EVENT DETAILS
Learn more about the artists and their work performing at the 2026 Seattle International Dance Festival.
Inter|National Series — Weekend One, Program A - Opening Night
MYOWNMOVE - South Korea
Performance Details :
June 6 – MYOWNMOVE presents Constructed Selves, which asks the question, “Are we all shaped into the forms that society desires?” Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Grounded in the belief that “everyone has their own movement,” MYOWNMOVE is a contemporary movement collective that expands individual physical languages into artistic expression. Through the process of transforming personal movement into unified works, they create pieces that reflect contemporary sensibilities and narratives.
Khambatta Dance Company - Seattle, WA
Performance Details:
June 6 – Khambatta Dance Company (KDC), performs 404: Human Not Found, using KDC’s signature athleticism and innovative partnering work to explore humankind’s fascination with machines and the paradox of our relationship to them: as humans adopt machine‑like behaviors, robots are simultaneously designed to mirror human qualities. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Khambatta Dance Company (KDC) was founded by executive artistic director, Cyrus Khambatta, a biracial artist whose father emigrated from India, and who studied contemporary performance at New York University in NYC’s creatively fertile 80s. KDC connects artists and audiences by exploring contemporary issues, emotionally resonant performances, and a collaborative dance creation process. KDC tours annually nationally and internationally at renowned festivals and venues, and intentionally cultivate networks of support with other dance artists through residencies and artist-to-artist collaborations. Since 2006, the Seattle International Dance Festival, KDC’s signature program, unifies communities and celebrates the city’s neighborhoods by showcasing the work of local, regional, national and international dance artists who exemplify the diversity of contemporary dance.
Up and Coming Education Series
Performance Details :
June 7 – Dance studios across the region share the diverse creative approaches that represent the city’s creative juggernaut. Experience the next wave of Seattle dance artists before they hit the big stages: Mo’ Motion Dance, Northwest Flamenco Academy, Semilla Flamenca, Evergreen City Ballet, Groove Studios, Bainbridge Dance Center, and The School of Spectrum Dance Theater Academy Program. Buy Tickets
Inter|National Series — Weekend One, Program B
NUA - South Korea
Performance Details :
June 7 – Salvation is a visceral dance-theatre work tracing a fallen being’s search for redemption through human connection. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
NUA is a contemporary performing arts group led by art directors Mijeong Kwon and Minuk Choi. The group creates original works through movement, theatricality, and contemporary Korean sensibility. Its performances are rooted in physical expression, strong imagery, and emotional resonance. For Salvation, Choi Minuk received the Best Choreographer Award and the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award at the Young Choreographer Creation Performance. NUA continues to expand its artistic language through bold and distinctive contemporary creations.
Spectrum Dance Theater - Seattle, WA
Performance Details :
June 7 – Details coming soon. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Spectrum Dance Theater (SDT) was founded in 1982 to bring dance of the highest merit to a diverse audience composed of people from different social, cultural, ethnic and economic backgrounds. Their principal objective is to make the art form of dance accessible through contemporary dance performances and high-quality training in a variety of dance styles.
Under Donald Byrd’s visionary artistic leadership since 2002, the organization has embarked on an exhilarating transformation that has attracted world-class dancers, produced some of the most ambitious works in contemporary dance, and generated local and national praise.
Spotlight on Seattle
Hana Carlson - Seattle, WA
Performance Details :
June 9 – IM Resting is an exploration of the humanness of a dancer through the physicality of rest in relation to identity as a Queer Black Woman. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Hana Carlson is a US based choreographer, performer, and teaching artist whose work connects dance, community, and advocacy. A First Class graduate of London Contemporary Dance School ‘25, she has created choreography for stage, film, youth companies, and collaborations with organizations including Northwest Sinfonietta and The Place Theatre. She has also performed works by international choreographers at venues such as Sadler’s Wells, Wilton’s Music Hall, and The Place. Her work has been recognized with the Chelsea Arts Club Award and the Lionel Bart Award in 2024.
Lucille Jun & Co. - Tacoma, WA
Performance Details :
June 9 – What’s in a name? untangles the race-relations held within the body. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Lucille Jun is a Washington-born, project-based artist whose work thrives on collaboration. After nearly a decade performing with the award‑winning Yeon Arts Company in South Korea, she returned to the U.S. in 2017 to explore new forms of storytelling. Drawing from contemporary dance, traditional Korean movement, and hip hop, she investigates what it means to live between multiple identities while claiming her full, complex self. Her work has been presented through PLU, Barefoot Collective, Full Tilt, Bridge Project, Amherst College, Seoul Olympic Park Arena amongst others.
