UNDER/GROUND, danses au centre

UNDER/GROUND 2026 —

From 2 to 17 October, UNDER/GROUND set the hearts of Rennes and its metropolitan area beating to the rhythm of hip hop dance, club culture and self-taught artists. For two weeks, artists, audiences and industry professionals came together for shows, performances, meet-ups, workshops, battles and parties, making this edition a space for discovery, sharing and collective celebration.

A huge thank you to the artists and collectives who shared their movements, stories and imaginations, and who continue to bring to life dances that carry memories, self-affirmation and resistance. Thank you to the audiences for turning out in such numbers, for discovering new choreographic styles, and for exchanging ideas, feeling the energy and dancing alongside us. Thank you also to the artistic, technical and production teams, our partner venues, the hospitality teams, our collaborators and everyone who worked behind the scenes as well as in the spotlight. It is thanks to this collective commitment that UNDER/GROUND has been able to expand across the region and bring dance to a variety of venues and contexts.

Organised by the FAIR-E / CCN collective from Rennes and Brittany, in collaboration with the Théâtre National de Bretagne and all twenty partner organisations, this edition served as a reminder of how dance forms rooted in hip hop culture telling stories, shift perspectives, open up spaces for expression and transform individual experiences into collective strengths. Over these two weeks, bodies served as living archives, spaces of freedom and places of encounter.

The final clap of UNDER/GROUND 2026 marks the end of this edition, but certainly not the end of the momentum it has generated. Encounters continue, movements circulate and dances keep forging their paths, both on stage and off. Thank you to everyone who helped make this edition a highlight of sharing, transmission and joy. And above all, thank you for bringing dances that had been marginalised into the very centre of attention.

See you soon for the next chapter!