Biennale de la Danse de Lyon

The Biennale de la Danse de Lyon: forty years of choreographic passion

Founded in 1984 by Guy Darmet, then director of the Maison de la Danse, the Biennale de la Danse de Lyon has established itself over four decades as the world's largest dance festival. The first edition, in June 1984, brought together the biggest names in 20th-century dance—Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Roland Petit—and attracted 30,000 spectators, laying the foundations for an unmissable event.

An artistic event of global reach

Each edition of the Biennale features around forty performances, a majority of which are premieres and French premieres, by the greatest contemporary choreographers and emerging avant-garde figures. The festival unfolds throughout the Lyon metropolitan area, taking over the Maison de la Danse, the Opéra de Lyon, the Théâtre de la Croix-Rousse, the Toboggan in Décines, and many other venues, before radiating throughout the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region until October.

The Parade: a moment of popular sharing

An emblematic highlight of the Biennale, the Parade is a major participatory and free event that brings together thousands of amateur dancers from across the metropolitan area for each edition. In 2025, the Parade, titled "Recycled Dances", brought together 3,000 participants in the streets of Lyon, watched by tens of thousands of spectators. This unique moment of sharing and collective creativity embodies the popular and unifying spirit of the Biennale.

The 21st edition under the sign of Brazil

The 21st Biennale de la Danse, held from September 6 to 28, 2025, showcased the Brazilian scene with the Brasil Agora! program, presenting the latest trends in Brazilian contemporary dance. With 133 performances in 57 venues and 252,000 spectators, this edition confirmed the festival's exceptional reach.

A renewed artistic direction

Since 2020, the Biennale de la Danse has been under the artistic direction of Tiago Guedes, a Portuguese choreographer and director who brings new energy to the festival by opening the programming to non-European scenes and the most innovative forms of contemporary dance.