Under the slogan Be the DANCE You Wish to See, the Belgrade Dance Festival announces its twenty-third edition. From March 13 to April 8, 2026, fifteen companies from eleven countries, featuring exceptional choreographic works including one world premiere, will be presented in Belgrade and Novi Sad
In honor of dance, outstanding artists and troupes from different parts of the world will gather. Masters of inexplicable movement, artisans of the most precious instruments, will open themes that explore contemporary phenomena and society, once again testifying to the endless possibilities of dance.
Thanks to this festival, Belgrade and Novi Sad have become important stops in artistic biographies—places where new productions are discovered and where established and emerging authors are presented with equal attention. High standards and the relevance of its programming have strengthened the festival’s position on the international map, while the courage to introduce diverse choreographic signatures and aesthetics has continually raised audience expectations.
By presenting dance at its highest reaches, the festival has captivated and repeatedly surprised its followers. Over more than two decades, more than 580 choreographic works have been presented in Serbia, with an average of around 15,000 spectators and 100 accredited journalists from the country and abroad following the program each year. The event has grown with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the City of Belgrade, the Provincial Secretariat for Culture, the City of Novi Sad, the EU Delegation to Serbia, embassies, and cultural centers of participating countries. Traditional partners of the festival include DDOR Insurance, RK Beograd, Nestlé, the Serbian Post, and others.
March 13 at 20:00 | Serbian National Theatre
Gauthier Dance, Stuttgart / The Turning of Bones, Akram Khan
Few artists possess such an acute sense for the human psyche or examine its hidden depths as thoroughly as Akram Khan. What makes his work particularly special is his constant effort to place dance within specific contexts. With this new creation for Stuttgart’s Gauthier Dance, the bar seems to have been raised once again. What lies before us is the finest anthology of his work—choreographic images that have defined an era.
March 15 at 20:00 | Serbian National Theatre
Jasmin Vardimon Company, London / Now, Jasmin Vardimon
A leading force on the British scene for more than two decades, the multi-award-winning Jasmin Vardimon has built a reputation for visually stunning theatre. A longtime associate of Sadler’s Wells, whose work the Belgrade Dance Festival presented at the very beginning of her career, Vardimon received the Order of the British Empire in honor of the Queen’s birthday in 2022. Her latest masterful work questions human perception of reality. Now is something to fully immerse yourself in—an experience not to be missed.
March 18 at 18:00 and 21:00 | Ložionica
Salva Lombardo Company, Rome / Sport, Salvo Lombardo
Sport is an essential work that everyone should see, as it demonstrates how the system of competitive sports and harsh agonism can be deconstructed in favor of a new framework—one that proposes an ethics rooted purely in its sources, stripped of all traces of toxicity.
March 20 at 20:00 | Ložionica
Chiara Bartl, Vienna / Island of Heat, Chiara Bartl
Island of Heat brings the urban environment onstage, transforming it through rhythm, friction, sparks, and sound into pulsating fields of possibility. Scorching asphalt, the rumble of traffic, and the distant chirping of cicadas reveal ecological fractures disrupting ecosystems and demanding adaptation. Instead of withdrawing, three performers scrape layers of earth with special shoes, turning friction into the driving force of choreography, sound, and light.
March 22 at 20:00 | Ložionica
Kalle Nio & Fernando Melo, Helsinki / Tempo, Fernando Melo
Tempo explores time—its perception, acceleration, deceleration, and cessation. At the heart of the performance lies a simple moment when the protagonist narrowly avoids an accident. A trivial incident takes on serious proportions, revealing life’s delicacy. The piece brings to life falls, stumbles, accidents, and their consequences in various ways… dreamlike scenes where the laws of nature are suspended.
March 23 & 24 at 20:00 | Terazije Theatre
Flip Fabrique, Quebec / Six°, Bruno Gagnon
Five strangers receive a mysterious invitation that leads them, on a stormy night, to an abandoned house in the heart of a forest. They soon discover that the house has a soul and personality of its own. Once you cross its threshold, a peculiar feeling follows you… This special atmosphere culminates in astonishing acrobatic feats. Join the masters of illusion in this extraordinary physical-theatre comedy, where the everyday turns into magic and imagination is turned up to full volume!
March 25 at 20:00 | Atelje 212
Machine de Cirque, Quebec / Kintsugi, Olivier Lépine
Kintsugi is the art of sublimating imperfections. In a bus depot, far from the world and time, strangers wait to depart for unknown destinations. They don’t know when the bus will arrive or where it will take them. This mysterious place awakens in each of them a thirst for life, encounters, and strange experiences. Solidarity, smiles, and playfulness emerge among them. In this waking dream, fragments of the past shape the present through a new aesthetic. With this work, Machine de Cirque creates moments of humanity infused with dizzying acrobatic virtuosity.
March 26 at 20:00 | Ložionica
Riva & Repele, Geneva / Dear Son…, Sacha Riva & Simone Repele
An artistic experience that invites the audience to reflect on the fragility of life in a world marked by persistent wars and their devastating consequences. The piece examines the immeasurable grief of parents who lose their children. It seeks to transcend words to convey the complex emotions tied to such experiences, raising awareness of the impact of conflict on current and future generations. It offers the possibility of reconciliation by giving voice to victims and witnesses, contributing to the evolution of society toward a more humane time.
