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Our Summertime Performance Picks at 6 Festivals and Beyond

June 23, 2026

Is summer becoming dance’s busiest season? There are more exciting performances happening than any one person could hope to see this July and August. Here are the highlights from six major festivals, plus three must-sees from outside that umbrella.

Summer Fest Special

Highlights from a jam-packed festival season

American Dance Festival

Four dancers in party hats dance like they're at a party in a line in front of a row of folding chairs.
Monica Bill Barnes & Company will appear at ADF. Photo by Paula Lobo, courtesy ADF.

DURHAM, NC  Following the festival debuts of Wally Cardona and Molly Lieber, Jesse Factor, I-Ling Liu and Stacy Matthew Spence, and Pioneer Winter Collective, and the ever-intriguing Made in NC program of premieres (this year by Tracey Durbin, Jabu Graybeal, Courtney Liu, and Amanda K. Miller), July begins with Tere O’Connor’s 2025 The Lace and a collection of Mark Morris pieces set to American music. Pam Tanowitz premieres a new work for the Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Guangdong Modern Dance Company joins Shen Wei Dance Arts for the U.S. premiere of Shen Wei’s recent Mindscape, both ADF co-commissions. And Stephan Koplowitz goes site-specific with his contribution to the Footprints program: ADF students perform his new work at Mutual Tower, which was constructed as a symbol of Durham’s Black Wall Street. May 27–July 25. americandancefestival.org.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

Three dancers wearing brightly colored suit jackets over black tank tops and shorts form a line. The one at the rear rests their head on the back of the dancer in front of them; the dancer in center smiles zanily as they stick their head through a window formed by the arms of the dancer in front.
Gauthier Dance. Photo by Jeanette Bak, courtesy Jacob’s Pillow.

BECKET, MA  The beloved festival presents a truly staggering array of performances and supplementary programming across 10 weeks and three stages this summer. Two premieres at the Doris Duke Theatre—Ilya Vidrin’s Proxies and Brian Brooks’ Elsewhere—take advantage of interactive technology. Rena Butler crafts a new work for Gauthier Dance, which brings along an additional nine U.S. premieres. Also debuting stateside are Kyle Abraham’s White Space and Circa Contemporary Circus’ Wolf. Huang Yi and Shamel Pitts | TRIBE make their festival debuts, as do no fewer than 11 artists and companies performing on the outdoor Henry J. Leir stage. And San Francisco Ballet pulls double duty, appearing at both the Leir and the Ted Shawn Theatre in its first Pillow engagement since 1956. June 24–Aug. 30. jacobspillow.org.

Bates Dance Festival

Five contemporary dancers perform a dynamic, grounded routine on a dark stage. They wear vibrant, eclectic outfits—including a textured orange sweater with green-studded knee pads, a metallic purple bodysuit, and a shimmering blue long-sleeve top. Their expressions are intense and focused as they balance on one leg or lean forward in athletic poses. The backdrop features a dark, abstract mural of urban and geometric shapes.
Cynthia Oliver’s Turn. Turning. TURNT. Photo by Natalie Fiol, courtesy Bates Dance Festival.

LEWISTON, ME  The performance series kicks off with the premiere of Turn. Turning. TURNT, which Cynthia Oliver developed during her 2025 festival residency. Kyle Marshall’s joyfully queer Femenine, set to Julius Eastman’s score by the same name; Leslie Cuyjet’s incisive, tour-de-force solo For All Your Life; and Jesse Factor’s riotous Martha-Graham-meets-Madonna spectacle The Marthaodyssey round out the main-stage offerings. Also on tap are work-in-progress showings by Cara Hagan, Miguel Gutierrez, and Dan Safer and Thomas F. DeFrantz; a one-night film festival in collaboration with Flatlands Dance Film Festival; and the annual structured improv performance Moving in the Moment. July 10–31. batesdancefestival.org.

Venice Biennale

A bare-chested dancer gazes out over a low wall formed by five dancers who interlock and interweave as they lunge and crouch. The stage is awash in a dusty yellow.
Bangarra Dance Theatre in Frances Rings’ Terrain. Photo by Daniel Boud, courtesy Venice Biennale.

VENICE  Australian Indigenous dance theater company (and this year’s Golden Lion recipient) Bangarra Dance Theatre presents a European debut, with Frances Rings’ Terrain, as does Silver Lion winner Mamela Nyamza, with her work The Herd/Less. When, If Not Now? (WINNDance) a new dance company comprising artists ages 40 and over, launches with the premiere of Scirocco, a Biennale co-commission from John Neumeier, Imre and Marne van Opstal, and Omar Román de Jesús, plus a film contribution directed and choreographed by Javier de Frutos. Andrea Salustri and Oli Mathiesen premiere new works after winning the Biennale’s national and international choreography calls, respectively. And American postmodernist Molissa Fenley closes out the festivities with a double bill of her State of Darkness (danced by Cassandra Trenary) and Bardo, from 1990, reprised by Fenley herself. July 17–Aug. 1. labiennale.org.

Vail Dance Festival

Mira Nadon balances in a partnered back attitude penché, wrists held by Ryan Tomash. She wears a white classical tutu, pink tights, and pointe shoes; Tomash is in a matching long-sleeved tunic, white tights, and slippers.
Mira Nadon and Ryan Tomash in Balanchine’s “Diamonds” at last year’s festival. Photo by Christopher Duggan, courtesy Vail Dance Festival.

