Performing with German in state dance (5)
I believe the answer is:
conga
'dance' is the definition.
(conga is a type of dance)
'performing with german in state' is the wordplay.
'performing' becomes 'on' (as in being on stage).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'german' becomes 'g' (abbreviation).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'state' becomes 'ca' (abbreviation for California).
'on'+'g'='ong'
'ong' going within 'ca' is 'CONGA'.
(Other definitions for conga that I've seen before include "Dance of 3 steps and a kick by people in single file" , "Chain dance" , "Circuitous line dance" , "Line-dancing" , "Serpentine dance" .)