cont·act Dance Festival 2026 (16th edition)

For its 16th edition, cont·act Dance Festival returns with a refined name. By setting aside the word “contemporary”, the festival opens space for audiences to encounter dance without preconceptions, while remaining grounded in practices that are current, reflective, and critically engaged.

At Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, the festival begins with Dance at Dusk, performed by T.H.E Second Company. Presented as six shows across three evenings at the DBS Foundation Outdoor Theatre, this year’s programme features newly created works by Singapore choreographers Nah Jieying and Kwek Yixuan, each attentive to how bodies gather, drift, and recognise one another again. With Marina Bay and the city skyline framing the stage, the performances unfold within the city’s shifting evening rhythms.

At the centre of the festival is Elusive, a double bill performed by the full-time dance artists of T.H.E Dance Company. Created with international collaborators Panzetti/Ticconi (Italy/Germany) and Art Project BORA (South Korea), the programme brings together two distinct choreographic sensibilities. In CARILLON, precise patterns gather momentum, looping and tightening until the comfort of repetition begins to tilt toward unease. In O:ro, mourning travels through bodies as vibration—felt, heard, and borne—as sensations once thought lost now start to stir again. Post-show conversations follow the evening performances. The event is also included in the Asia-Europe Cultural Festival 2026 – Closing Curtain, organised by Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF).

Workshops, the annual T.H.E Mid-Year Intensive, and studio sharings—including the new work-in-progress platform ante-space—run alongside the performances at Esplanade. Taking place at T.H.E’s studio, they offer further ways to engage with dance through practice, reflection, and dialogue.