From bodies walking on the glass windows of the Neue Nationalgalerie to a glacier melting on screen, from the Romantic night of the Staatsballett’s Giselle to the platforms of the Volksbühne, Berlin’s autumn dance and performance season swung between what vanishes and what darkness keeps.
In 2026, when I look at contemporary dance in Europe, I see a body trained for flexibility that suddenly realizes, mid-stretch, that the border has been moved onto the studio floor. For years, the sector sold mobility as a civic virtue, almost as a moral passport: tour, co-produce, “network”, travel from festival to festival, as if collecting proof of legitimacy. Circulating meant existing, and, better still, it meant “doing Europe”.
Since the appointment of Martina Šimkovičová as the new Minister of Culture in October 2023, the contemporary art scene in Slovakia has been subject to significant government interference, in particular from the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic itself.
Following the resignation in recent weeks of several members of the Ministry of Culture’s expert committee on professional dance, movement and non-verbal arts in response to planned changes to the grant system, the committee members have now published a joint statement addressed to the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic.
The 2025/2026 season confirmed that there is no overarching trend on the contemporary dance scene. The sphere remains fragmented and dominated by a large number of smaller projects, with even established repertoire ensembles leaning towards them. The scene is populated by smaller groups, some newly formed, despite the uncertain environment, with site-specific projects and those which emphasize audience participation on the rise.
When we take a look at the recent Czech ballet season, we see quite the variety, including repertoire classics, original full-length creations, and programmes featuring works by both Czech artists and proven international choreographers. We see safe bets in terms of the productions chosen, but experimentation with less common source materials and forms.
Its artistic director framed this year’s Tanz im August as a weather map of turbulence. Across the thirteen shows spanning three weeks – from Gaza and Belarus to a swimming pool in Prenzlauer Berg – the metaphor held.
The choreographer and teacher Bohumíra Eliášová has held various roles at HAMU for over thirty years.
Following a period of cultural drought, at least for dance, when July arrived in Rome, it felt like two months squeezed into one: a lot of performances in a short time.
During the last hot week of June, Prague hosted a major dance event. A five-day symposium on improvisation entitled Inner Speech as a Stage Gesture in Instant Composition took place from 22 to 26 June 2026 at HAMU and at the Žižkostel Community Centre.
