Prof. Balzert Ballet Prize 2025 for Outstanding Analog-Digital Choreography Awarded

With the world premiere of „Fractal Memory“, the International Ballet Gala XXXX will offer a very special highlight on Saturday, July 5, 2025. The artist duo Lars Scheibner and Dr. Marcus Doering will receive the Prof. Balzert Ballet Prize for analog-digital ballet choreography, endowed with €20,000. This prize, awarded for the second time, aims to enhance the expression of ballet dancers through digital effects. The first recipient in 2023 was Xin Peng Wang with his piece “Morph It.”

The award was established by Professors Heide and Helmut Balzert. As computer scientists, they believe that the expressiveness of ballet can be further enhanced through digital effects.

“In a unique way, Lars Scheibner and Dr. Marcus Doering capture the analog movements of ballet dancers in real-time and envelop them in costumes made of light. In this fusion of body and technology, fascinating visual worlds emerge. Landscapes of light open up a new dimension of dance—sensual, poetic, and full of imagination. Thus unfolds an extraordinary total work of art that combines the power of digital art with the expressiveness of dance in a touching manner,” say the Balzerts.

The festive award ceremony will take place on July 5, 2025, as part of the International Ballet Gala XXXX at the Dortmund Opera House. Particularly notable: it is the last ballet gala under the directorship of Xin Peng Wang, who has significantly shaped the artistic development of Dortmund Ballet over many years and established Ballet Dortmund as one of the top companies in the international dance scene.

Lars Scheibner and Dr. Marcus Doering receive the award from the founders, Prof. Heide Balzert and Prof. Helmut Balzert (from right, photo: Leszek Januszewski).