Visavì Gorizia Dance Festival returns to unite two nations through dance
Gorizia (Italy) and Nova Gorica (Slovenia) – joint European Capital of Culture in 2025 – continue to dance together this October, as the Visavì Gorizia Dance Festival returns for its seventh edition, running from 14 to 18 October 2026.
Conceived by ArtistiAssociati Centro di Produzione Teatrale, in partnership with the municipalities of Gorizia, Cormons and Gradisca d’Isonzo, the Slovene National Theatre (SNG) of Nova Gorica, and the Pan Adria dance network (Slovenia, Croatia, Italy), Visavì remains unique among European dance festivals for its genuinely cross-border format. Performances are scheduled on the same days in venues on both sides of the frontier, timed so audiences can comfortably cross from one country to the other and take in several shows in a single day.
This year’s programme is a journey through the most original currents in international contemporary dance, with Italian premieres of recent work by some of today’s leading choreographers – among them Ohad Naharin’s Venezuela and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui‘s Fall. The line-up reflects the cosmopolitan character of this crossroads at the heart of Europe: alongside Italian artists and companies – Marianna Basso, Francesco Brumat, Compagnia Artemis Danza, Equilibrio Dinamico Dance Company, Michele Ermini, Fuorimargine and Giacomo Luci – and Slovenia’s MN Dance Company, the festival welcomes the Croatian National Theatre Ballet, the Serbian National Theatre Ballet, Czech choreographer Yana Reutova and France’s Compagnie Gipsy Raw.
One evening is devoted to the meeting of Africa’s contemporary dance scene with Europe’s: Progetto BAMBÙ, choreographed by Roberto Castello and promoted by ALDES, brings together a triptych of solos created and performed by Linda Sarki Johnson (Nigeria), Stéphanie Mwamba (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Diana Odhiambo (Kenya).
On Saturday 17 October, the Collio hills – Cuei in Friulian, Goriška Brda in Slovene, and divided between the two countries – become a stage in their own right for the Visavì Discovery Tour: three wineries host performances paired with tastings, an itinerary weaving dance, landscape and wine-growing tradition into a single cross-border experience.
For artistic director Walter Mramor, that shared vocation is built into the festival’s own name: Gorizia and Nova Gorica are cities that face each other visavì – from the French vis-à-vis – and dance, he says, is “the art best equipped to express the gesture of embrace” through which they find their common language. This year’s programme, as he describes it, is meant as a place of encounter between artists and communities, territories, cultures and generations, pairing major names in contemporary choreography with new work that renews how audiences see it, alongside a participatory strand for citizens, young people and families.
We believe dance isn’t only something to watch, but an experience to live together. It’s in that shared dimension that the festival finds its deepest meaning: creating connections, transmitting visions and opening spaces of dialogue through the universal language of the body.
Alongside the performances, the festival runs a programme of workshops – at the Borgo Live Academy Gorizia and in local schools – and initiatives such as Visavì Academy Stage and Visavì Experimental Contest.
Advance booking is now open for the seventh edition. New this year is the Visavì Pass 2026, available online, for anyone who wants to move through the festival without booking each event separately: a single pass covers every venue and every show between Gorizia and Nova Gorica, skips the box-office queue, and gives priority access to events with limited capacity.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
