The Kurt Jooss Prize was established as a prize for young choreographers in 2001 on the occasion of the 100th birthday of Kurt Jooss, creator of the anti-war dance drama, ›The Green Table‹, co-founder of the Folkwang Academy and founder of the Folkwang Dance Studio. Carrying an endowment of 6.000 Euro, the prize is sponsored by the Anna and Hermann Markard Foundation Amsterdam and the City of Essen and is awarded every three years. It is open to choreographers of all ages who are not yet fully established in the profession. There are no style restrictions.

The jury is made up of the director and chief choreographer of Ballett am Rhein, Martin Schläpfer, choreographers Reinhild Hoffmann and Nils Christe as well as Andreas Bomheuer, Head of the Culture Department of the City of Essen and Dr. Patricia Stöckemann, dramaturg for dance at the Osnabrück Municipal Theatre.

The nominees for the Kurt Jooss Prize 2013 who will present their entries during the Award Ceremony performance at PACT Zollverein are Chikako Kaido, Japan/Germany; Maura Morales, Cuba/Germany and Wu-Kang Chen and Suwie Chia, Taiwan (ROC).