ITROTRA-MAP Dance Festival 2026: Afro-Global Artistic Exchange readying for action
By Tonderai Chiyindiko
The 4th edition of the ITROTRA-MAP Dance Festival takes place at several venues across Johannesburg including The Market Theatre, Goethe Institut, Bapedi Hall in Soweto, Alliance Francaise and University of Johannesburg Arts and Culture centre. The festival draws from and is inspired by the indelible impact the ITROTRA International Contemporary Dance Festival, Madagascar, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, has had and continues to have on the contemporary dance landscape.
This year’s programme features dance and circus performances, artist residencies, dance and circus workshops, dance film showcases as well as art exhibitions.
The festival theme is Safe Spaces, Safe Lives which “affirms dance as a vital force for social transformation, confronting the urgent realities of gender-based violence and femicide”, says Co-Curator, Gaby Saranouffi.
Speaking on the significance of the 2026 edition of the ITROTRA-MAP Dance Festival, Co-Curator Moeketsi Koena states; “This year’s festival is a gathering of kindred souls, united in our quest for a world where freedom and justice flow like rivers…we converge to celebrate the beauty of movement, the power of expression, and the resilience of the human heart”.
Dancers, choreographers and speakers featured in the ITROTRA-MAP Dance Festival 2026 are drawn from several countries such including Mozambique, Sweden, Madagascar, France, Germany and South Africa.
The ITROTRA-MAP Dance Festival 2026 takes place from 27 February – 7 March 2026.