European Dance Development Network

Thank you, Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER, for hosting our EDN office meeting during Spoiler Alert, the showcase of bold new works from Ghent.

EDN's coordination team is based remotely and connects each day from across Europe. When we meet in person, with our bodies, minds, and laptops, we strengthen our collaboration and coordinate our efforts to connect dance development organisations across Europe. 🙌

Attention EDN members: Staff Exchange applications are closing.

If you work at an EDN member organisation, in any role, you can apply for a €1,300 travel bursary. It lets you exchange knowledge with a peer organisation elsewhere in the network between January and November 2027, and covers a minimum of six overnight stays, per diems and travel.

⏳ Register by 30 September 2026
🔗 https://www.ednetwork.eu/activities/staff-exchange-25-28

📸 image credits: la briqueterie (c)Joseph Banderet

Young People in Dance: From Spectators to Co-Creators

What does dance hold for children and young people? Join artists and organisations in Roubaix for three days of talks, shared thinking and performances, hosted by Le Gymnase CDCN during the Forever Young festival.

The programme works through two lenses:
🔹Young people as audiences: what shifts in artistic practice when children and young people are treated as the primary audience rather than secondary spectators?
🔹Young people as participants: on stage, in research, and in programming and decision-making.

Over three days: panels on creating for young audiences, dance, citizenship and empowerment; a reflection on ten years of LOOP - National Network for Dance and Youth; artist pitch sessions; and performances by Magda Kachouche, Jihyé Jung and Silvia Gribaudi, among others, as part of the Forever Young festival.

The Atelier is developed in close connection with BIG, the International Production and Dissemination Hub for Dance for Young Audiences led by Le Gymnase. It is proposed by the EDN YOUNG Working Group in the frame of Embodied Transformations, EDN's EU-funded network project.

📌 Roubaix, France
🗓 30 November – 2 December 2026
⏳Sign up by 30 September
🔗 https://www.ednetwork.eu/activities/young-atelier-2026

How can the cultural sector embrace digital tools without increasing its environmental footprint?

Join eco‑consultant David Irle for a practical session on responsible AI use, sustainable digital habits, and collective solutions for the future.

📌 6 October | 10:00–11:30 CET | online
💡free of charge, registration is required
⏳Register by 2 October
🔗 https://www.ednetwork.eu/activities/digital-practices-webinar

This webinar is part of Aerowaves’ Responsible Digital Practices series, organised together with EDN and Versopolis.

Supported by EU Creative Europe and The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon

New EDN Board, same mission: a sustainable, progressive, and equitable dance sector for Europe ✨

At our General Assembly in Hamburg this June, EDN members elected a new co-presidency and welcomed three new board members.

Chiara Organtini (Lavanderia a Vapore) joins Louise Costelloe (Dance Ireland) as co-president of the EDN association.

Bertha Bermúdez (Dantzaz) takes on the role of secretary, while Mathis Junet (TROIS C-L) continues for another term as treasurer.

We are also delighted to welcome three new board members: Maja Hriešik (PLAST - Platforma pre súčasný tanec), Eddie Nixon (The Place) and Pauline Patoux (Centre national de la danse - CN D).

Continuing to serve on the board are Pedro Barreiro (O Espaço Do Tempo), Atanas Maev (Derida Dance Center), and Biljana Tanurovska Kjulavkovski (LOKOMOTIVA-Centre for New Initiatives in Arts and Culture).

🔗 EDN board: https://www.ednetwork.eu/page/about/board
💫 EDN mission & vision: https://www.ednetwork.eu/page/about/mission-vision

Join us in Budapest this November for EDN's FAIR Working Group's first Atelier. Three days on representation, responsibility & fair work, hosted by SÍN Arts and Culture Center & Trafó House

✨ Feel welcome to stay for dunaPart (18–21 Nov) and discover emerging talent from the Hungarian performing arts scene

🗓 16–18 Nov 2026
📍 Budapest
⏳ Register by 17 Sept
🔗 https://www.ednetwork.eu/activities/fair-atelier-2026

Last week in Collegno, our Network Manager Eva Broberg joined the panel at NID Platform alongside Eduardo Bonito (Dance Festivals Network Europe), Jazmin Chiodi (Dublin Dance Festival) and Elisabetta Bisaro (Aerowaves), hosted by EDN Co-President Chiara Organtini (Lavanderia a Vapore).

✨ Thank you to NID Platform for the invitation and for creating space for this conversation.

Together, we reflected on why contemporary dance needs stronger recognition in cultural policy: a largely independent, project-based field that runs on co-productions and cross-border mobility, and one that shapes connection, citizenship and social transformation far beyond the stage.

With the EU's next long-term budget now on the table, conversations like this couldn't be more timely. is our shared call to keep contemporary dance visible, valued and supported across Europe.

Aerowaves Lavanderia a Vapore NID Platform
Creative Europe

📸 photo by Andrea Macchia

👀 Who and what gets a place in the performing arts?

As part of Dansehallerne’s international festival (9–19 September), Denmark's national stage for dance is hosting a conversation on access and representation.

Speakers include the director of Udviklingsplatformen for Scenekunst 𝗘𝗿𝗶𝗸 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗱, interdisciplinary artist 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗶 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲, artistic director of HAUT and choreographer and artist 𝗟𝗶𝗹𝗶 𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗺, and performance artist 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗵 𝗟𝗲.

The event is motivated by EDN's 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲, supporting our members' initiatives that articulate the position of the dance sector locally, regionally or nationally.
⁠
𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣: 19 𝙎𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙩 15.30-16.30⁠
𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚: 𝙎𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙤 3, 𝘿𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙚⁠ (Copenhagen, Denmark)
⁠⁠
The conversation is free and open to everyone, reservation is required:
🔗 https://dansehallerne.dk/en/professionals/talk/24629/

📣 EFFEA offers funding for festivals to support emerging artists through international residencies in 2027.

Each proposal should bring together:
🎭 1 emerging artist or group
🏛️ 1 leading festival
🏛️ at least 2 partner festivals
🌍 from at least 3 eligible countries

50 residencies will be supported through two categories:
🔹 EFFEA Discovery — 40 x €8,000
🔹 EFFEA Springboard — 10 x €15,000

🔗 https://www.ednetwork.eu/news/effea

The European Festivals Fund for Emerging Artists - EFFEA is an initiative of the European Festivals Association (EFA) funded by the European Union and implemented in partnership with 15 EFFEA Platform Members.

📸 image credits: Collectif ES

A warm welcome to our newest member: Agora, Cité Internationale de la Danse

Formed in 2025 through the merger of Montpellier Danse and CCN Occitanie, Agora brings together dance creation, touring, training, and festival programming under one roof.

🔗 https://www.ednetwork.eu/member/agora