PROGRAMME ANNOUNCEMENT | 2026 Edition

In this time of global flux, this year’s programme features thrilling world premieres from Irish artists and productions from some of the most exciting dance artists from around the globe on Dublin stages. In venues and spaces across the city, club nights, screenings, VR experiences for young people, and free outdoor events will take place at Bewley’s Grafton Street, Humanarium – RCSI’s new exhibition and event space, IMMA, and on the streets of Dublin, with accessible, joyous events where our communities can come together.

At the national theatre, one Irish and one Greek choreographer return to the Abbey stage for DDF 2026, presenting significant new large-scale productions created for our particular moment in time.

Irish choreographer Emma Martin presents the world premiere of Soft God, commissioned by DDF and the Abbey Theatre – a jagged ceremony that swerves between the mythic and the ridiculous, the carnivalesque and the everyday, between virtuosity and failure. Moving through a series of ever-changing scenes – a rambling house, a dance hall, a creation myth, a dream sequence and a never-ending folk dance – eight performers cry, kiss, sing, sway, listen, stamp, hold hands and dance, insisting on ways to keep hope, meaning and spirit alive. Against a backdrop of crumbling certainties, Soft God mines the collective imagination of this brutal moment, where to dream together and share oneself is an act of defiance.

Greek choreographer Christos Papadopoulos presents his latest creation, My Fierce Ignorant Step, connecting intricate movement with a vibrant soundscape to illuminate the sheer euphoria of being alive. Moving, breathing, listening as one, ten dancers together ignite the stage. Memories, voices and rhythms accumulate, pulse and swell until the movement itself begins to feel like an exhilarating song – one that resonates far beyond the stage. Created after Papadopoulos received the inaugural Rose International Dance Prize, My Fierce Ignorant Step invites audiences to rediscover our courage and the radical power of hope, reclaiming a youthful lust for life and the sense that everything still lies ahead.

The Samuel Beckett Theatre will be home to two world premieres from some of Ireland’s most exciting dance artists.

In STORM 1.0 from award-winning dance innovators Junk Ensemble, two dancers and a tuba player navigate a shifting, unsteady world from inside a building that can no longer protect them. Wind pushes through every seam, plastic takes on new life and objects refuse to stay put. The walls themselves seem to breathe as the storm seeps into the architecture and the bodies within it. Resistance takes on strange, comic forms. Humour leaks through the cracks. Hope seeps into the mess through gestures of intimacy and care, as the storm refuses to pass. STORM 1.0 is an uncompromising meditation on what it means to continue together in a world that refuses to be repaired.

Following sold-out performances of Impasse at DDF2024, Mufutau Yusuf presents the world premiere of The Fifth Sun, a new collaboration with Luail – Ireland’s National Dance Company in which he responds to the grief and dismay stirred by our planetary crisis. Inspired by the tradition of Irish keening, The Fifth Sun unfolds as both a eulogy and a renewal. It reflects on humanity’s past, confronts our turbulent present, and leans cautiously towards an uncertain future. The performers merge dance with lament, expressing our collective grief: moving to mourn, to honour, to listen and perhaps, to heal. The Fifth Sun offers a space to witness, share and reshape loss, inviting audiences to ask: what kind of ancestors do we choose to be?

Project Arts Centre will be the venue for two stunning, intimate works from Brazil and Italy.

Puff from Alice Ripoll & Hiltinho Fantástico is a captivating solo celebrating heritage and pulsing with Afro-Brazilian rhythm. Alone on stage, the extraordinary Hiltinho Fantástico, guided by choreographer Alice Ripoll, calls up movement rooted in samba, capoeira and Passinho – an urban dance style born in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro – to explore the idea of disguise as a way of carrying silenced cultures, traditions and ancestral knowledge of the African diaspora. Puff conjures the idea of a light breath – something that disappears as if by magic. The work is a powerful reminder of how culture adapts and persists, even when it seems to vanish.

Who decides what a dancing body should look like? asks Silvia Gribaudi in Suspended Chorus (Italy). With humour, vulnerability and fierce curiosity, she offers her own 50+ body as the starting point – revealing its limits and discovering joy in its potential. Taking to the stage all by herself, Gribaudi, driven by a desire for togetherness, invites the spectators to become an integral part of the work. Inspired by female dance pioneers like Isadora Duncan, Pina Bausch and Anna Pavlova, Suspended Chorus tears down modern codes of beauty, celebrating the fragility of our mortal bodies, and reveling in the power of the collective.

For one night only at The Pavilion Theatre, Ciseach: An Embodied Manifesto from Catherine Young Dance seeks to rekindle our broken relationship with the land in a contemporary incantation weaving dance, rhythm, live music and voice. With six dancers and five musicians, this poetic journey in troubled times urges us to reconnect with our past, with nature and with each other. Gathering fragments of ancestral wisdom, myths and kinships, this work looks to weave together a new path – the ciseach – to guide us toward solid ground. Following productions including Floating on a Dead Sea, A Call to You and State of Exception, Young once again takes on the urgent stories of our time.

Already announced, the world’s foremost gender-skewing comic ballet company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, aka ‘The Trocks’, return to Dublin with their 50th Anniversary Tour to open the 2026 Edition of Dublin Dance Festival in the prestigious setting of Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. The Trocks pirouette their way through beloved classics, delighting audiences with sell-out performances that combine dazzling pointe work, outrageous humour and pure theatrical joy, described by The Guardian as “the funniest night you’ll ever have at the ballet.” Founded in New York in 1974, the Trocks have become an international sensation – beloved by ballet aficionados and newcomers alike.

