“Isabel von Rittberg is in the midst of defining an art form and all the vocabulary therein. She has, in fact, created a choreographer’s dream.”
— DONALD K. ATWOOD, World Dance Reviews
 
 

About

With AscenDance Project, founder and artistic director Isabel von Rittberg gives birth to a new genre of dance that fuses rock climbing, music and choreography performed on a vertical wall. Without ropes or suspension, dancers use sheer strength to overcome gravity with grace, beauty and artistic prowess. AscenDance Project has given numerous performances across the nation and received international recognition in 2010 when the company reached the semifinals of NBC’s America's Got Talent. Since then, AscenDance Project has performed in venues across the globe. In 2017, they performed at the Macky Auditorium for the 2017 TEDxBoulder.

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Opening night was magical! We felt the audience dance with us and are humbled and so very grateful for all the amazing feedback. Help us spread the word! We have two more shows today! Link in bio #aerialdance #dance #performance 📸 @thehouseoftodd
Opening night was magical! We felt the audience dance with us and are humbled and so very grateful for all the amazing feedback. Help us spread the word! We have two more shows today! Link in bio #aerialdance #dance #performance 📸 @thehouseoftodd
#Repost @audwhee1 ・・・ One year ago, I saw a poster at the gym seeking “dancers who climb”. I knew immediately that this was something I wanted to be a part of — whatever it was. This weekend, I’ll be performing with @ascendanceproject for the first time. Not only am I glad I got to be a part of such a cool, original type of art, but I am so grateful for the people I’ve met through this company! Thanks @walldancer for taking me in, thanks to dance teachers past and present for getting me to this point, and thanks the the AscenDance crew for being amazing! Come check out our show @dairyarts in Boulder this weekend! Photo by @grahamgh #aerial #dance #performance #dancelife #coloradodance #bouldercolorado
#Repost @audwhee1 ・・・ One year ago, I saw a poster at the gym seeking “dancers who climb”. I knew immediately that this was something I wanted to be a part of — whatever it was. This weekend, I’ll be performing with @ascendanceproject for the first time. Not only am I glad I got to be a part of such a cool, original type of art, but I am so grateful for the people I’ve met through this company! Thanks @walldancer for taking me in, thanks to dance teachers past and present for getting me to this point, and thanks the the AscenDance crew for being amazing! Come check out our show @dairyarts in Boulder this weekend! Photo by @grahamgh #aerial #dance #performance #dancelife #coloradodance #bouldercolorado
The Ascendance Family after their last run before the performance. Many months of rehearsals have come to an end we can’t wait to share with you. See you at the @dairyarts this weekend! (link in bio)
The Ascendance Family after their last run before the performance. Many months of rehearsals have come to an end we can’t wait to share with you. See you at the @dairyarts this weekend! (link in bio)
13 more days! Don’t miss our show @dairyarts October 12&13! #aerial #dance #performance #show #events #boulder #performingarts
13 more days! Don’t miss our show @dairyarts October 12&13! #aerial #dance #performance #show #events #boulder #performingarts
#homestretch Come see what we have been working on for many months @dairyarts October 12&13! #aerial #dance #performance
#homestretch Come see what we have been working on for many months @dairyarts October 12&13! #aerial #dance #performance
@circuschris88 expressing despair #AscendWithUs #dance #rehearsal #aerial #performance #express
Kneebars, footgrabs and shenanigans. Don’t miss our show October 12&13 @dairyarts @ascendanceproject #rehearsal #dance #performance
Kneebars, footgrabs and shenanigans. Don’t miss our show October 12&13 @dairyarts @ascendanceproject #rehearsal #dance #performance
Bringing strong words to our next show. Don’t miss it: October 12&13 @dairyarts #dance #performance #aerial #AscendWithUs #artislife #loveprevails #mlkquotes
@walldancer and @abbeyroes playing with some partner work. #dance #rehearsal #aerial
Our Shadows. Taking a break from rehearsal to watch this magnificent sunset from our door. #rehearsal #sunset
Our Shadows. Taking a break from rehearsal to watch this magnificent sunset from our door. #rehearsal #sunset
Please welcome @bizziemisslizzie to the #AscenDanceProject! This is her third time on the wall and she is definitely bringing it! Come see us live at the @dairyarts October 12&13! #meetthedancers #rehearsal #newheights
Please welcome @bizziemisslizzie to the #AscenDanceProject! This is her third time on the wall and she is definitely bringing it! Come see us live at the @dairyarts October 12&13! #meetthedancers #rehearsal #newheights (We do not own the rights to this music)
Please welcome @bizziemisslizzie to the #AscenDanceProject! This is her third time on the wall and she is definitely bringing it! Come see us live at the @dairyarts October 12&13! #meetthedancers #rehearsal #newheights (I do not own the rights to this music)
The balance between push and pull is weightless. @circuschris88 #rehearsal #training #dance #AscendWithUs 📸 @alisageiser
The balance between push and pull is weightless. @circuschris88 #rehearsal #training #dance #AscendWithUs 📸 @alisageiser
@abbeyroes brining a new warm-up still to rehearsals. #train #stretch #warmup #dance #aerial #rehearsal
“I was twenty years old when I fell in love with sandstone bouldering. It felt empowering. Climbing was a lot like dance. The movement felt familiar. I loved feeling and watching the continuous flow that allowed climbers to gracefully overcome gravity. At twenty-four, I was driving through Utah’s Virgin River Gorge at sunset. Looking at the tall, limestone walls glowing in the last light I imagined climbers moving to music. I wanted to convey this beauty and imagined starting a dance group. Climbing changed the entire course of my life.” (Isabel von Rittberg, Founder & Artistic Director) How has climbing shaped who you are? #wallsaremeantforclimbing #ascendwithus Donate today and receive a Walls Are Meant For Climbing @thenorthface T-shirt (link in bio) #bethechange #artislife
