Festivaldanse2026 Horiz Prog Poster
“In Cannes, we’re proud to make culture a driving force for bringing people together and opening them up to the world. This 26th edition of the Cannes – Côte d’Azur Dance Festival, which has become an annual event, fully meets this ambition: to welcome artists from all horizons, to offer a programme accessible to all and to thrill all spectators to the rhythm of a lively, demanding and generous dance. In an international context marked by divisions, Cannes is more than ever asserting its role as a city of culture, creation and sharing. “
“The Cannes – Côte d’Azur Dance Festival perfectly illustrates the vocation of the Palais des Festivals: to be a place of artistic excellence, open to the world and to its region. This 2026 edition boasts an extremely rich programme, combining great works from the repertoire, contemporary creations and innovative formats. Through this dynamic, we are reaffirming our commitment to offering strong, accessible and unifying cultural experiences. “
“The Cannes – Côte d’Azur Dance Festival opens its doors and windows to the world. It focuses on what sets us apart and turns these differences into a collective wealth.
Dance has the unique power to touch the very depths of those who practise it, as well as those who contemplate it. The diversity of shared bodies, the plurality of imaginary worlds on offer, never imposed, are the best antidote to the sad passions of withdrawal, the stigmatisation of difference and the rejection of the other. “
A diversity of aesthetics, a world map of dance
The programme offers a truly international map of dance, with choreographers and dancers from 11 countries: Australia, England, South Korea, France, Norway and Switzerland, plus a strong presence of artists from southern Europe: Spain, Greece, Italy, Lithuania and Portugal.
The Festival opens with an immersion into the heart of the Australian choreographic scene, with Stephanie Lake’s Manifesto, a work of rare intensity, as well as a new work by the Australian choreographer.Stephanie Lake’s Manifesto, a work of rare intensity, as well as the French premiere of Wayfinder, created by Amber Haines and Kyle Page of Dancenorth. Other French premieres include Medita by the Modern Table Dance Company, hailed as the piece of the year in Korea, and a new work by Dancenorth.ce of the Year in Korea, Avant la nuit/L’Oiseau de Feu by Edouard Hue and The Room Where It Happens by Basque choreographer Iker Karrera.
The festival also welcomes the latest work byItalian choreographer Silvia Gribaudi, as well as powerful works such as Carcaça by Marco Da Silva Ferreira and My Fierce Ignorant Step by Christos Papadopoulos. Finally, three works from the Studiotrade international network, founded by Éric Oberdorff’s Compagnie Humaine, illustrate the dynamics of cooperation and artistic circulation on an international scale.
An intimate encounter between dance and music
Music is one of the main themes of this year’s programme, which brings together dance and a number of great scores from the repertoire, as well as more contemporary works.
Audiences will be treated toEmanuel Gat‘s new workon Mahler’s 5th Symphony, while Malandain Ballet Biarritz presents a programme featuring music by Poulenc, Ravel and Saint-Saëns, a triptych of inventiveness and elegance, in the image of its creator Thierry Malandain, who is preparing to hand over the direction of the company after more than twenty-five years. Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird will be presented in two choreographic versions:Edouard Hue ‘s versionfor the Beaver Dam Company and Glen Tetley ‘s version performed by London City Ballet with live musicians from theOrchestre national de Cannes. Mats Ek’s The Rite of Spring will make its debut in the repertoire of the Lyon Opera Ballet.
Alongside these great works, contemporary sound creations explore new links between rhythm, voice and movement: The breath at the heart of Christos Papadopoulos’ My Fierce Ignorant Step, the live percussion in Stephanie Lake’s Manifesto, the voice of Nina Simone in Daniel Proietto’s Her Voice, the jazz beats of the Hiatus Kaiyote group in Dancenorth Australia’s Wayfinder, and the presence of musicians on stage in Pierre Rigal’s R-onde-s.
Dance as an act of resistance
In the face of global turmoil, the Festival’s programming is joyful, open and festive, where dance becomes a gesture of sharing and hope. A positive desire for hope permeates the entire programme, as in the feminine choral pieces by Leïla Ka and Jan Gallois, or the virtuosity of Thibaut Eiferman in his solo Terre 1. Matière(s) première(s) by Anne Nguyen also bears witness to the power of dancing bodies to cross borders and create a universal language.
Resistance also means multiplying opportunities for dialogue, discovery and shared emotion, by appealing to all audiences, especially the very young. A number of pieces for the whole family to discover, including those by Massimo Fusco and Amala Dianor, reflect this desire to open up dance to everyone.
MOV'IN Cannes, 3rd edition
130 years ago, in 1896, the Lumière brothers made one of the first dance films with Danse serpentine. In keeping with this heritage, this international dance film competition, co-directed by Didier Deschamps and Eric Oberdorff, affirms Cannes as a major meeting place for dance and cinema, marked by screenings, professional meetings and workshops involving students.
On Thursday 26 November 2026, 20 short dance films will be presented to the public and submitted to a jury made up of personalities from the world of choreography and the film industry. These are all works in which movement, the body and image engage in dialogue, offering a sensitive, inventive and resolutely contemporary look at dance on screen.
Time to meet and share
The Festival pursues a deliberate policy of reaching out to all audiences, especially the very young, by placing the transmission of knowledge, artistic practice and involvement at the heart of its project. The Festival offers a wide range of opportunities for encounters, including master classes, lectures, round tables and workshops, as well as a tour of a show to schools, associations and companies to encourage encounters with a choreographic work and explore its diversity.
Among the participatory highlights, a warm-up bar open to all will be set up every Sunday near the Croisette, welcoming around a hundred amateurs and the curious for a moment of practice guided by renowned choreographers.
Circus dancer Théo Touvet will also be taking his Cyr Wheel on the road at various venues throughout the festival, introducing the most daring of dancers to open workshops.
Taking place in Cannes, as well as in partner theatres in Antibes, Carros, Draguignan, Fréjus, Grasse, Mougins and Nice, this year’s festival aims to bring together nearly 17,000 spectators in a single celebration: a celebration of dance that’s alive, plural and profoundly human.
Enter the dance. Experience the party.
