The international contemporary dance festival, Lugano Dance Project, is being held for the third year, this time dedicated to the combination of dance and heritage. From 10 to 14 June 2026, it will transform the city of Lugano into a great showcase for artists and performing arts operators from all over the world. It will feature new co-productions conceived by established talents on the world dance scene, site-specific performances, workshops, round tables, and screenings: a rich programme of events that will take place at LAC and other venues around the city.

Many civilisations have transmitted and still transmit their history and cultural heritage through song and dance. Yet, we often forget that we come from that kind of transmission and communication and that the body is both a genetic archive and a cultural archive. Going through direct experience gives us a range of information that would otherwise be difficult to convey in words.
As an international festival and platform, which will be held for the third time in 2026 and reflects on the present to launch projects into the future, it has become crucial to understand what it means ‘to transmit’, asking ourselves how the transmission of dance/knowledge can be made fluid and accessible, how can we create a sense of identity and continuity through dance, and how can we produce new dance/knowledge by mixing collective or individual memories carried by bodies with different cultural elements, either from different societies or from different groups or classes within the same society.
We decided to dedicate this third Lugano Dance Project festival to the theme of “dance and heritage” because we strongly believe that transmitting means preserving what we have inherited from the past with the criteria that apply to the time we live in, its value system, and its challenges and needs, while also continuing to produce it and provide the conditions for future generations to build a heritage.

Read more

Programme

Wednesday 10 June

TBD

Atelier for professionals with Chiara Bersani

Atelier

20:00 LAC, Sala Teatro

Pina Bausch / Meryl Tankard
Kontakthof – Echoes of ‘78

Dance

National premiere

Thursday 11 June

TBD

Atelier for professionals with Chiara Bersani

Atelier

10:00 – 13:00 LAC, Sala 1

Tool de Suisse
Reso – Rete Danza Svizzera

Workshop

14:00 – 17:00 LAC, Sala 1

Focus Danse & Dramaturgie
width Joséphine Bohr Capanna/ Camilla Parini,
Baptiste Cazaux/ Lisa Laurent,
Donya Speaks/ Fatima Moumouni,
Moderated by Kylie Walters

Round table

19:00 Palazzo dei Congressi

Trajal Harrell
Music Music – Histoire du Théâtre VII

Dance

National premiere

21:00 LAC, Sala Teatro

Pina Bausch / Meryl Tankard,
Kontakthof – Echoes of ‘78

Dance

National premiere

Friday 12 June 2026

TBD

Atelier for professionals with Chiara Bersani

Atelier

11:00 – 12:30 LAC, Sala 1

Lecture Dance & Heritage
with Cecilia Bengolea

Round table

15:00-18:30
(more replies)
LAC

Camilla Parini
Je suisse (or not)

Performance

16:30-17:45 Cinema Iride

Screening of video works by Cecilia Bengolea

Followed by a talk by Emily May

Screening

Talk

19:00 / 21:30 TBD

Yasmine Hugonnet
Our Times

Dance

Saturday 13 June

TBD

Workshop for professionals with Chiara Bersani

Atelier

09:30 – 01:00 LAC,
different locations

The Gathering
Multidisciplinary day dedicated to Middle Eastern culture

  • 2 Workshops
  • Lebanese brunch
  • Round table Dance & Heritage
    with Omar Rajeh, Yasmine Hugonnet, Kyle Abraham, Chiara Bersani; moderated by Emily May
  • Hamdi Dridi, Soul(s) Power
  • Ghida Hachicho, Prelude to Violence
  • Omar Rajeh, Dance People
  • DJ set

Dance

Workshop

Round table

DJ set

10:00-18:00
(more replies)
LAC

Camilla Parini
Je suisse (or not)

Performance

Sunday 14 June

TBD

Performance Chiara Bersani / Atelier Blumer – USI

Performance

14:00 Teatro Foce

Yasmine Hugonnet
Parentèle – Première relation

Dance

16:00 LAC, Sala Teatro

A.I.M by Kyle Abraham
White Space

Dance

World premiere

Loading...