Essenti'Elles Festival

Festival Essenti'Elles 2026 — 2nd edition on July 11 and 12

After a successful first edition in 2025, the Festival Essenti'Elles returns on Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12, 2026 in Vieux-Boucau-les-Bains. For two days, the Landes village transforms into a true open-air dance studio, with a program exclusively curated by female choreographers.

Free daytime shows

About ten dance shows are presented throughout the village (streets, squares, market halls, lakefront, and beach), most of which are free to access, to introduce choreographic creation to the widest audience. Mediation sessions, workshops, and a giant barre on the Grand'Plage complete the days.

Evening headliners at the Hall des Sports

• Saturday, July 11, 9 PM — Compagnie du Théâtre du Corps de Marie-Claude Pietragalla presents its new creation « Après la chute », as a preview.
• Sunday, July 12 — Compagnie Leïla Ka with its choreographic triptych (Bouffées, C'est toi qu'on adore, Pode Ser), followed by a closing night presented by the Jeune Ballet d'Aquitaine and dancers from the Ballet de Bordeaux.

The festival is organized by the City of Vieux-Boucau and the Animation Committee, in partnership with the Département des Landes, the MACS community of communes, and the Landes Atlantique Sud Tourist Office.

• Creation « Après la chute » by Cie du Théâtre du Corps de Marie-Claude Pietragalla (Saturday, July 11, 9 PM, Hall des Sports)
• Choreographic triptych by Cie Leïla Ka (Sunday, July 12)
• Closing night with the Jeune Ballet d'Aquitaine and the Ballet de Bordeaux
• Free shows with open access throughout the village
• France's first festival dedicated to female choreographers