Meanwhile at The Ark, Maiden Voyage Dance will be presenting Moonlight Dream, a magical, sensory-rich adventure to the moon for little ones aged 3-6 and their grown-ups. Created by choreographer Georgia Tegou with original music by composer Ursula Burns, this gentle and inclusive experience is inspired by the soothing rituals of bedtime, transporting audiences with glowing lightscapes, flowing movement and live music to a peaceful, ethereal space where imagination takes flight.

Away from the stages and onto the streets and spaces of Dublin, DDF2026 is celebrating dance with a welcoming, diverse programme where we can come together to move, play and learn.

Inspired by dance marathons and Latin American rhythms, the shared groove of the four dancers in The Dance of La Zurda celebrates the enduring desire to dance through life, no matter what. Audiences will be able to enjoy free outdoor performances of this work by Spanish company LaCerda in Wolfe Tone Park and on South King Street on the Saturday and Sunday of the bank holiday weekend.

Bewley’s iconic Grafton Street building will be home to two Saturday-night club takeovers during the festival, as Dublin Dance Festival teams up with Bewley’s for the first time. With influences from electronica to global sounds and from trad to voguing, DDF Lates brings artists from different scenes together in a wild collision of music, dance and live performance. Dublin Modular opens on May 9th with TRACES, a site-responsive takeover blending live electronics, DJs and contemporary dance, rooted in queer club culture and transforming Bewley’s into a shifting dancefloor of sound and movement. Closing the festival on May 16th, award-winning DJ Onai steps in with FREQUENCY, leading a hand-picked line-up of powerhouse  DJs, B-BOYS and guest dancers spanning voguing, hip hop, freestyle and beyond.

DDF will also be partnering with RSCI for the first time, co-presenting a series of events at Humanarium, a new space to explore health and wellbeing at the heart of RCSI’s new building on St Stephen’s Green. These participative events have been developed in response to Humanarium’s inaugural exhibition, Heart: more than a beat, inviting people to explore heart health through movement and embodied awareness. Taking place on Saturday 2nd and Saturday 9th May, this daytime programme will offer four accessible and uplifting events for all levels, from a high-energy dance session to slower practices that promote calm and connection including a collective, mindful walk, a playful workshop for parents and babies, and somatic workshops, led by artists Hélène Cathala, Laura Murphy, Katherine O’Malley, and Mary Nunan.

Exploring shamanic dance culture in Asia as a form of resistance, In Search of the Tragic Spirits, a short film by Choy Ka Fai (Singapore / Germany), will have a continuous free outdoor screening at Living Canvas at IMMA, Europe’s largest digital art screen presented at IMMA in partnership with IPUT Real Estate. Focusing on the Buryat people, a diaspora displaced across Siberia, Mongolia and northeastern China, Choy examines how shamanism has helped communities navigate grief, oppression, and the erasure of cultural identity. Presented by DDF and IMMA, the film will screen throughout the festival (extending to 20 May).

For young people aged 12-14, Dublin Dance Festival and CoisCéim Dance Theatre are presenting A Corpo Libero – A VR Experience & Workshop from Silvia Gribaudi. The session will start with immersion into Gribaudi’s award-winning solo A Corpo Libero which playfully challenges ideas about the female body, filmed live on the streets of Rijeka in Croatia in 180° virtual reality. Participants will then join the artist for a high-energy workshop celebrating imperfection and self-expression.

For professional dancers and dance students, the festival programme will include opportunities to learn from international artists, offering an intensive two-day workshop with award-winning interdisciplinary performer and maker Akeim Toussaint Buck (Jamaica / UK) in partnership with Dance Ireland and a morning masterclass with Greek choreographer Christos Papadopoulos, both at Dance House

This year, DDF expands its Artist Pass programme, supporting eight emerging and early career dance artists by offering opportunities to immerse themselves in the Festival and connect with local and international practitioners. Through access to a curated selection of performances, masterclasses, discussions and networking events, the programme nurtures artistic development, fosters exchange and encourages new connections. In 2026, Dublin Dance Festival is delighted that the Artist Pass programme is kindly supported by TileStyle, whose generosity helps make these valuable opportunities possible.

DDF will present two Interspaces events, insightful daytime talks with the choreographers whose work will be on the Abbey Stage, Christos Papadopoulos and Emma Martin.

As ever, DDF includes audio-described, signed and relaxed events to increase accessibility for audiences.

Beyond the Festival period, DDF continues its commitment to accessibility and artist development through a special capacity-building programme for neurodivergent artists interested in creating neuro-friendly club spaces, in partnership with Project Arts Centre and supported by the ESB Energy for Generations Fund. The twelve NeuroNights participants will take part in a series of workshops and mentoring sessions led by experienced facilitators, before delivering three club nights at Project Arts Centre in 2026. The first club night will take place on 21 May, with tickets going on sale in April.

TICKETS

Book Online: Tickets available online from 7pm Tuesday 3rd March at dublindancefestival.ie

Book by Phone: Book by phone from Monday 27th April at +353 1 673 0660.

Dublin Dance Festival acknowledges the generous support of:   
Principal Funder: The Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon  
Supported by: Dublin City Council, Culture Ireland 
Media Partners: RTÉ Supporting the Arts, The Irish Times  
Accommodation Partner: The Castle Hotel  
Supporters: Bewley’s Grafton Street, ESB Energy for Generations Fund, Dunne & Crescenzi, Humanarium at RCSI, TileStyle
Cultural Partners: CataLANDance, Creative Europe, Dance Festivals Network Europe, Italian Institute of Culture, Onassis Stegi, Visiting Artist Programme
Programme Partners: Abbey Theatre, Backstage Theatre, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, CoisCéim Dance Theatre, Dance Ireland, IMMA – Irish Museum of Modern Art, IPUT Real Estate, Project Arts Centre, The Ark Children's Cultural Centre

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