March 31 at 20:00 | Ložionica
Luciano Rosso, Buenos Aires / Apocalipsink_2, Luciano Rosso
With millions of views on social media, Luciano Rosso naturally transitions into the digital sphere to reach his audience. The performer brings to life numerous characters, stretching to the limits his mastery of lip-sync and pantomime. He takes us on an extravagant journey through his solo performance, originally created during the pandemic to offer a new perspective on isolation and creativity, portraying the contemporary world as caricature. Rosso brilliantly plays around forty eccentric, humorous characters who keep him company in the solitude of his apartment.
April 1 at 21:00 | Atelje 212
Manuel Liñán Company, Madrid / ¡VIVA!, Manuel Liñán
¡VIVA! is a celebration of freedom, breaking traditional gender roles within the codified world of flamenco and creating new spaces that, though unexplored, feel close. A seductive performer of dizzying power, Manuel Liñán is praised for his stage presence and the sincerity with which he breaks flamenco’s rules. His piece brings male dancers on stage dressed in traditional female costumes, revealing countless expressions of identity present in every human being. Transformation here is not mere disguise—it is exposure and revelation. In a festive tone, the artist presents flamenco’s plurality through its diverse forms and distinct singularities, joined by six dancers who dive into the fascinating universe of flamenco queer.
April 2 at 20:00 | Atelje 212
National Ballet of Greece, Athens / So Close So Many Times, P. Apergis, E. Georgikopoulou, I. Chatzigeorgiou, K. Rigos
One composer, ten musicians, one singer, ten dancers, and four choreographers in a creative composition of nine parts. With dark, atmospheric, minimalist staging and costumes, the performance gathers musicians and dancers around a table—like those in Greek squares—as a meeting point. Around this table begins a story about life, death, and love. Fates and laments based on the verses of the renowned poet Konstantinos Kavafis are interpreted by a singer and embodied by a dancer. Four generations of choreographers come together to discuss movement, music, theatre, and everything that might unite different creators producing a shared work. This is not a modular show, but a single cohesive piece.
April 3 at 20:00 | Serbian National Theatre
Guy Nader & Maria Campos, Barcelona / The Natural Order of Things
Inspired by the concept of order-disorder, this work explores the complexity of self-organizing systems in nature, seen as microcosms—tiny universes made up of multiplying entities. We discover ourselves as an imagined organism resisting the loss of order and the pull toward chaos, reorganizing in brilliant, harmonious ways. Like an ode to life and its fragile atmosphere, this work affirms a manifesto that champions beauty and harmony as the only way to reconnect with nature and restore balance. Even in the greatest challenges, we can regain faith through recognizing beauty, purpose, and visible patterns in the universe and the natural world—imagining ourselves as built from masses of kinetic possibilities.
April 4 & 5 at 11:00 and 14:00 | SC Tašmajdan (outdoor pools)
Gratte Ciel, Arles / RoZéO, Stéphane Girard & Camille Bomier
A stunning spectacle of beauty—an ode to all living things, whether plant, animal, or hybrid.
RoZéO expresses a desire to return to nature and transform our relationship with it. Elevated on fragile metal stilts and carried by the wind, the performers sway like reeds from Camargue, becoming part of the landscape. They invite us to gaze into the distance and feel the touch of air. Suspension, a pause in time, slow oscillations that call for contemplation and observation from a broad, open plane.
RoZéO is a living installation meant to be experienced slowly—with a deep breath and the sky stretching across the horizon.
April 7 at 18:00 and 21:00 | Yugoslav Drama Theatre
Compagnie Hervé Koubi, Cannes / The Barbarian Nights, Hervé Koubi
A work grounded in an inspiring and essential story about the Mediterranean basin.
A story of a journey—an eternal journey… For beauty!
For the kind of beauty that, above wars, speaks of unity; the kind that brings everyone together; the kind that turns its back on rigid claims of identity; the kind that takes the best from each of us and, throughout its history, places humanity at the center as its own anthem.
For the Mediterranean!
The Mediterranean, whose brilliance is so intense that it blinds like a forgotten secret—a secret of our shared longing and destiny. For a history that, for more than 3,000 years, has witnessed countless cultures whose differences have united us rather than divided us.
Whether Algerian, Spanish, French, Greek… we are all people of the Mediterranean, and that sense of belonging is far older than any national concept.
8 April at 8 p.m. | Serbian National Theatre / Aterballetto, Reggio Emilia / Morricone Night, Marcos Morau
“…The night will continue to advance, turning the home into a music studio, into the duality of a free mind and a mind that creates film music that will become the music of the century, transforming the bedroom into a cinema where visitors of all generations will come to watch films and spend the night with him. And every evening will be a new opportunity to revive the dreams of all musicians, children, lovers, lonely visitors… Morricone’s music gave sound to things unspoken, to elements that are hidden. Separating his music from the films is a complex and almost suicidal task, but I believe the genius would be happy to know that tonight his notes will run out of an old cinema so they can live for a few hours in the theatre,” says Marcos Morau.