Sydney Festival marks its 50th anniversary in January 2026, transforming the city into a playground of imagination and movement. Across historic venues, pop-up spaces, and unexpected corners, bold theatre, dance, and immersive performance take centre stage. From internationally acclaimed choreographers to Australia’s next-generation artists, the festival highlights the vibrancy, diversity, and innovation of dance and performing arts. Audiences will witness works ranging from the audacious roller derby theatre of Mama Does Derby to the mesmerizing ritual of Joel Bray’s Garabari, celebrating First Nations culture under the stars. With performances by Bangarra Dance Theatre, Eun-Me Ahn, Dan Daw, and Alessandro Sciarroni, alongside interactive programs for young audiences, Sydney Festival 2026 promises a celebration of movement, story, and community that spans generations and genres.
Dance, Ritual and Cultural Continuity
Sydney Festival 2026 foregrounds dance as both spectacle and cultural expression. Bangarra Dance Theatre’s The Bogong’s Song: A Call to Country invites children and families into the Dreaming, tracing a magical journey where a brother and sister follow an elusive Bogong Moth. Through storytelling, shadow puppetry, song, and dance, the production explores connection, healing, and the significance of even the smallest creatures within Country.
First Nations choreographer Joel Bray’s Garabari reimagines the corroboree for a new generation, transforming Sydney Opera House’s Northern Broadwalk into a communal dance floor. In collaboration with Wiradjuri Elders, Bray fuses immersive visuals, ethereal costumes, and pulsating live music, creating a ceremony of movement that bridges generations and celebrates cultural resilience.
International Dance and Avant-Garde Movement
South Korean choreographer Eun-Me Ahn returns to Australia with Post-Orientalist Express, a kaleidoscopic exploration of Asian cultural traditions through eight dancers and more than 90 striking costumes. The avant-garde performance blends Okinawan, Balinese, and Filipino influences, delivering a satirical, visually immersive experience that challenges audience perceptions and expectations.
Italian choreographer Alessandro Sciarroni revives the nearly lost courtship ritual Polka Chinata in Save the Last Dance for Me. Through community-engaged performances at Leichhardt Town Hall, Dancer’s Alley, and Sydney Town Hall, the traditional polka steps are transformed into a contemporary spectacle that spans generations, highlighting dance as both heritage and living practice.
Dan Daw’s EXXY (Australian Exclusive) revisits his working-class upbringing, combining disability, queerness, and shared performance to examine identity and movement. Joined by three extraordinary dancers, the work celebrates resilience, individuality, and the expansive possibilities of contemporary dance.
Cabaret, Theatre and Immersive Performance
Dance and movement flow through Sydney Festival’s theatre offerings as well. Mama Does Derby turns Sydney Town Hall into a roller derby track for a mother-daughter story full of humour, sport, live music, and theatre. Physicality, athleticism, and storytelling collide in this hilarious and heartfelt Australian premiere by Virginia Gay and Clare Watson.
Other movement-heavy highlights include the gender-bending and boundary-pushing cabaret and theatre of Reuben Kaye’s enGORGEd, THISISPOPBABY’s WAKE, and Natalie Abbott’s Bad Hand, which explore human expression through music, physicality, and performance.
Summer School also offers dance-focused participatory experiences, enabling audiences to engage directly with choreographers and performers, turning the city into an interactive classroom of movement, creativity, and connection.
Young Audiences and Interactive Performance
Sydney Festival ensures the next generation experiences dance and performance firsthand. WAVERIDER by Legs On The Wall fuses acrobatics, surf culture, and physical theatre in a giant inflatable wave at Bondi Pavilion, while Voxstep’s Garden of Sound transforms movement into music through motion capture technology. Both works offer hands-on, immersive experiences that cultivate creativity, bodily awareness, and a love for performance among young audiences.