VAIL, CO  The late-summer gathering celebrates 20 years under Damian Woetzel’s directorship. Robert Battle, Chun Wai Chan, Michelle Dorrance, Larry Keigwin, Tiler Peck, Alexei Ratmansky (this year’s artist in residence), Pam Tanowitz, and Amanda Treiber create new works for the who’s who roster of dancers in attendance. Rennie Harris Puremovement makes its festival debut with Nuttin’ but a Word, while Martha Graham Dance Company continues its centennial celebrations and Colorado Ballet and Cleo Parker Robinson Dance share an evening dedicated to the festival’s home state. July 31–Aug. 10. vaildance.org.

Edinburgh International Festival

A dancer balances in a forced arch layout on a golden serving tray; another tray is held behind his head, a third to his upraised foot. A dancer supports him with one arm under his back. Rugs of different colors and patterns are laid out across the floor; upstage, numerous dancers cluster around tea services.
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Ihsane. Photo by Filip Van Roe, courtesy EIF.

EDINBURGH  The dance programming kicks off with the UK premiere of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Ihsane, which contemplates cycles of destruction and rebirth and pays tribute to a gay Moroccan man who was murdered in Belgium, performed by dancers from Eastman and Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, Aug. 18–20. In EXXY (Aug. 23), queer, disabled dance-theater artist Dan Daw transports audiences back to his working-class origins to interrogate the nature of self-belief in a society that devalues those identities. Groupwork offers When Prophecy Fails, about the crumbling of a fictional American doomsday cult, Aug. 27–30. And, finally, San Francisco Ballet opens Pandora’s box with the European premiere of Aszure Barton’s AI-inspired reimagining of that myth, Mere Mortals, Aug. 28–30. eif.co.uk.

Lincoln Center Leans Contemporary

In the foreground, a dancer bends forward and swings her left arm up on a diagonal, gaze following, while her left hand is held up beside her face with pinkie finger and thumb pressed together. She is costumed in white, with her hair loose around her shoulders. Five dancers wearing darker versions of the costume are hazy in the background as they move through the same gesture.
Akram Khan’s Thikra: Night of Remembering. Photo by Camilla Greenwell, courtesy Michelle Tabnick Public Relations.

NEW YORK CITY  Over the last few years, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts has increasingly invested in its Summer for the City programming, which this season includes the launch of its Pasculano Collaborative for Contemporary Dance. Under its auspices, the inaugural Lincoln Center Contemporary Dance Festival at Alice Tully Hall closes with the U.S. premiere of Akram Khan’s Thikra: Night of Remembering (July 2–5), a desert-inspired work for an all-female cast blending bharatanatyam and contemporary dance. Also notable amongst the smorgasbord of the center’s dance offerings: Tamisha A. Guy’s new In the Depths of Blue descends on the David Rubenstein Atrium on Aug. 1, while butoh artist Vangeline premieres Naiad Metal, a site-responsive work created for the Milstein Reflecting Pool (and part of Pasculano’s Dance Encounters programming), Aug. 5–8. lincolncenter.org.

Spreading Soul 

A dancer against a white backdrop is captured mid-jump, arms in an L and legs crossed and tucked up beneath her.
Photo by Ricky Codio, courtesy Philadanco.

NEW YORK CITY  For Philadanco, the inimitable Rennie Harris creates a new work inspired by the catalog of Philadelphia International Records, which helped spread Philly soul in the 1970s and ‘80s. Also on the docket for the company’s Joyce Theater engagement: Thang Dao’s Roked, Tommie-Waheed Evans’ Promise Me You Won’t Call, and Christopher Huggins’ Enemy Behind the Gates, which is marking its 25th anniversary. July 29–Aug. 2. joyce.org.

Let It Simmer

A dancer wearing a lime green tank carries another over their shoulders, the hand wrapped around the lifted dancer's torso holding a cluster of pink balloons. The lifted dancer arches back to look up to the sky.
Lauren Edson’s Over the Moon. Photo by Otto Kitsinger, courtesy LED.

BOISE AND PORTLAND  LED closes the inaugural season of its Dixon performance venue with SUMMER SOUP, a collaborative program with Portland’s Open Space featuring choreography by Lauren Edson (LED’s director), Franco Nieto (Open Space’s), and more. After debuting in Boise Aug. 20–22, the program moves to Portland, OR, Aug. 27–29. ledboise.com.

akram khan alexei ratmansky Amanda K. Miller Amanda Treiber american dance festival Andrea Salustri aszure barton Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève bangarra dance theatre bates dance festival brian brooks cara hagan cassandra trenary Christopher Huggins chun wai chan circa contemporary circus cleo parker robinson dance colorado ballet Courtney Liu cynthia oliver damian woetzel Dan Daw dan safer Eastman edinburgh international festival frances rings Franco Nieto gauthier dance Groupwork Guangdong Modern Dance Company huang yi I-Ling Liu ilya vidrin imre and marne van opstal Jabu Graybeal jacob's pillow dance festival Javier De Frutos Jesse Factor john neumeier kyle abraham kyle marshall larry keigwin lauren edson led leslie cuyjet lincoln center Lincoln Center Contemporary Dance Festival Mamela Nyamza mark morris martha graham dance company michelle dorrance miguel gutierrez molissa fenley molly lieber Oli Mathiesen omar roman de jesus Open Space pam tanowitz Pasculano Collaborative for Contemporary Dance paul taylor dance company philadanco pioneer winter collective rena butler rennie harris rennie harris puremovement robert battle san francisco ballet shamel pitts Shamel Pitts | TRIBE shen wei shen wei dance arts sidi larbi cherkaoui stacy matthew spence stephan koplowitz Tamisha Guy tere o'connor thang dao The Flatlands Dance Film Festival the joyce theater Thomas F. DeFrantz tiler peck tommie-waheed evans Tracey Durbin vail dance festival vangeline venice biennale wally cardona When If Not Now? WINNDance