While it is generally assumed that choreography is inextricably linked to the art of dance, the Choreographic Platform Austria (CPA) proves otherwise. The festival presents eleven performances from various federal states in which dance does not always appear in its technically defined form. Dance and choreography overlap, but they are not identical: choreography does not necessarily mean a dance performance. Using the performances "parsley for garnish" by Sasha Portyannikova and "melancholic ground" by Doris Uhlich as examples, we see how movements and actions in the stage space become interdisciplinary forms of artistic expression.

In "parsley for garnish," Sasha Portyannikova divides the piece into three parts. In the first and last parts, she recounts her dance and life experiences through movements from classical Russian folk dance and contemporary dance. The middle part is dedicated to the character Petrushka from Russian fairy tales. Portyannikova expresses the character's absurdity, confusion, joy, and sadness through her "broken puppet body." Her knees are often turned inward, and her arms, bent at the elbows, hang as if suspended by invisible strings. At times, she jumps abruptly, pulling her legs in and extending her arms like two sides that don't belong to her. Then, she sits on the floor, emotionally drained, with her legs stretched out to the side.

Before the performance, each audience member receives an envelope with cards containing questions about emigration—a significant topic for Portyannikova, as she herself emigrated to Austria. When the prompt to draw a card appears on the wall, the audience is asked to answer the question. If they answer "yes," they change their seat in the auditorium; if "no," they stay where they are. The format of questions linked to actions forces one to be particularly honest with oneself. Portyannikova proposes that the audience be choreographed, not just creating a choreography for herself. Portyannikova's physical text, based on dance movements, combined with the answers to these questions, encourages (self-)reflection. In this way, dance and performance practices merge, prompting the thought that every emigrant has, at some point, felt as vulnerable and joyful as Petrushka. It is particularly through this performance that the CPA expresses itself politically.

In contrast, Doris Uhlich's performance "melancholic ground" focuses on diverse bodies: disabled and elderly people, as well as professional and non-professional performers. Since the stage for this performance is a children's playground, it cannot be shown in a theater. Instead, Uhlich chooses to show short excerpts of the video recording from a Viennese playground and to host a public talk with four performers. In this piece, Uhlich addresses what is inherent in each of us: the experience of being a child.

The performers find various ways to interact with the different objects on the playground. They slide slowly down the slides, jump on the trampoline, bury their heads in the sand, and dance in circles. They dress up as a raven or a bear; colorful spider legs and soft inflatable wheels are attached to wheelchairs to transform and extend the possibilities of their own bodies.

The choreographic element lies in exploring the possibilities of interacting with the playground objects using the body. It's about letting the objects choreograph them and choreographing the objects by altering the structures of the place and shifting the space and context. The movements are a pre-composed movement text that still leaves room for free variations in performing the action with one object or costume or another. This constitutes the choreography of the performance.

In its name, CPA deliberately avoids the term "dance," as dance is understood there in a very broad sense. The festival also features theater and performance pieces, for example, "and it gets better" by Helena Araújo, or multi-genre metaphors with rap interludes as in "THE LAST FEMINIST" by Myassa Kraitt. Likewise, unique types of performances can be experienced, such as the lecture-performance "LOIE" by Claire Lefèvre, which combines vocal work with visual, interactive accompaniment.

The CPA shows that the concept of choreography is not solely focused on dance. The 2025 festival united various genres that nonetheless share commonalities. In these cases, choreography is the language with which artists communicate with their audience. They compose a creative text whose words can appear not only as dance movements but also, for example, as a reinterpretation of behavioral patterns on a playground by diverse bodies or as an interaction with the Cyr wheel in the performance "still.dependent" by Hanschitz & Beierer/Neumayer. This creates a space that expands the "choreography = dance" relationship, leading to new connections and an exchange of energy between choreographers, performers, and the audience.