Projet DRIFT

20 mid-career choreographers. 10 European partners. 4 years of research, residencies, and international creation.

Choreographic creation is a process. A winding path made of doubt, experimentation, failure, and discovery. A slow, precious, increasingly rare kind of time. In a cultural sector where everything accelerates: schedules, expectations, production, … DRIFT makes it possible to slow down. We make a bet on the long game. The time of research.

Mid-career is a pivotal moment for choreographers. After early recognition, before institutional consecration, many artists find themselves in a structural blind spot: national visibility without the resources to scale internationally, phases of research that go unfunded, mobility that fragments rather than builds. The systems designed to support emerging artists rarely follow them into this critical middle ground and the systems built for established names aren't designed for risk-taking.
This is where too many choreographic careers stall or break. Not from a lack of talent, but from a lack of time and support to go deeper.
DRIFT was built to address this specific need. 

DRIFT - Dance & Research In The Future Time is a four-year European cooperation project (2026–2029), funded by Creative Europe, coordinated by the Théâtre de Liège (Belgium) and 9 partner organisations spanning Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, Norway, Portugal, Tunisia, and Ukraine and three international associate partners in Japan, Brazil, and Mozambique.
Over four years, DRIFT will support 20 mid-career choreographers through a complete, integrated framework: funded research labs and residencies, international showcases, co-production support, and touring guarantees. Not a prize. Not a competition. A sustained, collective journey.

DRIFT's core conviction is simple: the process is as important as the finished work. Research deserves dedicated funding. Doubt, experimentation, and iteration are legitimate artistic work and should be recognised and compensated as such.
Each choreographer receives dedicated support for their research phase and showcase, including an overall budget covering associated costs, as well as access to studios, mentors, and peer exchange across the network. The aim is not to deliver a finished piece on a deadline, but to explore, question, and take risks without pressure.
At international showcases, artists present works in progress, inviting audiences and programmers into the creative process rather than only its final result.

DRIFT is not a centralised institution but a living network of festivals and cultural organisations that open their studios, audiences, and expertise. Partner venues host residencies, and partner festivals organise DRIFT Days : public events that bring local communities into contact with the creative process, and gradually become active laboratories rather than passive showcases.
This model distributes both resources and responsibility. Each partner contributes to the whole, and the knowledge produced—methodologies, tools, and practices—is documented and shared as open-source materials designed to outlast the project itself. 

DRIFT is also built with its environmental and social responsibilities in mind. Mobility is reasoned and clustered by geography. Digital labs reduce unnecessary travel. Diversity and gender parity are embedded in selection criteria. Support for artists from Ukraine reflects a specific commitment to solidarity in difficult times.
These aren't add-ons. They're structural choices that shape how the project moves, who it includes, and what kind of model it leaves behind.
2026–2029: the time of DRIFT.

Each choreographer receives dedicated support for their research phase and showcase, including an overall budget covering associated costs, as well as access to studios, mentors, and peer exchange across the network.

Twice per cycle, artists share works in progress with programmers and audiences from around the world. There's no competition and no verdict: just an open window into the creative process.

Ten projects receive coproduction support and a guaranteed tour across the DRIFT network, taking them from research to the stage with the infrastructure needed to sustain their work.

Each partner venue organises "DRIFT Days": festival-based events that open studio doors to local communities through talks, workshops, and open rehearsals. Over time, festivals become laboratories rather than just showcases.

PARTENAIRES

Théâtre de Liège Belgique (chef de file)

Maison de la danse Lyon – France

Onassis Stegi Athènes – Grèce

BIT Teatergarasjen Bergen – Norvège

HAU / Tanz im August Berlin – Allemagne

Al Badil Tunis – Tunisie

Mercat de les Flors Barcelone – Espagne

Materiais Diversos Lisbonne – Portugal

Short Theatre Rome – Italie

UA Contemporary Dance Platform Kiev – Ukraine

Partenaires associés

Red Brick House Yokohama - Japon

Panorama Festival Rio de Janeiro– Brésil

Kinani Festival Maputo - Mozambique