European dance festivals and organisations, including Dance Umbrella, unite to launch the Visiting Artist Programme
A new initiative uniting 23 leading contemporary dance festivals and organisations across Europe, the Visiting Artist Programme is set to foster creative exchange, artistic development, and valuable networking opportunities for early and mid-career dance artists.
The programme offers selected artists the chance to immerse themselves in the vibrant atmosphere of Europe’s top dance festivals, with access to performances, masterclasses, discussions, and networking sessions.
The first series of encounters will take place in May 2025, where 20 artists from across Europe will visit three partner dance festivals where they will have the opportunity to explore, share, discuss and broaden their artistic horizons.
Upcoming encounters:
- 14 – 17 May 2025 – Dance Week Festival, Croatia
- 21 – 23 May 2025 – Dublin Dance Festival, Ireland
- 21 – 25 May 2025 – ONE Dance Festival, Bulgaria
These encounters are designed to stimulate artistic development, encourage creative exchange, and create valuable networking opportunities for participating artists. By engaging with diverse dance communities, artists can gain inspiration, share ideas, and build connections that will support the growth of their careers.
Having started as an activity within Big Pulse Dance Alliance, the Visiting Artist Programme gained momentum, with additional encounters being scheduled to accommodate the level of interest from partners and artists alike. This success led to 91 artists benefitting from 16 encounters between 2021 – 2024, and the programme being awarded its own Creative Europe funding for a 2-year project (Feb 2025 – Jan 2027).
Over the course of the coming two years, more than 150 artists will benefit from the encounters that will take place at partner festivals throughout the year. The project also invites collaborating partners to connect and send artists to partner festivals as part of this project.
Partner Festivals / Institutions of Visiting Artist Programme:
Danscentrum Syd (Sweden), DDD – Festival Dias da Dança (Portugal), Dublin Dance Festival (Ireland), Biennale de la Danse de Lyon (France), December Dance (Belgium), One Dance Festival (Bulgaria), Torinodanza Festival (Italy), Zodiak – Side Step Festival (Finland), Bratislava in Movement (Slovakia), Festival Sismògraf (Catalonia – Spain), STHLM DANS (Sweden), International Dance Theatre Festival in Lublin (Poland), Julidans (The Netherlands), Albania Dance Meeting (Albania), Dance Week Festival (Croatia), Dance Fest Skopje (North Macedonia), Iridescent Festival (Romania), Reykjavik Dance Festival (Iceland), STL (Estonia), International Dance Festival Tanec Praha (Czech Republic), CODA Oslo International Dance Festival (Norway), New Baltic Dance (Lithuania), Tanz im August (Germany).
For more information about the Visiting Artist Programme and upcoming encounters, please visit www.visitingartistprogramme.eu.