SATURDAY 26/09/2026
Festival Opening
13:00 - 13:45
LocHal
(Ground Floor)
Tilburg in Motion 2026 kicks off with two performances by Speels Collectief and Nnamdi Nwagwu. Between the performances, we’ll officially open the festival with a short speech. Join us as we set the festival in motion and celebrate the start of its third edition!
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For the next fifteen minutes, this place is ours. We are here. Make space.
A group of dancers seemingly emerges from nowhere in the public space. What begins as an ordinary street scene slowly shifts: bodies speed up, slow down, roll, glide and run alongside and through one another. Together, they explore different ways of moving — with different bodies, rhythms and possibilities — and how these can come together to form a new whole.
WIJ ZIJN HIER plays with our expectations and invites you to look again. At bodies, at movement, at public space. A temporary reclaiming of the street, where normative ideas about movement are challenged and make way for a more inclusive and empowering perspective.
Choreographer: Ulrike Doszmann
Performers: Dowie van Ingen, Bernita Robben, Caitlin Scheffer, Esther van Gelder, Malou Vercammen, Mirnou Baeten, Marloes Jobse, Tom Peters, Stijn van den Broek, Mareno Klijnholstz
Production Assistant: Maartje La Haye
Photography: Jesse van den Berg
Head of Community Tilburg:Merel van Lieshout
With thanks to:Marloes Jobse, Janet Bekkers
Collaborating Partner: Fontys School of Fine and Performing Arts
Funded by:Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie, Municipality of Tilburg, Stichting Jacques de Leeuw -
Le Prefiche is a ritual performance led by four professional mourners, embodying grief as a shared, physical experience. Through voice, gesture, and presence, the work transforms sorrow into a collective act, inviting audiences to witness mourning as connection, memory, and a powerful expression of care.
Choreographer: Nnamdi Nwagwu
Performers: Giulia Finardi, Savea Kagan, Mia Bourhis, Manon Delanoë
Music: Lorenzo Cimarelli
POP-UP PERFORMANCES
14:00 - 15:30
LocHal
(Ground Floor)
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À l’envers follows three beings moving against gravity, their bodies defying familiar laws. One begins to falter, questioning his path and trying to conform. As he struggles, the gap widens. Through falls and imbalance, the piece reveals the fragile beauty of those who exist differently, caught between belonging and otherness.
Choreographer: Isaie Santamaria
Performers: Romain Ovieve , Robin Sallat , Ylona Bonnet -
When experiencing something tremendously life changing, you deal with the inevitable: life going on despite that. 'How To Deal With It' explores how vital yet also wrong it feels to just keep going. Maybe for some, the urge to continue is what saves us. And maybe for others, the fear of stepping back torments us. This dynamic duet explores both denial and acceptance of life's unexpected turns.
Choreographer: Anastasia Panteli
Performers: Irene Peruzzi, Hannes Van Borm -
The piece contrasts economic profit with climate action, noting how climate chaos worsens global poverty. Despite growing awareness, society continues business as usual. Maurice Ravel’s Bolero symbolizes this crisis: its repetitive structure builds a powerful crescendo, which is suddenly interrupted by a jarring, unexpected shift at the very end.
Choreographer: Minka-Marie Heiß
Performer: Michelle Muoz -
Kunstbende presents the next generation! Pien and Eva (both 18) won the youth competion of Kunstbende Brabant with their modern duet 'Trust'. Trust is about needing each other, but not yet trusting the other completely.
Choreographers: Pien van der Lee & Eva Vijverberg
Performers: Pien van der Lee & Eva Vijverberg -
“Muga” explores a state beyond identity and attachment. Two figures move within a rigid, mechanical system until a disruption breaks their rhythm. From this fracture, awareness emerges. Their bodies shift from repetition to presence, transforming isolation into coexistence. The work reflects on reclaiming authenticity within a society that often suppresses individuality and emotional depth.
Choreographer: Francesco Paolino
Performers: Francesco Paolino, Tom Blanc -
*The Edge Of Again*
“Through the darkness of the future past,
The magician longs to see.
One chants out between two worlds:
Fire, walk with me.”
-Twin Peaks, 1992
This is a ritual of return, a quiet invocation, an echo that demands immortality.
Choreographer: Yasmin Kakavand
Performer: Yasmin Kakavand -
‘Vrij me vrij van mij’ explores a period of disconnection, emptiness, and inner struggle. Through movement, the solo expresses the desire to break free from one’s own thoughts and rediscover a sense of self, energy, and belonging.
Choreographer: Jamie de Heus
Performer: Jamie de Heus -
Capsules of Poetry fuses hip-hop, contemporary dance, and poetry, where six performers transform gestures and voice into poetic moments. The piece invites the audience to pause, feel, and reconnect, exploring presence, human connection, and the beauty found in simplicity.
Choreographer: Juliana Kis
Performers: Elodie Rolland, Jubert Tesado, Diego Alves dos Santos, Pierre-Louis Baro, Juliana Kis, Alizée Brule
MeET THE MAKERS
15:30 - 16:00
LocHal
(Ground Floor)
Curious about what happens behind the pop-ups? Join the performers for an informal aftertalk and ask them anything about the performances, their process, and their experiences. We’ll also have a few questions ready to get the conversation going.
