Our Festival Celebrates 30 Years
Ticket sales are now open Support us in our anniversary year by purchasing a donor ticket.
Slovakia’s largest contemporary dance festival, Bratislava in Movement, is entering its 30th anniversary edition. From 14 to 26 October 2026, we will bring choreographies and companies from France, Spain, Lithuania and Slovakia to Bratislava.
We are preparing this anniversary edition without financial support from the Slovak Arts Council. This makes the support of our audiences more important than ever, whether through the purchase of an individual ticket, a festival pass, a donor ticket or a direct financial contribution.
A Return to the French Dance Scene
The anniversary edition will have a strong focus on France. Through this year’s programme, we are returning to the festival’s beginnings and its close connection with the French dance scene. We will present works by choreographers from different generations, offering distinct perspectives on the body, identity, femininity, cultural memory and freedom of movement.
“The French dance scene has been important to Bratislava in Movement since the festival’s earliest editions. This year, we are returning to it through the work of distinctive artists who bring very different perspectives on the body, identity, femininity, cultural memory and freedom of movement,” says Miroslava Kovářová, Artistic Director of Bratislava in Movement.
We will open the festival on 14 October at 7:00 pm at Aréna Theatre with PORTRAIT by French choreographer Rebecca Journo and her company La Pieuvre. On stage, Rebecca Journo creates a series of living images in which the body becomes a portrait, a reflection and an ever-changing form of identity.
The French focus will continue at A4 – Space for Contemporary Culture on 15 October at 8:00 pm with a double bill featuring two distinctive solo works. In L’EXPAT, Salim Mzé Hamadi Moissi draws on his personal experience of living between several cultures and searching for a connection to his roots. In BLACK, Oulouy offers a physically intense reflection on violence and emancipation through street dance styles from Africa and its American diaspora. We will also present the double bill as a morning performance on 16 October at 11:00 am.
The festival will culminate on 26 October at 7:00 pm with MALDONNE by French choreographer Leïla Ka at the Slovak National Theatre. Created for five dancers and forty dresses, the work explores femininity through the relationship between the body and clothing. Bodies conceal and reveal themselves, resist and transform. The production was nominated for the 2025 Bloom Prize as part of the prestigious Rose International Dance Prize.
New Voices in European Dance
Alongside the French focus, we will also present works by some of the most distinctive new voices on the European dance scene.
A special place in the programme belongs to Aerowaves Twenty26, the annual selection of twenty outstanding works by emerging European dance artists.
On 23 October at 8:00 pm at A4, we will present the Lithuanian performance CLAP & SLAP by Agnietė Lisičkinaitė and Igor Shugaleev, together with VOLVAMOS AL BAILE by Spanish choreographer Inka Romaní.
CLAP & SLAP draws on experiences of fear, anger, civic protest and solidarity in Eastern Europe. VOLVAMOS AL BAILE returns to the dancing of grandmothers and uses movement, archives and memories to uncover histories inscribed in the female body.
Slovak Premiere of What the Folk
The festival will host the Slovak premiere of WHAT THE FOLK by Peter Šavel, Soňa Ferienčíková and the Slovak collective BOD.Y. We will present it on 25 October at 8:00 pm at Telocvičňa, Nová Cvernovka.
Drawing on folk traditions, the work asks whether a shared rhythm can create a space of belonging at a time marked by tension, fear and prejudice.
Five Festival Evenings with One Pass
The entire anniversary programme can also be experienced with a discounted festival pass for one person or for two.
The pass includes admission to all five festival evenings and offers a 25% discount compared with purchasing individual tickets. Availability is limited to only 20 passes of each type.
Support Us in Our Anniversary Year by Purchasing a Donor Ticket
We are preparing our 30th anniversary edition without financial support from the Slovak Arts Council. You can support us when purchasing a ticket for any performance by selecting the Festival Donor option.
Donor tickets are intended for everyone who would like to support the festival with a higher contribution. They also include a personal meeting with the artists after the performance.
“We are able to prepare the festival’s 30th anniversary edition thanks to the strategic support of the City of Bratislava and the Tatra banka Foundation. For the first time since the Slovak Arts Council was established, the festival is taking place without its support. This makes the support of our audiences particularly important to us this year. We believe that our audiences and contemporary dance enthusiasts will stand by us. Every ticket purchased helps us keep the festival alive, international and open,” says Katarína Figula, Executive Director of Bratislava in Movement.
You can also support us with a direct financial donation through our fundraising page:
https://bratislavavpohybe.darujme.sk/podporte-medzinarodny-festival-bratislava-v-pohybe/
