XXVI. Budapest Dance Festival

Once again, the spotlight will be firmly on the Hungarian dance scene for almost two weeks long as attention turns to the National Dance Theater Budapest, when the Budapest Dance Festival will be held for the 26th time from April 26 to May 10, 2026. The festival will feature world-class international companies and new Hungarian premieres, showcasing the diversity of contemporary dance. The program places a special emphasis on international productions, including a performance by the Serbian National Theatre’s ballet company titled ’Good Vibrations’ on April 26, 2026, featuring works by Jacopo Godani: ’Game of Shadows’ and Maša Kolar’s ’Bolero’; On May 1 and 2, 2026, the London City Ballet will perform the ballet evening ’Momentum’ including George Balanchine’s ’Haieff Divertimento’, Kenneth McMillan’s 'Concerto', Jerome Robbins' 'Quiet City', and Alexei Ratmansky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition' (tge performance is even more special with that, that the world famous Alina Cojocaru prima balerina will also dance on the stage), as well as performances by the Cie Hervé Koubi of 'What the Day Owes to the Night' on May 10, 2026. New productions include, among others, Inversedance’s presentation of Zoltán Fodor’s choreography ’Apple – The Dark Realm’, the FrenÁk Company’s production of Pál Frenák’s ’F_EvER’, the Győr Ballet’s new adaptation of Krisztina Szőllősi’s ’Death and the Maiden’, the Gradient Contemporary Ballet Debrecen with Edit Domoszlai’s ’Mind the Body’, and the Nagyvárad Dance Ensemble with the Budapest premiere of their choreography ’Seekers of Happiness’. In addition, young choreographers will also have the opportunity to showcase their work, including Erika Vasas’s ’SALEM’, Ádám Fejes’s ’We are staying’, Dalma Wéninger’s ’Pandora’, and Yun-Ju Huang and Clark David Bonus Ortega’s ’The Ashes of a Wandering Soul’. The festival offers not only performances but also community and accompanying programs: Q&As, workshops (Moving Objects – Budapest Puppet Theater, We Look Good – Dr. Beáta Szászi), The Individual and Their Object – Leó Willany, swing dance events (the Pepita Association’s Taste of Swing and Jazz Session programs), and professional days await those interested. A highlight of the event is the gala organized by the Hungarian Dance Artists’ Association in connection with International Dance Day, as well as János Lakatos’s program ’Best of Táncoló Filmkockák’, or Péter Ertl’s interactive dance education presentation—previously with great success presented nationwide as a mini-program within the Petőfi Program—which also features excerpts from the film '30 Shades of Dance' about the Hungarian dance profession.