Biennale de danse du Val-de-Marne

The Biennale de danse du Val-de-Marne: Dance at the Heart of the Territory

The Biennale de danse du Val-de-Marne is the flagship event of La Briqueterie, a National Choreographic Development Center (CDCN) located in Vitry-sur-Seine since 1990. Every two years, in the spring, this biennale transforms the Val-de-Marne into a territory of living dance, deploying a demanding choreographic program in about twenty partner theaters and municipalities, from Vitry-sur-Seine to Châtenay-Malabry, from Champigny-sur-Marne to Villecresnes, and beyond towards Essonne.

The biennale is a unique tool for the democratization of contemporary dance. It operates on the principle that dance, in all its forms, should be accessible to the inhabitants of a territory, regardless of their backgrounds and cultural habits. To achieve this, it multiplies the performance venues, formats — popular shows, intimate performances, installations, shows for young children — and outreach activities for schoolchildren and residents.

La Briqueterie: A Tool for Choreographic Creation

La Briqueterie is more than just a performance venue: it is a resource and support center for choreographic creation. It offers residencies to choreographers, supports artistic projects in their development, and houses rehearsal studios, training spaces, and a dense network of national and international artistic partners.

Located in the former brick factory of Vitry-sur-Seine, it draws its name and uniqueness from this industrial history. Its artistic director infuses the biennale with a unique vision of dance, open to international influences while remaining rooted in the realities of the territory.

A Programmatically Diverse Aesthetic

The Biennale de danse du Val-de-Marne stands out for the diversity of choreographic aesthetics it presents. By rejecting any stylistic orthodoxy, it offers the public a journey through the most vibrant currents of global choreographic creation: author-driven contemporary dance, hip-hop dance in its most inventive forms, flamenco and reinvented world dances, dance-theater, afrofuturism, and multidisciplinary performances blending dance, music, and visual arts.

The 2025 edition, for example, featured 22 projects and 65 choreographic performances, offering electric atmospheres, flamenco evenings, flamboyant rumbas, afrofuturism, a revisited bolero, Catalan folklore, and hip-hop vibrations. The diversity of forms and origins of the invited artists reflects the cultural richness of a department itself marked by a great diversity of populations.

Dance as a Common Good

A strong characteristic of the Biennale de danse du Val-de-Marne is its commitment to participatory and civic dance. Each edition includes projects involving residents — the 2025 biennale began with a "dance of Vitry," imagined and performed by the city's inhabitants, establishing a shared choreographic heritage for the city.

Workshops for all ages, professional meetings between choreographers, dance film screenings, and company residencies complete the performance program, making the biennale a true moment of choreographic life for the department. With approximately 65 performances spread across 28 partner venues, it reaches tens of thousands of spectators each edition.