Rhine-Main Dance Festival
Under the theme “A Body of Many – Moving Democracy,” the 11th edition of the Rhein Main Dance Festival will take place from October 30 to November 15. With world premieres and guest performances in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Offenbach, and Wiesbaden, the festival presents a wide range of dance forms.
The Rhine-Main Dance Festival will open on October 30 with the double bill “Magnificat / The Rite of Spring” by the internationally renowned Compagnie Marie Chouinard at the Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden. With approximately 85 events, including 26 stage productions as well as films, workshops, educational programs, and parties, the Rhine-Main region will be transformed into a vast stage over the course of 17 festival days, showcasing dance in all its diversity: from large-scale ensemble pieces to intimate solos, from radically contemporary styles to cross-genre experiments.
Program for Families
For families, there’s a selection of programs tailored for young audiences: Babies, preschoolers, and schoolchildren can experience their first dance performance with age-appropriate pieces such as *Unseen World* by Dansema Dance Theater or *bron* by kabinet k. And this year, too, the Rhine-Main Dance Day will get the region dancing: On October 31, dance enthusiasts can try their hand at all kinds of dance styles in 130 workshops and introductory classes.
Spotlight: Lia Rodrigues & Associates
As the Spotlight Artist of the 2026 Rhine-Main Dance Festival, Brazilian choreographer Lia Rodrigues will offer a glimpse into her work through two pieces. In 1990, she founded her Companhia de Danças, thereby shaping the world of contemporary dance. For over 20 years, Rodrigues has been working at the Centro de Artes da Maré, located in one of Rio de Janeiro’s largest favelas—a place that has also significantly influenced her work: Her pieces center on community, nature, resources, and inequality, and view dance as a space for encounter.
In addition, the choreographer has proposed other artists for the festival program with whom she feels a close connection. As “Associates” of Lia Rodrigues, they will present their own pieces. The 2026 Rhine-Main Dance Festival thus offers a multifaceted insight into the work of one of Brazil’s best-known choreographers and reflects Rodrigues’s perspective of always seeing her work as shaped and permeated by others.
To complement the program, workshops, dance teas, and other events will offer opportunities to learn about and try out dance styles from Brazil.