Dance News

Virtual Dance Festivals You Can Attend From Home

July 7, 2020

While some dancers are slowly beginning to return to the studio, large-scale dance events and performances are still off the table for the foreseeable future. Luckily, a number of summer dance festivals opted to go virtual. Here are ten that made the transition, allowing you to access their innovative offerings—from classes and performances to seminars and educational courses—no matter where you’ve found yourself #SocialDisDancing this summer.


Oklahoma International Dance Festival (July 26—August 9)

In what would’ve been the Oklahoma International Dance Festival’s inaugural year, OIDF founder Austin Hartel wanted to create a space for dancers to learn from international choreographers in an intimate setting. Though they’ve since decided to take their intensive online, they still plan to limit their class sizes to 14 dancers each to allow for individualized feedback. Technique and repertoire classes will be led by renowned choreographers, including Larry Keigwin and Brian Brooks.


Lake Tahoe Dance Festival (July 22-24)

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Kristina Berger [@champagnefountain], founding Lake Tahoe Dance Festival artist, offers us a preview of our 2020 virtual festival. Kristina is with us in Lake Tahoe teaching our Young Dancers Workshop through July 24th. Streaming Thursday, July 23rd, enjoy Kristina in ‘Nymph of the Grass & Meadows’ from Erick Hawkins’ classic, ‘Greek Dreams’. We will also be showing her LTDF 2018 performance of the solo ‘Sarong Paramaribo’ by Lester Horton, with upper body inspired by Balinese/Javanese Dance and lower body inspired by Afro-Carribean Dance. Tune in to the 2020 Lake Tahoe Dance Festival, Online Edition, through our website, laketahoedancecollective.org. For a suggested donation of just $25, you can support our organization as we continue our mission of bringing the finest in dance to the shores of Lake Tahoe. Kristina is an Assistant Professor of Dance at @deancollege and a Principal Dancer with @erickhawkinsdance.

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Jul 11, 2020 at 12:23pm PDT

The 8th annual Festival will feature three nights of performances and artist interviews that center around different moments in dance history, including American Classical Ballet, Mid Century Modern, and Contemporary. The festival will go live every night at 6pm PDT and can be viewed online with a suggested $25 donation.


Jacob’s Pillow (July 7—August 29)

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There’s a new playlist on Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive! Videos featuring 2019 performances by @cltballet, @humanoove, and @cndcangers, plus newly-posted work by @emmaportner and @treymcintyredance, and MORE by Alexei Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins, Donald McKayle. While these selections all feature trios of various kinds, the similarities are deeper than that. Each of the trios on this new playlist are excerpted from larger works, except for two that emerge from duets. Dig into the playlist if you want to see how that’s possible! → https://bit.ly/3fTAbOi Video 🎥: Shaina Wire, Sarah Hayes Harkins and Colby Foss of Charlotte Ballet performing Bryan Arias’ “When Breath Becomes Air”(2019); video by @nelshelby

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May 19, 2020 at 8:13am PDT

The iconic national dance festival replaced its outdoor summer event with virtual content on its website. In addition to livestreamed events, Virtual Pillow offers videos, games, podcasts, essays, and access to the archives. Consider it the perfect opportunity to brush up on your dance history.


The San Pedro Festival of the Arts (September 19—20)

For its 14th season, the San Pedro Festival of the Arts in LA will be held virtually. The festival will feature filmed dancing from local companies, schools, and choreographers, as well as interviews with selected dancers and choreographers filmed around the San Pedro area.


Vail Dance Festival (July 31—August 7)

The Vail Dance Festival will be hosting a digital festival of past performances, online forums and educational content from influential figures in the dance and music industries.


