Tanzfestival Rhein-Main 2026 – Moving Democracy

In the 11th edition of the Tanzfestival Rhein-Main 2026, Mousonturm and its partner Hessisches Staatsballett want to explore how democracy can be experienced as a living, physical practice.

The programme will focus, among other artists, on Brazilian choreographer Lia Rodrigues, whose work combines artistic power with social responsibility. Rodrigues' pieces Encantados and Borda, as well as an exhibition project developed by Rodrigues for the festival, demonstrate how bodies in motion open up spaces for solidarity, participation and new alliances.

In addition, approximately 12 other pieces by choreographers such as Ali Charhour, Cherish Menzo and others will be shown, which approach social negotiation processes from the margins and tell of hope, resistance and community, but also of the relationship between physical formation, norms and power.

The body is often ignored in current debates. The festival, in turn, makes it tangible as a central agent of social and political processes. With a mix of top-class international dance performances and various participatory activities, it invites groups of people of different ages and backgrounds to experience together how fears can be transformed and how community can emerge that is constantly changing and thus eludes codification by institutional forces or authoritarian politics.

The venues are:

• Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt
• Frankfurt LAB, Frankfurt
• Alte Schlosserei, Offenbach
• Staatstheater Darmstadt, Darmstadt
• Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden
• and other venues: AJOKI in Hanau, Produktionshaus Naxos, Bockenheimer Depot

Mousonturm is one of the most important independent production centres and presents theatre and dance by regional and international artists. In 2016, it joined forces with the Hessian State Ballet to strengthen dance in the region and founded the Rhine-Main Dance Festival, among other programmes.

Spotlight: Lia Rodrigues & Associates

Lia Rodrigues offers an insight into her work with two pieces. At the same time, she has invited four other Brazilian artists with whom she feels a close affinity. They will present their own pieces as associates of Lia Rodrigues. In this way 2026’s Tanzfestival conveys a multi-faceted impression of the work of one of Brazil’s best-known choreographers that transcends her own creations.