Program Nederlandse Dansdagen 2025 complete

Health and inclusion

The Nederlandse Dansdagen focuses on dance in the Netherlands in all its forms. This year, the festival is paying extra attention to the combination of dance and health. Good for both body and mind, dance has a positive impact on all kinds of aspects of our lives. The festival opens with a lecture entitled The Power of Dance by Professor Janine Stubbe, in which she shows how art, science, and health can reinforce each other. This will be followed by a program filled with round tables, lectures, and performances, aimed at professionals and the healthcare sector as well as a broad audience. Part of this is a round table discussion on inclusive talent development in education and a lecture calling for improved healthcare standards for dancers.

Marc Vlemmix, Sharon Wesseling and Jordy Dik have been nominated for this year's Innovation Award 2025. The winner can use the prize money to create a new production, which will premiere during the festival in 2026. This year, the Innovation Award focuses specifically on creators who make or want to make work for or with people who, due to their mental or physical limitations or psychological vulnerability, do not readily come into contact with dance.

Marc Vlemmix Dance and Leyden Academy present Truth = Dare: a performance by people who carry something with them — Parkinson's, rheumatism, MS, or the infirmities of aging. The performance poignantly shows how much courage it takes to let go and start over again and again.

And R.A.A.F. danst collaborated with young adults to develop a performance in which the mortal body is set in motion. What does it mean to be young and very ill?

Nederlandse Dansdagen board: “We focus on dance in the Netherlands in its entirety. One of the important trends in recent years has been the growth in the number of initiatives that focus on the relationship between dance and health. Nederlandse Dansdagen wants to take the lead in this and ensure an overarching approach that we will also see in the programming of the festival in future editions.”

Ticket sales start

The Nederlandse Dansdagen will take place from Friday, October 3, through Thursday, October 9, 2025. Theater aan het Vrijthof is co-producer of the activities that take place within its own venue. Ticket sales for the entire program will start on Saturday, August 30, at www.nederlandsedansdagen.nl

DansWEB 

Together with the healthcare, education, and cultural partners participating in the regional DansWEB, Dansdagen wants to let as many people as possible experience dance. A highlight is therefore the premiere of Er begint iets te spelen… (Something is starting to happen...), in which Muziektheater PRA, led by Monique Masselink, is also participating. Together with fifty participants, ranging from young people with intellectual disabilities to elderly people from nursing homes, dansWEB presents a unique performance in Opus 9 in which encounter and connection take center stage. This is symbolically represented by a single thread, which ultimately has the power to set an entire group in motion.

Festivalheart

On Friday, October 3, Maastricht will become the capital of Dutch dance. Dance will spread throughout the city in all its forms from the festival heart in Theater aan het Vrijthof. For seven days, the city will be buzzing with energy and movement: at performances, dance evenings, and dance films. Featuring the major dance companies of our country, as well as new and established creators, plus talent from our own region. And with older people, young people, and children, there is something beautiful for everyone to visit and experience. 

For example, Raging Against Various Elements (R.A.V.E.) by ARK/Connor Schumacher can be seen in the Bordenhal, and you can watch dance films during three different programs at the Lumière cinema. On Saturday, October 4, the Sint Janskerk on the Vrijthof will be transformed into Danskerk, an experience you won't want to miss. With various programs, you can see dance in its purest form here:

• Dutch Mavericks, featuring virtuoso and groundbreaking creators such as Liam McCall in the duet pparrallell created for NextSteps, the collaboration between ISH Dance Collective and the Junior Company. There will also be new work by Open Your Mind finalist Polina Skarga, and Courtney May Robertson will give a sneak preview of her work.

• Dance: Right Now!, featuring creators with a Limburg background and the first edition of CLASHLAB, where a choreographer, fashion designer, and musician collaborate to create a living work of art.

• Dancing across borders, with a tribute to the anniversary of the Flamenco Biennial in a premiere by Claudia Karapanou, a triptych by the versatile Turkish-Dutch choreographer Rutkay Özpinar, and the duet Present, created by Marne van Opstal at the invitation of the Netherlands-based Ukrainian Ballet. 

Even more beauty

This year's program is once again richly filled with international toptalents and many premieres:

• On Saturday, discover a new generation of creators during the 13th edition of DANSLOKAAL, Conny Janssen Danst's annual talent development program, this time featuring Andrea Costanzo Martini, Faizah Grootens, and Sheree Lenting.

• After winning the Innovation Award at the Nederlandse Dansdagen Maastricht 2024, Anne Suurendonk was able to create Emo. This performance, in which she explores the emotional world of women, will premiere during the festival. 

• WArd/waRD, Ann Van den Broek's company, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. A great reason for the premiere of Play in the Bordenhal; a performance that takes you back to the child in yourself amid the chaos of the present.  

• On Sunday, the explosive performance by the Canadian school Arts Umbrella Dance Company will be shown, featuring pieces by no fewer than seven choreographers connected to the Netherlands: Astrid Boons, Fernando Magadan, Cyril Baldy, Lukáš Timulak, Crystal Pite, Marco Goecke, and Stephen Shropshire.

Images by: Hugo Thomassan, Manou Veldman, Polina Mirovskaya, Joris-Jan Bos, Amanda Harput