The Swiss Dance Days were founded in 1996. The event was modelled after the Rencontres chorégraphiques de Seine-Saint-Denis in Paris, a pioneering competition, and a festival today, that has been dedicated to promoting contemporary choreographic creation, mainly from France and the Francophone countries, since 1969. Since their founding, the Swiss Dance Days have developed into the most important national and international platform for professional dance in Switzerland. They made it their mission to help a selection of Swiss-based companies forge new partnerships and help their pieces tour internationally. At the same time, the aim is also to foster an enthusiastic regional and national dance audience.

Co-organised by Reso – Dance Network Switzerland since 2006, the unique event takes place every two years in a different Swiss city. Over a period of four to five days, it shows 12 to 15 remarkable dance pieces created since the previous edition, in addition to a diverse fringe programme. Geneva, Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Lugano, Lucerne, Zurich: the Swiss Dance Days have taken place in Switzerland’s largest cities as well as in its three principal linguistic regions, attracting a large national and international audience.

Reso – Dancenetwork Switzerland

The Swiss Network for Presenters and Organizational Structures in Professional Dance Creation. Starting with the grant-making period 2025-2028, five programmes are part of Reso’s activities: The Tanzfest, Veranstaltungsfonds (Event Fund), Swiss Dance Days, Forum Tanz and the Performing Arts Manager (PAM) Programme. (* biennal)

The goal of these five projects is to strengthen professional Swiss dance creation on the regional, national and international level. Reso’s national networking activities guarantee professional synergies and strategic cooperations.

Since 2014, the association has been registered as a charitable organizations. Reso is committed to the following principles and goals in its projects:

- Extending the lifespan of Swiss dance productions,
- Overcoming language and geographic borders through high-quality choreographic works,
- Intensifying cooperation between presenters throughout Switzerland,
- Creating networks between dance companies, production and dissemination managers and institutions,
- Compliance with salary and fee guidelines; compliance with ethical and non-discriminatory employment practices,
- Cooperation between Reso and its members and partners.

More Informations on Reso – Dance Network Switzerland