Never Stop Dancing: Julidans 2025
We're celebrating the 35th edition of Julidans together with Christos Papadopoulos, William Forsythe & Ioannis Mandafounis, Lia Rodrigues, Nicole Beutler, Ann van den Broek, Cherish Menzo, Lovísa Ósk Gunnarsdóttir, Leïla Ka, Erna Ómarsdóttir & Halla Ólafsdóttir, Faye Driscoll and many more.
From the 2nd to the 13th of July, Julidans transforms Amsterdam into a stage for contemporary dance. Choreographers from near and far present their work in theatres, on the streets and in the park, with Internationaal Theater Amsterdam as the buzzing center of the festival. Julidans is the festival that speaks to both seasoned dance lovers and curious newcomers. The program features bold and distinctive choreographers – from established icons to provocateurs, from legendary icons to boundary-pushers – all showing us what dance is, and what it can be. Ticket sales have started, find the full festival program online.
NEVER STOP DANCING
We live in an uncertain time of profound transformation, that makes us feel vulnerable at times. We wonder what the future holds, and question how we can relate to a new reality. In this search for meaning and foothold, the unifying and connecting role of art is more important than ever. Dance allows us to feel and think with one another. This artform transcends boundaries and connects us. With the creative human body as a common instrument, dance can express the essence of being human, it brings us together and offers comfort. In search of inner strength, dance offers an outlet, a way to get to know ourselves. The conclusion? Never stop dancing.
JULIDANS 2025
On July 2, renowned Greek choreographer Christos Papadopoulos, who recently received the first Rose International Dance Prize, opens the festival. After a successful year, including with Nederlands Dans Theater, he returns to Julidans with his personal performance My Fierce Ignorant Step. In a confluence of movement and sound, the performance asks the question: How do we recover the youthful sense of boundless strength?
The search for inner strength can also be seen in the performance When The Bleeding Stops. After an injury, Icelandic dancer and choreographer Lovísa Ósk Gunnarsdóttir also went through menopause. Exploring the healing effects of dance and the aging female body, she shares the stage with local women in the same stage of life. Leïla Ka's hopeful performance Maldonne also shows femininity in all its strength and vulnerability. In Romeo & Juliet - Up Close by Erna Ómarsdóttir and Halla Ólafsdóttir, we see love as a monster. In her performance FRANK- short for Frankenstein - Cherish Menzo explores the monstrous as an embodiment of beliefs and ideas that frighten as well as fascinate us. In NOW WE ARE EARTH/an orchestra, Nicole Beutler dreams together with the audience about a new balance between humans and the planet. WASCO! offers a hopeful perspective: with paint, chalk and jazz music, a group of children create their own mini-society - far away from that of adults.
Julidans also presents performances in public spaces. At the Vondelpark Open Air Theatre, visitors experience Physical Therapy – Sober Rave Session by Connor Schumacher and Tolon Ké! by Serge Aimé Coulibaly. In the performance One One One by Ioannis Mandafounis, the audience takes a seat on the square in front of Internationaal Theater Amsterdam for a unique one-on-one improvisation with the dancers of the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company.
-|-
THREE ENCOUNTERS WITH DRESDEN FRANKFURT DANCE COMPANY
Julidans 2025 features three performances by Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company. In One One One, the company encounters the spectator in the public space. In the other two performances, a different kind of encounter emerges, one of generations. In Join by Ioannis Mandafounis, students from the Expanded Contemporary Dance program at the Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten share the stage with professional dancers from Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company. Generations, styles and emotions flow together in an energetic performance. In another performance two generations of choreographers meet in a special double bill by William Forsythe and Ioannis Mandafounis. Forsythe, a key figure in the renewal of classical ballet, for many years headed The Forsythe Company - the company that now continues as Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company. Mandafounis danced under Forsythe at the time and is now artistic director of DFDC. This program feature is a special encounter between the current artistic vision and the foundation of the company. This double bill stands out within the program, it is extremely special that Forsythe is creating new work.
You can see Julidans performances at Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, Theater Bellevue, Frascati, Meervaart, Podium Mozaïek, Vondelpark Openluchttheater, Bijlmer Parktheater.
Julidans is part of Big Pulse Dance Alliance, a partnership of 12 European dance festivals and institutions to promote, strengthen and broaden the contemporary dance sector. The partners: Biennale & Maison de la Danse Lyon, CODA Oslo International Dance Festival, December Dance Brugge, Dublin Dance Festival, International Dance Festival TANEC PRAHA, New Baltic Dance (Lithuania), One Dance Festival Plovdiv, Tanz im August Berlin, Torino Danza Festival, Zodiak Side Step Festival Helsinki, Dansa Metropolitana Barcelona, Bratislava in Movement (Slovakia), Julidans Amsterdam bigpulsedance.eu.
