Battery Dance is accepting applications for the 45th Annual Battery Dance Festival, with free performances on August 11-16, 2026. Applications must be submitted online here. The festival application will be live through February 5, 2026.

Battery Dance Festival, New York City’s longest-running free public dance festival, was established by Battery Dance as the Downtown Dance Festival in 1982. It draws in-person audiences of approximately 1,500 people each night from the large downtown population of workers, residents, families, tourists, senior citizens and dance fans from the greater NYC metropolitan area and beyond. The Festival will be streamed to worldwide audiences, reaching thousands of international viewers each night.

Battery Dance Festival provides a unique opportunity for professional dancers and choreographers in any genre to present original works of high artistic merit in a free public forum against the backdrop of the Hudson River at sunset. Past participants have included The Isadora Duncan Dance Company, New York Theatre Ballet, Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, Citadel + Compagnie, Dancing Earth Indigenous Dance Company, SOLE Defined, and Jamal Jackson Dance Company alongside pre-eminent companies from Africa, South Asia, East Asia, Europe, South America and the Caribbean.

For more information, visit https://batterydance.org/apply/.

ABOUT BATTERY DANCE
Battery Dance created its outdoor festival in 1982 as part of its engagement with its home community of lower Manhattan where it has been based since its founding in 1976. As one of America’s leading cultural ambassadors, Battery Dance connects the world through dance. The Company pursues artistic excellence and social relevance by creating vibrant new works, performing on the world’s stages, presenting dance in public spaces, serving the field of dance and teaching people of all ages with special attention to the disadvantaged and areas of conflict. Battery Dance is committed to enhancing the cultural vibrancy of its home community in New York City, extending programming throughout the U.S., and building bridges worldwide through international cultural exchange with programs in 70 countries to date. www.batterydance.org