Anika Bendel began her dance training in Berlin and graduated from the University of Music and Dance Cologne, where she trained as a contemporary stage dancer and earned a Master’s degree in International Arts Management. Her master’s thesis explored the “Influences, Controversies and Potential of German-Iranian Cultural Work, Using DIWAN Deutsch-Iranische Begegnungen e.V. as a Case Study.”

Since 2013, she has been based in Stuttgart, working as a freelance dancer and arts manager.

As a dancer, she has performed in choreographies by, among others, Juliette Villemin, IPtanz/Ilona Pászthy, Johannes Blattner, Marja Leena Hirvonen, Katja Erdmann-Rajski, Rafaele Giovanola, Georg Reischl, Anouk van Dijk and Richard Siegal.

Between 2010 and 2016, she developed and presented choreographic works, workshops and research projects in cultural contexts shaped by different dance traditions. She led workshops in India, Iran, Bangladesh and Sudan, creating opportunities for mutual exchange through dance. In these settings, she combined improvisation techniques from contemporary dance with the traditional knowledge and practices of other dance cultures. In collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, she developed and carried out the residency Imagining Improvisation (India), the dance production The Limits Beyond (Bangladesh) and the workshop Physical Performances in Site-Specific Spaces (Sudan).

As assistant director for Helena Waldmann’s production Made in Bangladesh, she oversaw the production process and accompanied it on six international tours.

Since completing her studies in 2014, Anika Bendel has also worked as a freelance cultural producer. Her collaborators have included emerging artists and established companies such as MOUVOIR/Stephanie Thiersch, DIN A 13 tanzcompany, IPtanz, MIRA performance and Juliette Villemin.

In 2021, together with cultural producer Laurence Nagel, she brought Baden-Württemberg into the TANZ_TAUSCH_NETZWERK. Through this network, they facilitate co-productions, residencies, guest performances, networking events and professional development opportunities for artists in Baden-Württemberg, fostering exchange with dance professionals from other German federal states.

Anika Bendel is particularly committed to improving working conditions for independent dance professionals, both artists and producers. From 2020 to 2025, she was a founding member and board member of dancersconnect – Ensemble Netzwerk Tanz e.V.. In 2021, she was elected to the board of Dachverband Tanz Deutschland, where she served for two terms, until 2025. She also served on the advisory board of SYSTEMCHECK, a research project initiated by the German Federal Association of Independent Performing Arts (BFDK) in collaboration with the Institute of Interdisciplinary Labour Science at Leibniz University Hannover, ensemble-netzwerk e.V. and the Institute for Cultural Governance.

Since 2025, she has been responsible for third-party funding administration for special dance projects at Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm in Frankfurt am Main. These projects include Tanzplattform Rhein-Main, Zentrum Junger Tanz and Tanzfestival Rhein-Main.