Christchurch Dance Festival 2026: Beyond the Book
The 2026 Christchurch Dance Festival brought together over 350 children from 11 primary schools and 3 secondary schools for a wonderful celebration of dance, creativity and imagination. This year’s theme, Beyond the Book, was introduced to schools through a creative workshop with Christina Binney, where young people explored the stories, characters and worlds they love and imagined how they could take them beyond the pages through dance. Across the participating schools, children developed their own ideas and interpretations, transforming inspiration from books into movement, music and performance. The result was a fantastic collection of unique and imaginative dances, each reflecting the creativity and individuality of the young people who created them.
11 PRIMARY SCHOOLS
3 SECONDARY SCHOOLS
2 EVENING SHOWCASES
350+ CHILDREN INVOLVED
650+ AUDIENCE MEMBERS!
Taking Stories Beyond the Theatre
The Beyond the Book theme also created a lovely opportunity to work with Christchurch Library as part of the Summer Reading Challenge. Children were invited to create their own book reviews, which were displayed at the library throughout the summer. This partnership helped extend the festival into the wider community and celebrated the connection between reading, imagination and creative expression.
Festival Day
Festival Day brought all of the participating schools together at the theatre, giving hundreds of children the opportunity to perform, watch other schools and experience being part of a larger dance community. One of the highlights was seeing the children encouraging and celebrating one another throughout the day. For many, it was a chance to perform in a professional theatre environment and share something they had worked hard to create with their peers.
Evening Showcases
The festival then continued with two evening showcases, welcoming families, friends and members of the wider community to enjoy the performances. With more than 650 audience members across the two evenings, the theatre was filled with excitement, pride and plenty of support for the young dancers. The performances were a wonderful reflection of the creativity and commitment of the children, teachers and schools involved.
We were also proud to share the Dorset SEN Dance Festival 2026 film during the event, a powerful reminder that dance is for everyone, of all ages and abilities. For more information and to watch the Dorset SEN Dance Festival film, please click here.
- A huge thank you to all of the teachers, teaching assistants, PE leads, schools, young dancers, families and partners who helped make this year’s festival possible. Your enthusiasm, creativity and dedication have once again made the Christchurch Dance Festival a special experience for so many young people.
- Thank you also to Christchurch Library for helping us take Beyond the Book into the community, and to everyone who supported the festival behind the scenes and throughout the creative process.
The Christchurch Dance Festival continues to provide young people with opportunities to be creative, build confidence, work together and experience the excitement of performing on stage. We are incredibly proud of everyone who took part in Christchurch Dance Festival 2026, and we can’t wait to see where the next chapter takes us.
Keep your eyes peeled for the Christchurch Dance Festival 2027 theme announcement… coming soon!
