Federal Organisation for German (Folk-)Dances

We stand for the Preservation and Renewal of German (Folk-)Dance Culture

Who we are

We are dancers who are interested in exploring and practising our own traditional dance culture. This is not only about cultivating old dances, but also creating new ones. Modern, fresh German dance music is also part of the catalogue of tasks of this federal association.

What we like to do

This Federal Association is intended to be a competent contact point for all those with questions and those interested in German dances. There will be different areas of competence and we will also take care of education and research in this field.

Contact us

The office can be reached at:
Hinrich Langeloh
Am Osdorfer Born 14
22549 Hamburg
phone: 004940802565
mail: info(ät)bvfdt.de


What is new on this Website ?

++ The seminar with the "Trio Dances and Triolets", which has already been announced twice and repeatedly postponed, will now hopefully be able to take place here in Hamburg-Osdorf on Saturday 2 July 2022. Unfortunately no longer in the Heidbarghof, but in the Bürgerhaus Bornheide. Here you can download the exact invitation as a pdf.
++ In the "Library and Downloads" section there is now also an overview of dance publications in Germany, sorted by year of publication. This makes it easy to see in which years or decades there was a particularly strong research interest in folk dances and which researcher was particularly active at what time. Here is the link to the "Timetable of Folk Dance Publications in Germany from 1900-2015".
    Our board member Dr Wolfgang Schlüter has written a very nice article on the history of the waltz. If you would like to read it in more detail, you can download it here.
    Due to a discussion about the dance term "Sayra, Kontrasayra and Seiras", as it was found in the region around Hamburg in the first half of the 19th century, some old sheet music and some still preserved dance descriptions are compiled here.
    In the section "Library and Downloads" you can have a look at the dance library of the BVfDT and contact the office with questions about publications, also if you want to hand in books or booklets on the subject of "folk dances".
    If you want to be regularly informed about news of the BVfDT, you should order the newsletter of the BVfDT, which is sent around irregularly throughout the year. Just send an email to: info(aet)bvfdt.de.

Here we have a map of Germany and Europe with dancers, musicians and organisation that are involved to preserve german dance-traditions and dance-music.

Please click on the icons and a link with a contact will appear.

Have joy with this map here!

The current board of the association

That is what we aim for:
The Bundesverband Deutsche Tänze e.V. is an association for traditional and new German dances in Germany. The association was founded in 2015 out of the idea that until that time there was no association that dealt exclusively and only with German dances and music. The association is specifically committed to the preservation of the dance heritage and to the further development of this heritage, which also applies to dance music in particular. For the association, dance and dance music are a unity and both must be promoted and developed together.  The BVfDT offers the following possibilities/offers, among others:
- Workshops and seminars on special dance forms and dance groups, such as "Schottisch/Rheinländer", "Walzerformen", "Neue deutsche Tänze" and many more.
- Dance evenings for everyone with simple German dances and live music in cooperation with various music groups.
- Training offers for dance leaders in German dances.
- Maintenance of a library with a large number of publications on the subject of "German dances", so that special questions on the subject can also be answered.
- Recording of new, modern sound recordings of old and new German dances.
The Federal Association sees itself as a competent network for the theory and for the practice of German dance culture. It offers itself as a point of contact for interested people who are looking for German dances and music from the various regions or who are already active in this field. or who are already active in the field of dance or dance music.

Worldwide and throughout Europe we intend to spread the theory and practice of german folkdances.