Dance is Ancient’s work tours internationally and in many different contexts. Dance scenes and festivals, museums, in-site and also music festivals. 2023 was a particularly active year in that regard since we toured to (among many other things) 5 music festivals, dancing for (and with!) 5214 people in that context.

Although we do not create specifically for music festivals, the strong connection of our work to techno music/raving/clubbing has made us a perfect match for many festivals.

Our festival hits

Each festival has their own specificity, big hits have been:

Dance is Ancient (2016 - which also gave its name to our organisation!), a durational performance. Between 4 to 7 hours, Frédéric Gies dances non-stop to a DJ set by Fiedel and becomes a catalyst for the audience’s dance and trance. It was performed at CTM festival (2020) and will be toured in 2024 to Waking life festival.
Shadowboxing (2022) which takes club dance as a vast field of movement and poetic experimentation. Designed to set the dance floor on fire, it is a tribute to club dance to a live set by Fiedel, accompanied by the stunning lighting design by Thomas Zamolo. In 2023, it was performed at Intonal festival (Malmö) and Insomnia festival (Tromso).
Ribbon Dances (2015), a voluptuous and mesmerizing dance in which a gymnastic ribbon becomes the softest of the whips. The visual effect connected to low technical needs makes it well-suited for for in-situ and outside areas performances. It was performed at PLX festival (Tjärö) and Oya festival (Oslo) in 2023.
Technosomatics workshop - Frédéric Gie’ practice is toured, taught and shared in various contexts. The practice connects to both the field of somatics (movement education practices) and to techno club/rave dance cultures. Often taught in connection to a performance, it can also be booked on its own. In 2023, it was toured (among other places) to Insomnia festival in connection to Shadowboxing and on its own, to Nonagon festival.