Experimental Dance Festival Aotearoa 2026 returns after 6-Year Hiatus

From cults and Indigenous experiences of neurodiversity to the seriousness and silliness of having hair, the collision of K-pop and feminine rage, and a multigenerational whānau performance, Experimental Dance Festival Aotearoa returns this December with a programme that takes a break from the mainstream. 

After a six-year post-Covid hiatus, Experimental Dance Festival Aotearoa (formerly Experimental Dance Week Aotearoa) takes over Tāmaki Makaurau from 20 November – 12 December, presenting 21 projects across 10 venues and bringing together artists from Aotearoa, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Taiwan, USA, Sweden and Korea. Artist talks and workshops begin from 20 November in the lead-up to the full festival kicking off on 1 December.

Expect performances in secret locations revealed only after booking, video works, longer-form performances and a programme that moves between theatres, galleries and unexpected spaces across the city.

Artist-led and artist-centred, the festival was founded by Alexa Wilson, who returns as Artistic Director, Producer and Artist alongside Co-Curators Kelly Nash (Kaitiaki) and Dina Jezdic. Together they have shaped the 2026 programme from an open call to artists.

“After sell-out festivals in 2019 and 2020, we’re thrilled to be returning after six years with our biggest programme yet. This year’s programme celebrates the incredible breadth of talent and creativity of our local dance community and features exciting international works for the first time too,” says Wilson.

The works in EDFA 2026 are influenced by ideas and practices far beyond traditional dance, from philosophy and politics to performance and visual art, writing, somatic practices and non-Western creative processes. Artists question assumptions around gender, identity, the body and the ideologies that shape contemporary life, often drawing directly on their own lives, experiences and ways of moving through the world.

“Experimental just means creative. Risk-taking. It can be challenging, unsettling and unfamiliar, but it can also be invigorating, exciting, moving and inspiring.” says Wilson.

The festival remains strongly focused on Aotearoa artists and supporting a cross-section of intersectional voices, while 2026 also marks a first step into international exchange. At a challenging time for the arts, bringing artists together from here and overseas feels particularly significant.

Artist sustainability is at the heart of EDFA, ensuring artists are well paid while keeping ticket prices affordable for audiences. Through its artist-led approach, the festival aims to demonstrate how festivals can value artists’ work while keeping live performance within reach of audiences, something that matters more than ever in the current economic climate.

The programme includes five video works presented as an exhibition at Audio Foundation from 1 – 12 December, four talks and workshops at Wellesley Studios, a shared-bill programme of nine works at Pitt Street Theatre from 1 – 4 December, and seven longer-form off-site works presented across the city from 5 – 12 December.

The 2026 artists include local Indigenous powerhouses Charles Koroneho, Tru Paraha and Presley Ziogas, international heavyweights Chimerik (Canada/Taiwan) and pavleheidler (Sweden), experimental multidisciplinary artists Amber Liberté (NZ/Australia), Victoria Abbott/Mym Kwa (NZ/Australia), and Stephen Bain.

Also in this year’s programme is Min Kyoung Lee (Korea/NZ), Rebecca Jensen (Australia/NZ), Brandon Ross, Helena May, Sam Hamilton (USA/NZ), Jake Starrs/Stella Grace Seawright, Celia Hext, Olivia McGregor, Katie Burton, Oliver Connew, Josiah Morgan/Dominic Hamilton/Dispendio Grupo (NZ/Brazil), Cindy Yunha Jang, val smith and Cassie Freeth, whose work will open the festival.

The 2026 programme is live now, check it out here.

EDFA 2026 is supported by Creative New Zealand, Foundation North, Auckland Council and Wellesley Studios. “We have been lucky enough to secure $135,000 of funding for this year’s festival. In this current climate of mass funding precarity, this cross-funder support is monumental and proves we as an alternative festival are actively changing the landscape of contemporary dance in Aotearoa.” says Wilson.

EXPERIMENTAL DANCE FESTIVAL AOTEAROA
20 November – 12 December
Workshops and talks from 20 November
Venues: Pitt Street Theatre, Audio Foundation, Wellesley Studios, and 7 off-site locations still to be announced.
Price: $25, 2 for 1 tickets $35, $17.50 conc, $245 festival pass.
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