic dance program was first started in 1961 in Cologne at the city’s Rheinische Musikschule. Starting from the premise that dance is an academic discipline that should be taught at the university level, the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia transferred the dance program to the Hochschule für Musik.

Following the introduction of bachelor’s programs and the adoption of new legislation for performing arts higher education institutions, the University also drafted a new constitution and the dance program was completely reformed once again. The Center for Contemporary Dance was founded and dance became an more integral part of the University, now called the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.

The following degree programs are offered at the Center for Contemporary Dance

• Bachelor of Arts Dance
• Master of Arts Dance Studies
• Master of Arts Dance Dissemination