Freedom in Motion Dance Collective/Rodrick Barnes - Seattle, WA
Performance Details :
June 9 – Unpeeled in a Volatile Light explores how we try to find ‘solid ground’ in a world that is in flux. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
For three years, Freedom in Motion Dance Collective has invigorated Seattle’s artistic landscape. Through groundbreaking performances and dedicated talent development, they are shaping the future of dance in our city.
Wade Madsen - Seattle, WA
Performance Details :
June 9 – Being looks at the Human experience through gesture and ritual. The work was created through the lens of “What is unique and sets each of us apart from the other? How do we see and feel how we are perceived?”, and features a diverse group of dancers with varied ages and varied backgrounds in performance. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Wade Madsen is a prolific Seattle-based choreographer and performer who has shaped the regional dance landscape since 1977. A three-time National Endowment for the Arts fellow, he has created over 200 works and served as a longtime senior faculty professor at Cornish College of the Arts. His extensive career includes national tours with the Bill Evans Dance Company and prestigious commissions for Spectrum Dance and the Seattle Opera. Acclaimed by Dance Magazine for highlighting the “vulnerability of the human character,” Madsen’s diverse portfolio ranges from the stage suite ‘The Waiting Line’ to the film ‘The Improvement Club’. Currently an instructor at Exit Space Dance, he remains a vital creative force through his company, Wade Madsen & Dancers, and frequent new premieres.
Zihao Yuan - Seattle, WA
Performance Details :
June 9 – The Hidden Q.U.E.E.R. challenges traditional gender norms, expressions and perceptions in dance and reflects my ongoing journey as a “Kuer” (酷儿or queer) Chinese dance artist-scholar. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Zihao Yuan is a Seattle-based “Kuer” (酷儿 or queer) Chinese dance artist-scholar. He is also a first-year PhD Student | Graduate Fellow in Dance Studies at The Ohio State University, pursuing a minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the Shanghai Theatre Academy (2016) and a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Washington (2024).
James Ray Residency & Touring — Program A
Davianna Griffin - Seattle, WA
Performance Details :
June 10 – Seeds Of Mourning is a layered exploration of generational grief that transforms pain into communal dreaming and collective healing in the pursuit of justice and joy. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Davianna’s art boldly celebrates Black culture, weaving storytelling and memory into every piece. Her work has premiered internationally in Brazil and at venues like Urban Arts Space and the Hybrid Arts Lab. Her choreography was showcased at Full Tilt 2025, the Baltimore Black Choreographers Festival, the Collegium for African Diaspora Dance, and at several universities along the East Coast.
Tatkaar y Taconeo - Seattle, WA
Performance Details :
June 10 – Panchaboota – The five elements, is both a traditional and innovative exploration of the elements of life, presented through music and dance of two cultures and their traditions. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Pooja Ganesh is a Kathak dancer, choreographer, and educator with over 15 years of performance experience in India and the United States. Eve Salonen is a flamenco dancer who has a long experience in the flamenco arts as a performer, choreographer, educator and as a dance academy director. Jed Miley is a flamenco guitarist, composer, and music producer with over twenty years of experience in the flamenco arts. Erin Lau is a vocalist with a wide experience in many forms of music, currently focusing on flamenco cante (singing) for the past twenty years. Shivaraj Natraj is a genre-defying vocalist, beatboxer, mridangam artist, and konnakol practitioner whose work bridges Carnatic music with contemporary global sounds. Rishabh is a multi instrumentalist from the seattle area who has learned sarod from the young age of two, and actively explores the intersections of jazz and indian classical through his playing and composing.
James Ray Residency & Touring — Program B
Maisy Neill - Seattle, WA
Performance Details :
June 11 – To the Breaking Point explores the pursuit of lasting contentment–why we long for a life of ease and quiet satisfaction, yet so often stand in our own way. It questions the impulse to self-sabotage and asks why we resist the very peace we seek. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
As an LA native, Maisy grew up training in a variety of styles, including ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern, street styles, Dunham, Bollywood, and aerial arts techniques. Her time in Seattle has expanded her practice to include vertical dance, pole, and Undercurrent floorwork technique. Maisy holds a degree in Dance and Psychology from the University of Washington (2024), and is the recipient of the Evelyn H. Greene Endowed Scholarship for artistic promise (2023). Maisy has presented choreography for the UW Dance Majors Concert, Seattle Theater Groups DANCE This, BOOST Dance Festival, and LAUNCH Dance Festival.
