Volkstheater, Vienna
July 9, 2026
It is not just huge, it is massive. Founded in 1984 as International Dance Weeks Vienna, ImPulsTanz, the Vienna International Dance Festival has grown and grown, and is now the largest contemporary dance festival in the world. This year’s 43rd edition presents 56 productions in 15 theatres and other venues across the city. But that’s only the start. There are also over 200 workshops for all levels covering just about every dance style, taught by 150 internationally renowned teaching artists; plus Public Moves classes, daily, outdoors and free of charge; plus lectures, discussions and other events.
This year’s month-long festival got underway in-theatre with My Fierce Ignorant Step by Greek choreographer Christos Papadopoulos. He describes the piece as a “rebellion of hope against the depressing reality of our days.” I’ll buy that. From an almost bleak start, the work increasingly gains a drive, sense of freedom, joy and lust for life that totally captures the viewer.
Photo Pinelopi Gerasimou
On a stripped back, black stage, ten dancers stand in formation. Shoulders and heads shift in time with the rhythmic taps in the score. Faces show little expression. They’re not quite rooted to the spot, but very closely. The movements are small, but when performed in unison by all ten dancers, they somehow take on a surprising scale.
The mechanical ticking sound eventually shifts to something akin to a hand slapping a wooden table. Other body parts start to move as the dance picks up. Despite the unison, individuals already start to catch the eye. Sotiria Koutsopetrou and Georgios Kotsifakis in particular. Koutsopetrou has the most wonderfully mobile and expressive upper body while Kotsifakis exudes power and drive throughout.
Sounds, movement and phrases repeat. They become familiar. But As My Fierce Ignorant Step continues to develop, more and more instruments are introduced into the Kornilios Selamsis’ music, more and more movements into the dance. Both get increasingly complex while simultaneously remaining rigorously structured. Like all the best minimalist dance and music, both shift, unfold and reveal new things
with Sotiria Koutsopetrou (foreground) and Georgios Kotsifakis (centre left)
Photo Pinelopi Gerasimou
The dancers increasingly eat the space as the choreography gets bigger, liberated, unconstrained. There’s a sense of play as fast crossing diagonals incorporate a joyfully free hop and skip step, often followed by a swirl around. There are sharp changes of direction. Individuals sometimes turn and face one another, or turn so their backs are to the viewer.
They are still very much an ensemble, but more a community of individuals. There may be unison but there’s never absolute conformity. The performers continue to move together but little personal touches creep in and catch the eye: a different arm gesture, sexy shaking of the hips or whatever. In contrast to the opening, when they appear isolated even though sharing the same space, now they look at each other, they see each other, they respond to each other. It’s increasingly a dance of communal joy as it gets freer and freer. Some moments are almost total release.
And you find yourself becoming part of that community too. My Fierce Ignorant Step grabs you completely. The momentum of the piece really sweeps you up. The music gets right into the body. You find yourself subconsciously tapping along with its rhythm. You find yourself smiling at moments, smiling with the performers. There’s a distinct kinaesthetic empathy too. It’s probably just as well I wasn’t standing up. I think I might have been moving along with them.
By the end, the euphoria of being alive, the ecstasy is all encompassing. And while it may end on stage, the feeling in the body, in the mind, lives on as you leave the theatre. Smiling broadly.
My Fierce Ignorant Step can be seen in London in the autumn, when it is at Sadler’s Wells on November 13-14, 2026.