Desert Dance Theatre and the Arizona Dance Coalition presents the 27th Annual Arizona Dance Festival 2026 at Tempe Center for the Arts (TCA) Studio on Thursday-Saturday, September 24-26, 2026 at 7:30pm.
Pre-show activities and performances will occur in the TCA Lobby at 6:30pm-7:15pm. Join us in a movement experience with COMMIT Dance Fitness Arizona Ensemble, plus performances by Erika Alexxandrya (Thursday), Step’s Junk Funk (Friday), and Victoria Morena Olmos-Tsosie (Saturday). This portion of the evening is FREE to the PUBLIC.
The Arizona Dance Festival will feature over 30 different dance artists and companies, showcasing an eclec-tic variety of choreography and dance performances from around the state of Arizona and out of state. Get a taste of what’s happening in Arizona's dance scene. Each evening performance will showcase different dance artists from all genres and styles of dance.
A post-performance “Q & A” / “Talk Back” will be facilitated by the Arizona Dance Coalition directly after the show. This will allow the audience to engage in lively conversation with the artistic directors and choreogra- phers for a deeper dive into insights in the creation of their dance works.
“The Arizona Dance Coalition is a major event sponsor.
FEATURED DANCE ARTISTS AND COMPANIES:
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 - Line-up (Alphabetical Order) Pre-Show Activities: Interactive movement experience with COMMIT Dance Fitness Arizona Ensemble; solo dance performance by Erika Alexxandrya
AlignDance Theatre (Scottsdale, AZ) - Contemporary Modern CaZo Dance Theatre (Mesa, AZ) - Modern Desert Dance Theatre/Step’s Junk Funk (Tempe/Mesa, AZ) - Interdisciplinary Modern & Percussion Erika Alexxandrya (Los Angeles, CA) - Contemporary Jazz Spectrum Dance Company (Lake Forest, CA) - Classical Jazz Lenora Noire (Phoenix, AZ) - Raqs Sharqi/Egyptian Style Belly Dance Shahrazad Dance Company (Phoenix, AZ) - Egyptian/ Arabic Dance Shane O'Hara * Solo Dance (Williamsburg, VA) - Dance Theatre Solo Wagner Dance Premiere All Stars (Mesa, AZ) - Contemporary
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 - Line-up (Alphabetical Order) Pre-Show Activities: Interactive movement experience with COMMIT Dance Fitness Arizona Ensemble; in- teractive performance by Step’s Junk Funk
Ahdivah Cohen / Sedona Dance Project (Sedona, AZ) - Contemporary Astarte Belly Dance Troupe (Gilbert, AZ) - Egyptian Cabaret ClasscalFusionDance (Phoenix, AZ) - Contemporary Desert Dance Theatre (Tempe, AZ) - Contemporary Modern Kaleidic Creations (Phoenix, AZ) - Contemporary Modern Nannette Brodie Dance Theatre & Sustaita Dance Company (Long Beach, CA) - Modern Nevada Repertory Dance Theater (Las Vegas, NV) - Contemporary Modern Scottsdale Community College Dance Program (Scottsdale, AZ) - Modern Wight Noise Dance Company (Peoria, AZ) - Modern
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 - Line-up (Alphabetical Order) Pre-Show Activities: Interactive movement experience with COMMIT Dance Fitness Arizona Ensemble; solo dance performance by Victoria Morena Olmos-Tsosie
Canyon Movement Company (Flagstaff, AZ) - Modern CaZo Dance Theatre (Mesa, AZ) - Modern Desert Dance Theatre/Step’s Junk Funk (Tempe/Mesa, AZ) - Interdisciplinary Modern & Percussion Kraken Still and Film (Phoenix, AZ) - Contemporary Movement Source Dance Company (Phoenix, AZ) - Modern Nannette Brodie Dance Theatre (Long Beach, CA) - Modern Nevada Repertory Dance Theater (Las Vegas, NV) - Modern Ollin Yoliztli Dance Academy (Phoenix, AZ) - Mexican Folkloric Rosenkrans Dans (Phoenix, AZ) - Contemporary Modern Utkala Dance Academy (Phoenix, AZ) - Sambalpuri Folk Dance Zoriy (Phoenix, AZ) - B
Keywords
dance,
performing arts,
dance festival,
arts & culture,
Choreography