Soapy Towell Productions - Seattle, WA
Performance Details :
June 11 – No Pulp says bye to BS and bye-bye to pulp. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Soapy Towel Productions is a contemporary based dance collective. Led by queer artist Sophie Powell, they take inspiration from movements and gestures from daily life to influence the story of each piece. Sophie has presented work with Olympic Ballet School, Texture Contemporary Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Houston Ballet and Houston Ballet Academy and has choreographed a number of academic musical theatre productions.
CollabArt Creations - Seattle, WA
Performance Details :
June 11 – What if that Thread were Braided? explores the fragile moments when we find ourselves hanging on by a thread, and the strength that emerges when we weave our struggles together to climb up. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
CollabArt, as its name suggests, collaborates with a variety of artists and performers to continuously create, expand and explore artistic expression. Under the artistic direction of Kylah Powell, CollabArt Creations provides opportunities for professionals and emerging artists to work together and produce eclectic forms of art, both visual and performance.
Inter|National Series — Weekend Two, Program A
Olympic Ballet Theatre - Edmonds, WA
Performance Details :
June 12 – Our Tender Distance explores the challenge of staying open and vulnerable in a world marked by pain, where the instinct to retreat often conflicts with the desire for connection. It reflects on finding strength in tenderness, portraying art, love, and human connection as both refuge and a path toward a more empathetic world. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Founded in 1981, Olympic Ballet Theatre is a nonprofit ballet company serving the North Puget Sound region with a dynamic repertoire of classical and contemporary works. Under the artistic direction of Mara Vinson and Oleg Gorboulev, OBT has become a mainstay of the regional arts scene, performing regularly in Edmonds and Everett. The company is dedicated to developing professional dancers while providing performance opportunities for emerging artists alongside internationally recognized guest performers. OBT presents high-quality productions each season, reaching thousands of audience members annually with accessible, family-friendly performances. Through its commitment to artistic excellence, community collaboration, and innovative programming, OBT continues to enrich the cultural landscape of the Puget Sound region.
The Guild - Seattle, WA
Performance Details :
June 12 – Details coming soon. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Founded by Artistic Director Alex Ung in 2018, the Guild is a nonprofit multidisciplinary dance company dedicated to fostering collaboration and creativity among artists. It serves as a platform to share stories through dance to engage audiences, fellow artists, and local communities.
Inter|National Series — Weekend Two, Program B
soothsayer - Portland, Oregon
Performance Details :
June 13 – soothsayer X S.A.D. (search and destroy) explores the invisible lines, boundaries, and borders that we have created for ourselves and each other, and, how these imaginary boxes affect our relationships with ourselves, our communities, and the world around us. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
soothsayer is an ongoing, ever-evolving artistic project combining dance, storytelling, and art of all mediums to explore the unknown origins & futures of humankind and our place within the cosmic abyss. Additionally, soothsayer serves to give attention & aid to people and organizations making a positive impact in their communities, and uses all performance opportunities to address real issues affecting real people. Inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and an unexpected Near-Death Experience, soothsayer began as a dance piece exploring what “the pilgrim” considers to be “The 4 Questions”: Where do we come from? Where are we now? Where are we going? What does it all mean, if anything at all? Using dance, film, text, soundscapes, visual art, improvisation, and more, soothsayer has been in constant evolution since its first performance in 2013 with every performance differing from the last. Various iterations of soothsayer have been presented at Fertile Ground Festival in Portland, Dance City Festival in Detroit, RAW Artists Festival in Vancouver, BC, and in various pop-up performances & installations in the Pacific Northwest region. In 2017, soothsayer was selected as the only dance piece from the United States to be represented at the New Dance for Asia Festival in Seoul, South Korea. In addition to live performance, soothsayer also exists in a podcast-form with new episodes currently in the works.
Compagnie Tamadia - Burkina Faso, Africa
Performance Details :
June 13 – Kounfetaga is an evocative solo that blends dance, storytelling, and music to explore resilience and inner transformation, revealing how the body resists, absorbs, and adapts to rupture and loss while affirming the enduring strength of cultural roots amid dislocation. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Founded in 2006 in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, Compagnie Tamadia is a non‑profit, apolitical, and non‑denominational arts and civil society organization dedicated to African contemporary and traditional performing arts. Led by founder, choreographer, and artistic director Aguibou Bougobali SANOu, the company places dance at the heart of its artistic research, in dialogue with music, storytelling, and theatre. Tamadia’s creations have toured extensively across Africa, Europe, and Asia, and have been presented at major international festivals and cultural platforms. Notable works such as Errance (Bronze Medal for Choreography, Jeux de la Francophonie 2013) and Kounfetaga (premiered at the Attakkalari Biennale, India) reflect the company’s commitment to socially engaged and globally resonant artistry. Beyond performance, Compagnie Tamadia is the founder of the In‑Out Dance and World Arts Festival, fostering artistic exchange, training, and cultural dialogue in public spaces.
