Youth Dance Platform 2026

Choreographer: Annabell Duft & dancers

Inspired by the infinite expansiveness of the universe; stretching, expanding and colliding. Join us for an exploration of gentle giants, speedy rotations, powerful explosions and the immeasurable far away.

Choreographers: Brooke Sorensen and Jess Yeo

How to Hold a Beetle: is rooted in Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Matthew Maxwell’s How to Hold a Cockroach… Both texts invite us to look closely at what we fear, reject, or hide. In our piece, the beetle becomes a symbol of shame, guilt, and the shadow self- parts of ourselves shaped by inherited beliefs and social conditioning. Humans, by contrast, represent the exterior we present to the world: light, acceptable, productive, and socially affirmed. We ask how these beliefs are formed. How did we learn to hate beetles? The work is driven by a capitalistic culture that values productivity, eventually pushing humans and beetles to separate. At its core, the piece explores how both light and dark, human and beetle are interdependent. Wholeness lies in holding space for both.

Choreographer: Ceyda Tanc

ÖZLEM draws inspiration from traditional Turkish folk dance, reimagined through contemporary dance movement and the voices of young performers. Developed in close collaboration with the musical score, the piece places rhythm at its core, exploring connection, community and shared expression as the movement and music evolve together.

Choreographer: Corlee Jay-Haverty

I Hope to Keep My Youth explores the beauty of youthfulness not as an aesthetic and external object but an internal subject of our existence. The work turns inward, considering youth as a way of being: a presence shaped by openness, spontaneity, and emotional immediacy. At its core, the piece is driven by rebellion, it agitates the induration of adulthood. Through relentless repetition, these people move through a process of exploration thereby encountering their world with a sense of wonder. Through shifting dynamics, textures, and interactions between performers, the choreography reflects fleeting moments of joy, vulnerability, and discovery. There is a constant negotiation between freedom and structure, echoing the tension between the uninhibited nature of youth and the constraints that emerge with time. Ultimately, I Hope to Keep My Youth is a celebration of young people, not as symbols of potential or nostalgia, but as fully present, everchanging beings. It invites us to reconsider youthfulness as an enduring, internal vitality: something that can persist, evolve, and be reclaimed, regardless of age.

Choreographer: Miguel Altunaga in collaboration with dancer

A pulse moves beneath the surface – ancient, insistent, and shared. “PULSA” listens for the inner rhythm that lives in the body before language, where instinct and presence begin to resonate between the individual and the collective.

Choreographer:Sean Anthony Selby and Harry Rolph

The Arrival represents a collective gathering of young boys and men coming together within a shared space, establishing a ritual of unity and connection. Through the power of dance, the work creates a sense of common ground, allowing the dancers to explore identity, belonging, and shared experience through movement. The choreography serves as a vehicle for expression, collaboration, and community, enabling the performers to communicate beyond words and find strength in togetherness.

Choreographer: Parbati Chaudhury, inspired by Urja Desai Thakore

Vying Rhythms is a new work created for Pagrav Dance Company’s youth ensemble, inspired by the rhythmic complexity and high-energy performance quality of Flux (2010), originally choreographed by Urja Desai Thakore. Vying Rhythms is choreographed by Parbati Chaudhury, leader of Aarohi and original cast member of Flux. Her connection to the source material gives the dancers a direct line to Pagrav’s artistic history, while her approach encourages them to question, interpret, and ultimately make the choreography their own. Vying Rhythms explores how abstract, emotive Kathak-influenced movement and incisive yet transient spatial dynamics, unravel a narrative around rivalry. At its core, the piece examines what pushes Aarohi’s dancers forward – competition, ambition and self-belief, and how ego can get in the way. The piece celebrates their ability to shift, adapt, and collaborate, even when rivalry or pressure surfaces.

Choreographer: Vidya Patel

Embers is a contemplative yet quietly powerful exploration of the energy that lingers and grows within us. Rooted in Kathak, it is inspired by the steady glow of embers, the piece traces how a single spark can evolve—spreading, connecting, and igniting collective momentum. Through fluid movement and subtle intensity, the dancers reveal how inner warmth can transform into a shared force that resonates between bodies and across space. Choreographed by Vidya Patel, Embers invites audiences to witness the beauty of connection, reminding us that even the smallest spark holds the potential to illuminate, unite, and endure.