Meet @walldancer: Artistic director, founder and dancer of the company. Born and raised in Germany, Isabel started dancing ballet at a young age and soon after discovered her passion for Hip Hop, Afro Brazilian and Salsa. In college she fell in love with climbing. The vision to combine her passion for dance and climbing led her to found the AscenDance Project in 2005 in a small warehouse in Oakland, CA. #meetthedancers #artisticdirector #dancelife #aerialdance #verticaldance
Meet @walldancer: Artistic director, founder and dancer of the company. Born and raised in Germany, Isabel started dancing ballet at a young age and soon after discovered her passion for Hip Hop, Afro Brazilian and Salsa. In college she fell in love with climbing. The vision to combine her passion for dance and climbing led her to found the AscenDance Project in 2005 in a small warehouse in Oakland, CA. #meetthedancers #artisticdirector #dancelife #aerialdance #verticaldance
Senior Safety Supervisor checking the new holds for our next project. We passed the test and are en route to new adventures. Stay tuned! #AscendWithUs #wallsaremeantfordancing #dancingonwalls #tour
Senior Safety Supervisor checking the new holds for our next project. We passed the test and are en route to new adventures. Stay tuned! #AscendWithUs #wallsaremeantfordancing #dancingonwalls #tour
Opening night was magical! We felt the audience dance with us and are humbled and so very grateful for all the amazing feedback. Help us spread the word! We have two more shows today! Link in bio #aerialdance #dance #performance 📸 @thehouseoftodd #Repost @audwhee1 ・・・ One year ago, I saw a poster at the gym seeking “dancers who climb”. I knew immediately that this was something I wanted to be a part of — whatever it was. This weekend, I’ll be performing with @ascendanceproject for the first time. Not only am I glad I got to be a part of such a cool, original type of art, but I am so grateful for the people I’ve met through this company! Thanks @walldancer for taking me in, thanks to dance teachers past and present for getting me to this point, and thanks the the AscenDance crew for being amazing! Come check out our show @dairyarts in Boulder this weekend! Photo by @grahamgh #aerial #dance #performance #dancelife #coloradodance #bouldercolorado The Ascendance Family after their last run before the performance. Many months of rehearsals have come to an end we can’t wait to share with you. See you at the @dairyarts this weekend! (link in bio) 13 more days! Don’t miss our show @dairyarts October 12&13! #aerial #dance #performance #show #events #boulder #performingarts #homestretch Come see what we have been working on for many months @dairyarts October 12&13! #aerial #dance #performance
@circuschris88 expressing despair #AscendWithUs #dance #rehearsal #aerial #performance #express
Kneebars, footgrabs and shenanigans. Don’t miss our show October 12&13 @dairyarts @ascendanceproject #rehearsal #dance #performance
Bringing strong words to our next show. Don’t miss it: October 12&13 @dairyarts #dance #performance #aerial #AscendWithUs #artislife #loveprevails #mlkquotes
@walldancer and @abbeyroes playing with some partner work. #dance #rehearsal #aerial
Our Shadows. Taking a break from rehearsal to watch this magnificent sunset from our door. #rehearsal #sunset
Please welcome @bizziemisslizzie to the #AscenDanceProject! This is her third time on the wall and she is definitely bringing it! Come see us live at the @dairyarts October 12&13! #meetthedancers #rehearsal #newheights
Please welcome @bizziemisslizzie to the #AscenDanceProject! This is her third time on the wall and she is definitely bringing it! Come see us live at the @dairyarts October 12&13! #meetthedancers #rehearsal #newheights (We do not own the rights to this music)
Please welcome @bizziemisslizzie to the #AscenDanceProject! This is her third time on the wall and she is definitely bringing it! Come see us live at the @dairyarts October 12&13! #meetthedancers #rehearsal #newheights (I do not own the rights to this music)
The balance between push and pull is weightless. @circuschris88 #rehearsal #training #dance #AscendWithUs 📸 @alisageiser
@abbeyroes brining a new warm-up still to rehearsals. #train #stretch #warmup #dance #aerial #rehearsal
“I was twenty years old when I fell in love with sandstone bouldering. It felt empowering. Climbing was a lot like dance. The movement felt familiar. I loved feeling and watching the continuous flow that allowed climbers to gracefully overcome gravity. At twenty-four, I was driving through Utah’s Virgin River Gorge at sunset. Looking at the tall, limestone walls glowing in the last light I imagined climbers moving to music. I wanted to convey this beauty and imagined starting a dance group. Climbing changed the entire course of my life.” (Isabel von Rittberg, Founder & Artistic Director) How has climbing shaped who you are? #wallsaremeantforclimbing #ascendwithus Donate today and receive a Walls Are Meant For Climbing @thenorthface T-shirt (link in bio) #bethechange #artislife
Meet @walldancer: Artistic director, founder and dancer of the company. Born and raised in Germany, Isabel started dancing ballet at a young age and soon after discovered her passion for Hip Hop, Afro Brazilian and Salsa. In college she fell in love with climbing. The vision to combine her passion for dance and climbing led her to found the AscenDance Project in 2005 in a small warehouse in Oakland, CA. #meetthedancers #artisticdirector #dancelife #aerialdance #verticaldance Senior Safety Supervisor checking the new holds for our next project. We passed the test and are en route to new adventures. Stay tuned! #AscendWithUs #wallsaremeantfordancing #dancingonwalls #tour
 

