The 18th edition of the On Marche International Contemporary Dance Festival will take place in Marrakesh from April 4 to 12, highlighting four main themes: hope, youth, engagement with audiences, and African culture.
Similar to past iterations, the festival will transform the city with an array of events including performances, film screenings, panel discussions, masterclasses, and exhibitions. The event aims to highlight talents from Morocco as well as various parts of the global dance scene, as stated in a statement released by the organizing committee. Featured this year are troupes hailing from Belgium, France, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Spain, and Lebanon, ensuring accessibility for all attendees since every performance remains complimentary.
The festival has been working for many years to promote contemporary dance as an acknowledged artistic discipline in Morocco. This initiative is finally yielding positive outcomes, largely due to backing from important collaborators such as the Wilaya of the Marrakech-Safi region, the Regional Council of Marrakech-Safi, Es Saadi Marrakech Resort, the French Institute, the Higher School of Visual Arts (ESAV-Marrakech), and more.
A key achievement in 2025 is the signing of a triennial accord between the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communications and the On Marche festival, as stated further. Furthermore, this declaration notes that a fresh collaboration with the Wallonia-Brussels Federation will facilitate the introduction of three Belgian artists to Moroccan audiences for the initial time.
The festival also fosters emerging artists via Nafass - On Marche, Morocco’s inaugural institution dedicated to choreographic arts, featuring the Taklif Prize, designed to empower a fresh cohort of choreographers. The finalists receive artistic residency opportunities both within Morocco and internationally to hone their initial works. This year’s schedule will showcase presentations by the 2023 and 2024 recipients.
A new highlight of this edition is a three-year training program in partnership with the Dar Bellarj Foundation, designed for around 30 teenagers. They began their training with internationally renowned dancer and choreographer Bernardo Montet, and the results of their work will culminate in a performance titled Melach, the Salt of the Stars. Opus 1 (France/Morocco) on Wednesday, April 9, at 5 PM at the Dar Bellarj Foundation.
Similar to past years, a collaborative initiative will unite 70 performers and amateurs, who preregistered for this event, to interact with the audience through dance presentations in various public areas. Guided by choreographer Olivier Dubois, these participants will be involved in Parade On Saturday, April 12, at both 4 PM and 6 PM, the event will take place at Jemaa El-Fna Square.
The lineup for this year also emphasizes its ties to Africa through various notable shows, including Black by Oulouy (Spain/Côte d'Ivoire) on Monday, April 7, at 8:00 PM at ESAV; Trois fois seul on Tuesday, April 8, at 8 PM at Es Saadi Marrakech Resort, presented by Salia Sanou from Burkina Faso; Danser la Boza (concept by Taoufiq Izeddiou / documentary by Khalid Mouna) (Morocco) on Thursday, April 10, at 4:30 PM at the French Institute of Marrakech.
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