Biennale College Danza 2026

In his sixth year as Director of Biennale Danza, Wayne McGregor will be leading the Biennale College – Dance. This unique training programme is designed to equip 16 young dancers with new skills, knowledge and abilities in their chosen career path; nurtured by inspiring world-class teachers, coaches, choreographers and industry professionals. Through high quality technical, creative, improvisatory, performance and audience experiences the 2026 cohort will immerse themselves in an intensive three-month programme that will include:

In an introductory residency, McGregor and his team will concentrate on exploring evolved Physical Thinking through choreographic, performance and AI practices. This intensive program will enhance the group’s collaborative skills in preparation for creating work together, while also sharing techniques for generating dance material and composition.

In two new major commissions exclusively created for Biennale College, aligning with its aim to collaborate with the world's leading living dance artists, the 2026 cohort of dancers will work directly with two of the most influential dance innovators of the 20th and 21st centuries: Molissa Fenley and Maxine Doyle.

Molissa Fenley, an iconic figure in postmodern dance, founded Molissa Fenley and Company in 1977 and has since produced over 85 dance works throughout her acclaimed career. Maxine Doyle, director-choreographer for Punchdrunk, co-directed the multi-award-winning phenomenon Sleep No More (London, Boston, New York, Shanghai) and The Drowned Man. Both unique and boundary-pushing choreographers will be in residence in Venice, developing new work for the College.

In a special site-specific event (to be announced), Biennale College 26 will also participate in a research and development performance laboratory led by McGregor, designed to share the process of creation and technological collaboration in a new form.    

Biennale College dancers will also collaborate with 2 emerging choreographers (see separate call out) who will each present their own short creations during the 20th International Festival of Contemporary Dance of La Biennale di Venezia.

Dancers selected for this programme will have access to individual mentoring, masterclasses and talks and will attend the international performances by companies invited to Biennale Dance 2026.

The project will take place from May 13^th  to August 1^st 2026.

Each day will begin with a technique class in ballet or contemporary, led by world class teachers from McGregor’s network, followed by workshop sessions that will focus on repertoire, process, improvisation and the new commissions.

Performances
As part of the 20^th International Festival of Contemporary Dance of La Biennale di Venezia the Biennale College will present work in a range of contexts, for example sharings on stage to site-specific events and open rehearsals.

Selection
The selection is open to participants from all over the world. We are looking for young dancers (+18 > 28 years on the closing date of the call) with at least three years vocational (or equivalent) training in dance at a high technical level and as importantly, who are creatively curious, daring and open-minded.

The selection will be made at the complete discretion of the Director of the Dance Department of the Biennale di Venezia Wayne McGregor.

Attendance for the whole programme is mandatory for participation in the project.

La Biennale di Venezia will organize and pay the following:
· Travel to/from Venice
· Accommodation in Venice (shared apartments)
· Working day lunches for the selected dancers

Each participant will receive a Biennale fee for performances of: € 1,000 gross.
There are no fees for the application.

Selected dancers (only) will be required to pay a registration fee in the amount of € 80 (VAT included, non-refundable) to be paid exclusively by credit card following the announcement of their acceptance, and no later than the date that will be specified in due time.

Please note applicants may ONLY apply for either the dancer project OR the choreographer project.
Applications for both projects will not be accepted. 

Applicants must register filling the online form and submit the following material by the deadline of January 26^th, 2026:

1. Recent CV in english (the video links indicated below must also be included in the CV)
2. Recent photo
3. Link to video of motivation in english (up to five minutes)
4. Link to showreel/video clip of you dancing

Registration form

Incomplete applications will be automatically excluded.

La Biennale di Venezia reserves the right in any case to modify, cancel or interrupt the initiative described above, in that the announcement or the selection do not constitute a binding contract for the same, nor do they entail the right to the reimbursement of any expense other than those specified above.

The integral acceptance of the conditions of the Biennale College Dance Call makes the application eligible.

INFO:
college-danza@labiennale.org 

Watch the video: 2024 edition of Biennale College →