DANCE ON CAMINO DE SANTIAGO FESTIVAL

THE BIGGEST DANCE ROUTE

Architecture and heritage, dance, music, and avant-garde theater come together in a unique festival that brings together choreographic creations inspired by the Camino de Santiago each year. These works are created by a diverse group of choreographers and companies and embrace an artistic breadth that is also, in a way, a space for learning and cultural exchange.

A unique festival in unique places

‘Dance on Camino de Santiago’, which began as part of the Burgos & New York International Choreography Competition as a parallel contest that extended its program, has grown year after year in size and scope to become an independent festival, the festival that charts the longest dance route in Europe, with three weeks of performances in almost twenty cities and towns in Huesca, La Rioja, Burgos, Palencia, León, Lugo, A Coruña, and Vizcaya.

Over the years, ‘Dance on Camino de Santiago’ has visited around 40 different municipalities, where audiences have been able to see works by companies such as Frantics Dance Company, Lamajara Danza, Colectivo Globo, the Italian Bellanda Company, but also choreographers such as the Italian Giovanni Insaudo, the Cuban creators Miguel Álvarez and Javier Peláez-Tulio, Carlos Aller and Cecilia Bartolino, the French Arthur Bernard, Marc Fernández, the duo formed by Fran Martínez and Paula Quintas, the Ukrainian Kateryna Humenyuk, the Russian Ildar Tagirov, and the Costa Rican performer and choreographer Erick Jiménez, among others.

A cultural project that weaves networks

‘Dance on Camino de Santiago’ is directed by choreographer Alberto Estébanez and co-organized by CIDANZ Producciones - Ballet Contemporáneo de Burgos and the Department of Culture, Tourism, and Sports of the Regional Government of Castile and León. It has also received support from the Regional Government of Galicia through the Galician Choreographic Center and the Government of La Rioja, with the collaboration of the Sólodos Cultural Platform, as well as contributions from the provincial councils of León and Burgos, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and the city councils of Jaca, Santa Cruz de la Serós, Logroño, Nájera, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Rabé de las Calzadas, Itero del Castillo, Cardeñajimeno, Villalcázar de Sirga, Bercianos del Real Camino, Mansilla de las Mulas, Cacabelos, León, Sarria, Portomarín, and Santiago de Compostela.

Come and experience creation

From July 1 to 19, 2026

The festival will distribute a total of €28,000 in fees and contracts and will extend its performance schedule between July 1 and 19. In total, there will be 18 days of performances spread across municipalities in Huesca, La Rioja, Burgos, Palencia, León, Lugo, A Coruña, and Vizcaya.

We invite you to witness how dance is reinvented in a program where choreographic creation and the values of the Way of St. James come together to create a festival that is unique in its artistic conception. A festival that will bring together the perspectives of creators from Asia, America, and Europe at a very special crossroads.

PARTICIPATION INFORMATION

Dance on Camino de Santiago festival arises at a crossroads of cultures to offer a space for encounter and dialogue around choreographic composition and the special artistic and cultural values treasured by the Camino de Santiago. With this as its starting point, each year the festival organizers will invite three creators from America, Asia, and Europe to present original pieces or works (created specifically for the festival, i.e., unpublished) that will be performed on different stages, on the streets, in towns and cities located along the Camino de Santiago.

The festival management will commission these choreographers to create a work inspired by the Camino de Santiago or some of the human and social values it embodies: the search, the journey, the pilgrimage, the encounter... The festival will distribute a total of €28,000 in fees and contracts among the three companies or creators invited, based on their evaluation by the audience attending the performances, with €12,000, €9,000, and €7,000 respectively.

Choreographers interested in submitting their proposals to the Festival must provide audiovisual material (five minutes long) for evaluation by the selection committee. In this material, they will show the style that defines their choreographic line, as well as a general idea about the choreographic composition and its relationship with the Jacobean Route or any of its values or conceptual elements. Preference in the selection will be given to those works created specifically for the festival, i.e., unpublished (as a premiere).

The festival organizers, CIDANZ Producciones-Ballet Contemporáneo de Burgos SL, will evaluate the proposals submitted and select the three finalist choreographers.

The maximum number of performers will be five and works with vonly one performer may be presented. The style is free: the festival 'Dance on Camino de Santiago' is open to the programming and exhibition of Spanish, classical, contemporary, urban, etc. dance pieces.

The work must be between 10 and 15 minutes long. The choreography will be unpublished and expressly created for 'Dance on Camino de Santiago'.

The scenic space will be at street level, seeking to blend in with the environment. A dance linoleum that simulates stone separates the artist from the audience. The lighting is on-site and as a support in the later hours.

Choreographers who have their works registered with the SGAE or other similar rights societies must have paid the canon for their performance. The Festival management will not pay any fee for the choreographies in competition. In the same way, if the music of the choreography is subject to any kind of royalty, the choreographer contestant will bear the expenses related to the SGAE or other similar rights societies.

All choreographies by new and professional choreographers, Spanish or foreign, over 18 years of age, may participate.

All film material will remain at the disposal of the Festival organization. Likewise, the organization reserves the right to keep all the material sent -including the works not selected for its historical archive- and will be exempted from the rights of the images taken by the photographer during the development of the performances. Local, regional and national television channels will be allowed free access only for informative purposes, so that no choreographer will be able to prevent the recording of the staging of his or her piece.

The organization will be responsible for the cost of accommodation, meals and transportation during the Festival. For those groups coming from the Canary Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, the Balearic Islands and abroad, a travel allowance of 200 euros per group will be provided, but not including travel expenses. For the rest of the participants, the usual travel expenses (train, bus or car tickets) will be paid up to a maximum of 100 euros per group.