American Dance Festival (Ongoing)

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Movies by Movers starts today. Links to view the videos in our bio! This week’s films: • A Feast for the Senses: Films that Delight, Surprise, and Thrill • Between the Lines, by Jen Guy Metcalf At Present, by Deirdre O’Toole Where the Spiders Live, by Holger Mohaupt Front to Back and Side to Side, by Lydia Hance •The World Outside: Screendance in Nature • Waltz of the Canoe, by Amanda Lewis Dwell, by Kim Brooks Mata Evergreen, by Holly Wilder Wanting, by Robin Gee Toporzeł, by Iwona Pasińska Flickering Glades, by Claudio Marcotulli House of Joy, by Robert Uehlin Paysages Mixtes/Mixed Landscapes, by Katrina McPherson and Harold Rheaume Thule – Beyond the borders of the Known World, by Ana Baer and Heike Salzer #adfonline #dancefilm #homeofanartform #moderndance #dancersofig #adfmbm2020 @adfmoviesby Pictured: Evergreen, by Holly Wilder

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Jun 15, 2020 at 2:02pm PDT

From pre-professional dance intensives to professional workshops for educators and creators, the American Dance Festival is offering all of its courses online. The Movies by Movers Festival takes place virtually every Sunday afternoon, and features discussions with the films’ artists.


Dance on Camera Festival (July 17—July 20)

The annual New York event will be held virtually this year. Many programs will be offered online for free, and $35 student tickets can be reserved in advance for full access. Among the films being showcased this year are Uprooted – The Journey of Jazz Dance, and Land of the Sweets, the Burlesque Nutcracker.


Brighton Dance Festival (August 3—8)

The 11th annual Brighton Dance Festival will include Zoom classes and livestreamed performances from BDF guest artists, past and present. BDF will also be hosting online discussions covering a variety of industry topics, from career navigation to mental health for artists.


Boston Contemporary Dance Festival (August 15)

The one-day dance festival produced by Urbanity Dance is hosting two virtual showcases. The earlier showcase will include excerpts of past work, while the later showcase will feature new works choreographed, performed, and filmed in non-traditional spaces during quarantine.


Battery Dance Festival (August 14-22)

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Battery Dance announces the 39th Annual Battery Dance Festival with FREE virtual performances from August 14-22, 2020, available online nightly 7pm – 8pm via YouTube. For more information, visit http://batterydance.org/battery-dance-festival/. Films will remain only through August 31, 2020. Themed evenings will include World and U.S. Premieres on film, with works from the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas, and pieces that celebrate the resiliency of New York City and the Festival itself. A special India program will be presented on August 15th, India’s Independence Day. Established in 1982, the Battery Dance Festival (BDF) has been celebrated as New York City’s longest-running free public dance festival as well as one of its most wide-ranging. Audiences are traditionally drawn to Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park in Battery Park City from the large downtown working population, residents, families, tourists, senior citizens and dance fans from the greater NYC metropolitan area. Each year, the Festival attracts a combined audience of over 12,000 people in person. The audience will be multiplied many times over with the ability to attract viewers from the entire world this year. “Constricted by the pandemic and uncertainties over how to safeguard both performers and audience members, we’ve decided to go virtual in our 39th year. In doing so, our curators have discovered a wealth of beautiful material on film, most of which has never been seen before by our audience. So let’s celebrate silver linings and look forward to nine nights of rare and inspiring dance across many genres,” said Battery Dance founder and Artistic Director Jonathan Hollander. “We would like to extend a special thank you to Battery Park City Authority, The Fund for the City of New York, Goldman Sachs and others who are standing beside us in this virtual iteration.” Click link in bio to learn more.

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Jul 14, 2020 at 7:07am PDT

This year’s Festival will be presented online every night from 7-8pm EST and is completely free. The lineup will include many never-before-seen dance works on film from all over the globe.


Fire Island Dance Festival (July 17)

The annual fundraising festival for Dancers Responding to AIDS (DRA) will now be held virtually for free (donations encouraged) with advance registration. The virtual festival will feature world premieres from Ayodele Casel, Larry Keigwin, and Stephen Petronio. It will also include past Fire Island performances choreographed by Kyle Abraham, Al Blackstone, and Garrett Smith.

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