With the 22nd edition of the Dublin Dance Festival taking place this month, Culture Ireland will once again be partnering with Dublin Dance Festival and Dance Ireland on the Originate Programme, a valuable platform for international programmers to experience new choreographies and works available for touring by artists based in Ireland. This support is provided under Culture Ireland’s See Here Programme.
Dublin Dance Festival, which runs from 30 April – 16 May 2026, will host international programmers to attend this year’s Festival, offering key opportunities to witness new full-length works available for touring, experience a showcase of works-in-development, and hear from artists about their latest choreographies in a pitching session. This year’s delegation includes many programmers from Canada in advance of the Canada Ireland 180 programme in 2027.
The programme also includes moments to meet local artists in a relaxed networking environment.
Included in this year’s programme:
Soft God
Emma Martin
Thurs 14 – Sat 16
Abbey Theatre
Nine performers gather as if at a wake – but for who, or what? Shifting between ritual, dream and folk dance, they cry, sing, sweat and sway in search of a way to keep hope, meaning and dreams alive. A powerful yet tender celebration of life, Soft God offers ceremony as an act of quiet defiance.
The Fifth Sun
Mufutau Yusuf | Luail
Thurs 14 – Sat 16 May, 7:30pm
Samuel Beckett Theatre
Inspired by the tradition of Irish keening, The Fifth Sun is both a eulogy and a renewal. Merging dance and lament, the performers move to mourn, honour and listen, responding to the grief at our planetary crisis. It offers a space to witness, share and reshape loss, inviting audiences to ask: what kind of ancestors do we choose to become?
Work-in-Development Showcase
Leather Jacket by Oona Doherty
Racket by Magdalena Hylak
Artist Pitches
DM1 by Colin Dunne
Offspring by Emily Terndrup
BPM: Barney’s Parties & Melters by Eileen McClory
The full Dublin Dance Festival 2026 programme can be viewed here.
Image: Soft God by Emma Martin, image copyright: Emma Martin
