Our Fringe picks for dance fans

This year’s theme asks: what do we need? And answers with joy, play, community, and a celebration of complexity. The 2025 programme is packed with work that defies expectations, offers space to reflect, and invites us to move, laugh, and connect.

At Dublin Dance Festival, we’re always on the lookout for exciting, movement-driven work — and this year’s Fringe has plenty to offer. From full-bodied performances to dance-adjacent explorations of the body, space, and rhythm, we’ve rounded up our top picks for dance fans.

BIRDS
Kundle Cru
Civic Theatre, 4 – 7 Sept

Hip hop, contemporary dance and circus meet in this high-energy, hypnotic performance. With a bird’s-eye view of a chaotic world, Kundle Cru explores what it means to move forward when everything is on fire.

CRAWLER
Jessie Thompson
Project Arts Centre, 5 – 13 Sept

A raw, physical duet fusing hip hop, street dance and live drumming. Jessie Thompson and Jason McNamara explore power, connection and chaos in a high-intensity journey through sound and movement.

OFFSPRING (A Modern Frankenstein)
Emily Terndrup
Smock Alley Theatre, 7 – 13 Sept

A bold reimagining of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein through dance and confession. Grappling with motherhood, fear and creation, OFFSPRING is part gothic horror, part deeply personal reckoning.

ITCH
Christopher McAuley
Smock Alley Theatre, 9 – 13 Sept

A trapeze-fuelled dive into chronic eczema, queerness and self-acceptance. Full of humour, heart and flakes of dry skin, this one-man show unpacks what makes us who we are – and how we learn to love it.

CHOP
Lords of Strut & Cian Kinsella
Smock Alley Theatre, 10 – 13 Sept

A macho man chops wood. The world is burning. The chopping won’t stop. Absurd, physical, and deeply funny, CHOP is a chaotic meditation on masculinity, the environment, and existential dread — axe included.

VARIATIONS FOR TWO DISABLED BODIES
Bobbi Byrne & Soso Ní Cheallaigh
Project Arts Centre, 10 – 13 Sept

Honest, witty and illuminating, this duet explores disability and gender with heart and humour – from walking and falling to Davina McCall. A playful celebration of identity in motion.

REVERB
Luail
Civic Theatre, 11 – 12 Sept

Feel the reverb, feel the beat. A high-energy collision of dance and live music, where tradition meets the contemporary in a pulse-pounding performance created by Sarah Golding with epic live music from Lisa Canny.

GENISIS
Shaqira Knightly
Lost Lane, 13 & 20 Sept

A fierce, fabulous performance of queer rebirth. Blending dance, runway and power, Genesis is a bold expression of gender and identity – followed by a post-show edition of Ireland's best queer club night, Mother. Come for the spectacle, stay for the liberation.

LAST GIG EVER!
Agents & Juice
Smock Alley Theatre, 17 – 20 Sept

A rave, a reckoning, a ridiculous ride. Two performers dive into the highs, lows and existential chaos of nightlife culture in this raw, physical and personal exploration of the dance floor.

CHANGE
Croí Glan
Project Arts Centre, 18 – 20 Sept

A call to climate action through movement, music and diverse bodies. This vibrant, hope-filled performance imagines a better world, created in collaboration with scientists and inspired by global voices of change.

PERFORMING MEMORY
CoisCéim BROADREACH
Fairview Park, 19 Sept | Wood Quay Amphitheatre, 20 – 21 Sept

A moving outdoor performance blending dance, memory and place. Inspired by a Ukrainian story of grief and transformed through movement, 20 non-professional dancers embody real stories in a powerful reflection on shared human experience.

Book your tickets for some of these sensational performance now, and explore the full line-up of events at fringefest.com

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