Julidans x WhyNot: OFF VENUE

Performance tour through the vertical city

During OFF VENUE dance comes alive in relation to the city. Hop on your bike for a dance route along surprising locations and see Amsterdam in a new way thanks to the performance interventions of adventurous dance makers.


Julidans x Why Not: OFF VENUE takes place on 2 & 3 July 2022. Look at the bottom of the page for the different tours and starting locations.

This year, OFF VENUE is taking to the sky: we'll take you to the rooftops of the city. In search of expansion and a different perspective, we rise to claim the vertical space. Short performances by promising choreographers including Astrid Boons (contemporary dance), Simon Bus (urban contemporary), Reza Mirabi (performance) and Ropes Aligned (aerial dance) all look for an escape in their own way. Keep an eye on the website for the full programme.

For the fifth year in a row, OFF VENUE is produced in collaboration with the WhyNot Performance Festival. WhyNot’s events connect contemporary dance and performance with visual art, architecture, the landscape and the city. Why Not comes up with new formats that bring creative worlds together around a theme. This year’s tour was inspired by 'Roof Piece' by Trisha Brown (USA, 1936-2017). Since its debut on the rooftops of New York's SoHo in 1971, the work has become legend over the years as a result of photographic documentation.

-|-Brown placed dancers in bright red suits in various spots in the skyline; a symbolic commentary on the social, cultural and economic forces that at the time ruled the world beneath their feet. Once again we have dancers occupy the city to take a look from a bird's eye perspective and ask ourselves: who owns the city, how can you take up space, what is the state of the world and where can we go.

For more background information about the artists, our sources of inspiration and the history of the special locations, take a look at Offvenue.nl.

Accessibility: We recommend that you cycle the route. There is an elevator on the roof locations, but sometimes an extra staircase has to be climbed.

WhyNot x Julidans Workshops:
Have you always secretly dreamt of dancing through the air like in Cirque du Soleil? Then this is your chance! During Julidans, the dance makers of OFF VENUE give various workshops for dance professionals, amateur dancers and children. With: a vertical dance workshop by The Aerialettes / Ropes Aligned, a dance workshops for children and a masterclass for professionals by Astrid Boons in the ITA Studio.

Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds
Stadsdeel West