News

Featured
The Ascent of AscenDance | YellowScene Magazine

Boulder-local Isabel von Rittberg is both a dancer and a rock climber, and she remembers the precise moment, during a drive to Montana to visit her Grandmother, that she first thought of combining the two disciplines. “I was driving through the Virgin River Gorge in Utah, listening to music and looking at the towering rock walls, and I had a vision so clear and so strong that there was no way I could have ignored it,” she says. “I told my Grandma, ‘I’m going to build a climbing wall and dance on it.’”

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AscenDance Project at TEDx Boulder

Ascendance Project was thrilled to perform at TEDxBoulder this year! Working from the event’s theme of “Climate & Change,” this piece is choreographed to highlight our country’s modern divisions, and demonstrate how love is the key to understanding and union. Don’t build walls. Dance on them.

Link to Video

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AscenDance: A Fusion of Climbing, Music and Dance | UK Climbing

By Natalie Berry

A video has been doing the rounds on social media recently - receiving over 26,000 views so far - featuring a troupe of dancers using a climbing wall as an apparatus upon which to choreograph a dance routine. Isabel Rittberg is the founder, artistic director and a dancer within the group AscenDance - based in Boulder, Colorado in the United States.

Combining climbing moves, dance elements and music, Isabel has created a new art form which focusses on the more graceful and gymnastic aspects of climbing - there's no grunting or powerscreaming here!

I asked Isabel a few questions about her project...

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