Grinnell College's Dance Ensemble Activate - Burkina Faso, Africa
Performance Details :
June 13 – Errance is a powerful contemporary dance work that uses wandering as a metaphor to explore human disorientation, cultural drift, and global crises such as climate change, migration, and economic instability revealing how these forces shape bodies, identities, and human relationships. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Grinnell College’s Dance Ensemble Activate is both a performance ensemble and an academic course directed by Professor Aguibou Bougobali SANOU, foregrounding creative research, cultural inquiry, and contemporary dance practice. This season, the ensemble revisits Errance, an internationally awarded work by Compagnie Tamadia, reimagined and choreographed by SANOU in close collaboration with the student performers, exploring themes of displacement and shared humanity.
Inter|National Series — Weekend Two, Program C
Ethan Pak Rome Dance - Seattle, WA
Performance Details :
June 14 – Ethan Pak Rome Dance finds the power in softness, waving and undulating currents course between the sarcomeres, gathering and carving the air around us. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Ethan Pak Rome is a half Korean and Norwegian dancer, teacher, and choreographer. His contemporary work has a wide vocabulary of experience, utilizing his background in breaking, hip-hop, and martial arts. Conceptually, his work often draws on themes of identity, heritage, and philosophy. He has trained at Jacob’s Pillow and danced professionally for the Khambatta Dance Company, Seattle opera, and around the world. He has choreographed for KDC, Price Arts N.E.W., Intrepidus, Bridge Project, BOOST, Western Washington University, Gonzaga University, and co-founded Forthun+Rome Dance Theater and the Trillium Dance Collective. He is currently pursuing his MFA in Dance at the University of Illinois. Learn more at www.ethanpakrome.com.
Khambatta Dance Company - Seattle, WA
Performance Details :
June 14 – Seattle-based Khambatta Dance Company premieres a new work. Buy Tickets
Company Background:
Khambatta Dance Company (KDC) was founded by executive artistic director, Cyrus Khambatta, a biracial artist whose father emigrated from India, and who studied contemporary performance at New York University in NYC’s creatively fertile 80s. KDC connects artists and audiences by exploring contemporary issues, emotionally resonant performances, and a collaborative dance creation process. KDC tours annually nationally and internationally at renowned festivals and venues, and intentionally cultivate networks of support with other dance artists through residencies and artist-to-artist collaborations. Since 2006, the Seattle International Dance Festival, KDC’s signature program, unifies communities and celebrates the city’s neighborhoods by showcasing the work of local, regional, national and international dance artists who exemplify the diversity of contemporary dance.
Note: All ticket sales are final. There are no refunds for “no-shows.” Tickets may be exchanged for alternate dates with 72 hours’ notice prior to the new date desired. Unused or partially used passes are non-refundable in whole or in part and may not be converted to single tickets. If you require assistance, please contact us.
Photos of Khambatta Dance Company by Jim Coleman. Photo of NUA curtesy of the artist. Photo of Spectrum Dance Theater curtesy of the artist. Photo of Freedom in Motion Dance Collective curtesy of the artist. Photo of Wade Madsen by Jim Coleman. Photo of Zihao Yuan curtesy of the artist. Photo of Hana Carlson by Rocio Chacon. Photo of Lucille & Co. courtesy of the artist. Photo of Davianna Griffin courtesy of the artist. Photo of Tatkaar y Taconeo courtesy of the artist. Photo of Maisy Neill courtesy of the artist. Photo of Soapy Towell Productions courtesy of the artist. Photo of CollabArt Creations courtesy of the artist. Photo of Olympic Ballet Theatre courtesy of the artist. Photo of The Guild courtesy of the artist. Photo of soothsayer by Melissa Toledo. Photo of Compagnie Tamadia courtesy of the artist. Photo of Grinnell College’s Dance Ensemble Activate courtesy of the artist. Photo of Ethan Pak Rome Dance by Natalie Fiol. Photo of Khambatta Dance Company by Jim Coleman.