Urban Essentials 2026 | Dance Performance GROOVE | Jonas Frey (Germany)
The international hip-hop dance and culture festival Urban Essentials 2026 presents “GROOVE”, a dance performance by German choreographer Jonas Frey.
“GROOVE” is the third performance in choreographer Jonas Frey’s “Urban Deciphered” series, exploring the intersections of contemporary choreography, club and street dance, and music in the context of popular culture. Club and street dances are closely connected to music: they are danced to music, while music is created to be danced to.
The work goes beyond exploring urban dance as an art form, also incorporating the personal experiences of audiences as potential dancers in a club, at a party or at home. This emerging collective memory is reinforced through familiar movements and recognisable music, with particular attention given to each person’s individual rhythm, or groove – their unique way of moving to music.
Watching the dancers and listening to the music evokes associative stories and memories, while opening up space for personal reflection shaped by silence, fragments of dance, music samples, and transformations of music and movement. “GROOVE” is about the human instinctive desire to move to music, as well as the search for those moments in dance when we forget everything around us.
Jonas Frey is a contemporary street dancer, choreographer and dance educator based in Mannheim, Germany, where he lives with his family. Drawing on the philosophy of hip-hop culture, Jonas Frey creates artistic works that explore the potential of street dance within the context of contemporary choreography. His works transcend the boundaries of urban dance and are presented both on traditional stages and in unconventional spaces beyond the theatre.
In 2025, together with Julie Pécard, he founded the creative and collaborative platform “COTA projects”. He is also a resident artist at Freiburg Theatre and participates in the “Reseau Grand Luxe” programme.
Creative Team
Choreography and Artistic Direction: Jonas Frey
Co-creators and Performers: Andrea Böge, Mike Planz, Gabrielle Aidulis, Kasia Kadłubowska
Music: Kasia Kadłubowska, Vunky Lao
Dramaturgy: Célestine Hennermann
Costumes and Set Design: Petra Vašková
Lighting Design: Stefan Grießhaber
Producer: Jonas Frey
Duration: 50 min.
Premiere: 25 October 2024, EinTanzHaus Mannheim
Photo: Lys Y Seng
Funding: The performance is supported by the Association of Independent Dance and Theatre Artists of Baden-Württemberg, funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts and the Cultural Department of the City of Mannheim.
The work was created by “Inter-Actions Studio” in collaboration with “EinTanzHaus”.
Urban Essentials is one of Lithuania’s leading international hip-hop dance festivals. Held annually in Vilnius, this year’s festival is part of “Būti tarp. Su. Kintant” (“To Be Among. With. In Motion”), the 15th-anniversary programme of Vilnius City Dance Theatre “Low Air”.
The festival programme includes dance battles, dance performances, workshops and discussions taking place in different locations across the city. It offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in hip-hop dance culture, develop your skills and experience Vilnius as a vibrant, distinctive and authentic dance scene.
More information: www.urbanessentials.lt
The festival is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Vilnius City Municipality.