HOUSE DANCE WORKSHOP
by Joel - W
18:00 - 19:00
Spoorpark Tilburg
(The Remise)
In this workshop, you will explore the foundations of house dance and the music and culture it grew from—a club environment where people come as they are, let go of everyday pressure and celebrate together. Open to all levels, the workshop is all about connection, freedom and, most importantly, having fun! The workshop will be led by Joel-W, a dancer and DJ from Almere who has been dancing since 2008. With a background in breaking and experience in many different styles, Joel-W found his strongest connection in house dance, where his love for music and movement come together. He is excited to share his knowledge, passion and love for dance with you!
Dance Battle + Jam
19:00 - 22:00
Spoorpark Tilburg
(The Remise)
An open-style, open-level battle all about connection. Dancers are paired with someone with a different level of experience and challenged to connect through movement. The judges will focus primarily on the connection between the dancers, while also considering individual skill.
The winning duo will receive a trophy and prize money (200€ in total). Come watch how different styles, experiences and personalities come together on the dance floor.
Want to participate? Sign up here.
Judges: Joel Westerveld, Teresa Costa, Elise Richards
Host: Terence Machete van Lange
DJ: Lucas Benjamin
SUNDAY 27/09/2026
HOW TO FREELANCE
(Networking Event)
14:00 - 16:00
De Nieuwe Vorst
(Foyer)
This networking event brings together students, emerging artists, and professionals from the creative field. Through conversations and shared experiences, participants will gain practical insights into the realities of working as a freelancer. Topics include applying for subsidies, communicating with programmers, handling taxes, and the process of creating and producing a performance. A space to connect, ask questions, and discover tools for building a sustainable artistic practice.
With professionals from the field: Kunstloc, De Nieuwe Vorst, Alienated, Tilburg Dance Platform & more to come
SALSA WORKSHOP
Louise Boitelle & Melvin Laat
16:00 - 16:50
De Nieuwe Vorst
(Witte Studio)
This open Salsa workshop invites everyone to experience the joy, energy, and connection of Salsa dancing. Whether you are stepping onto the dance floor for the first time or already have some experience, all levels are welcome. Come move, learn, and share the rhythm together in a fun and accessible environment.
ClOSING CeremONY
17:00 Fábrica
20:30 Anthology
De Nieuwe Vorst
(Kleine Zaal & Grote Zaal)
We close Tilburg in Motion 2026 with two final performances by Corpo Máquina Society and Andreas Hannes, followed by a closing ceremony and wrap-up. Join us for one last moment of movement, reflection and celebration as we bring this year’s festival to a close.
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In Fábrica, choreographer Guilherme Miotto transforms the theatre into a workshop of rhythm and movement. Four performers build a universe in which every sound and every step can be felt. Percussion forms the heart of the performance. With an arsenal of instruments, an exuberant interplay between music and dance emerges. Every touch causes a reaction. Every sound reverberates through the body.
Fábrica is both raw and playful. Body and sound become intertwined. As the boundary between them fades, a sensory experience emerges that escapes the everyday. What we see and hear opens up a space for association: a reality in which sound and movement create a language of their own.
Let yourself be carried away into this factory full of rituals, where sounds are built and bodies respond to the rhythm of labour. Open your imagination, because this performance vibrates from beginning to end.
Choreographer: Guilherme Miotto in collaboration with performer
Performers: Rowdy Heinen, Chen Chieh Kuan, Joaquim Osório, Pedro Paixáo
Music: Pedro Paixáo, Guilherme Miotto, Joaquim Osório
Light: Jan Groenland
Costume: Julia Nielsen, Anne Habermann, Guilherme Miotto
Dramaturgy: Moos van den Broek
Production: Corpo Máquina Society -
Anthology is a dynamic performance highlighting one simple movement: skipping.
Six dancers enter the stage, generating a rhythmic vortex that draws the audience into motion. Set to high energy mash-ups of pop songs from the past decade, the piece unfolds as a celebratory journey through music, dance, and collective memory.
The choreography mirrors the structure of these mash-ups: fast-paced, and continuously evolving.
Dozens of musical fragments merge into a seamless flow, just as Anthology weaves together references to diverse dance styles, internet culture, and popular imagery. At its core, the work traces a lineage of skipping across dance history, from folk traditions to ballet, from club culture to hip-hop.
Within this shifting landscape, skipping becomes the connective thread. Through rhythmic patterns and recurring gestures, the stage transforms again and again — at times resembling an ice-skating rink, a sports field or a ballroom. Histories of movement surface briefly, intersect, and dissolve.
Anthology proposes a practice of navigating an overwhelming flow of information in a rapidly changing, exhaustion-driven society, positioning collective resilience not as a commodity, but as a form of resistance. In this charged environment, skipping emerges as a shared pulse - a living archive that links generations through movement and memory.
Concept: Andreas Hannes
Choreography: Andreas Hannes in collaboration with performers
Performers: Andréa Givanovitch, Milou van Duijnhoven, Adam Khazhmuradov, Harvey Burke-Hamilton, Olympia Kotopoulos, Birgit Boer, Vanildo Varela, Andreas Hannes
Dramaturgy: Renée Copraij, Fernando Belfiore
Artistic Advice: Bruno Listopad
Light Design: Paulina Prokop
Costumes: Publik Universal Frxnd
Production: Dansateliers, Stichting Rattleworks
Co-production: Julidans, Korzo
With thanks to: International Theater Amsterdam, ICK Amsterdam, DansBrabant
Supported by: Fonds Podiumkunsten, Fonds21, Het Cultuurfonds, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, BNG Cultuurfonds, NORMA Fonds, M.A.O.C. Gravin van Bylandt Stichting
