Programmers breakfast 2026

The Programmers’ breakfast on Saturday morning during the Nederlandse Dansdagen has become a well-established tradition.

The festival aims to be a meeting place for all segments of the dance community, and during the Programmers’ breakfast, the focus is on bringing together programmers and choreographers. This year, we would like to add a third group to this mix: theater marketers.

This edition of the Programmers’ breakfast puts a spotlight on the unique position of mid-career choreographers, who are no longer supported by institutions and programs for emerging talent but do not (yet) receive multi-year grants, leaving them in what is often a difficult transitional phase. However, thanks to their experience, their annual tours throughout the Netherlands, and the knowledge of their audience they have gained through these tours, mid-career choreographers can provide a specific and extremely valuable boost to theaters’ dance programming. The question is whether this potential is currently being sufficiently harnessed, and it is precisely this question we want to address during the Programmers’ breakfast.