Live, Sunday, 4 October 2026
Dancing today
What the world is dancing right now: the festivals and holy days under way, what is coming next, the news, and one dance to get to know.
Being danced today
Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest began in 1810 with the wedding of the Bavarian crown prince and now runs for a little over two weeks, ending on the first Sunday of October. On the first Sunday a long parade of costume and rifle clubs crosses Munich, with bands and dance groups. Bavarian folk dance has its own tent and stages. The Schuhplattler is its showpiece: men in leather breeches leap and slap their thighs, knees and the soles of their shoes in rhythm. Couples turn in the Ländler and the polka. In the beer tents, people dance on the benches.
Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah means rejoicing in the Torah. On this day the yearly cycle of readings ends with the last lines of Deuteronomy and begins again at once with Genesis. It falls at the close of Sukkot, on 22 Tishri in Israel and a day later elsewhere. All the scrolls are taken from the ark and carried round the synagogue seven times, in circuits called hakafot. The congregation sings and dances with them, often spilling into the street, and children follow with flags. To dance with the scroll is to show love for it.
Coming up in the next six weeks
In 6 days, 10 to 18 Oct 2026BathukammaThe women of Telangana build towers of flowers and circle them each evening, singing and clapping.
In 7 days, 11 to 19 Oct 2026NavratriNine nights for the goddess, danced in Gujarat with garba in rings and dandiya with sticks.
In 7 days, 11 to 20 Oct 2026Mysore DasaraThe state festival of Karnataka, whose great procession brings out drum dancers from across the state.
In 12 days, 16 to 21 Oct 2026Durga PujaBengal welcomes the goddess Durga, and worshippers dance before her with bowls of burning incense.
In 16 days, 20 to 26 Oct 2026DussehraThe victory of Rama over Ravana, acted in Ramlila, and a week of nati dancing at Kullu.
In 28 days, 1 to 2 Nov 2026Day of the DeadMexico welcomes its dead with altars and marigolds, and in Michoacán the little old men dance.
In 35 days, 8 to 9 Nov 2026Diwali and TiharOn the nights of lamps, Nepali groups sing and dance from house to house, and herders dance in Chhattisgarh.
In 37 days, 10 Nov 2026Día de la TradiciónArgentina honours the gaucho on the birthday of José Hernández, with folk dance and horsemanship.
In 43 days, 16 Nov 2026International Flamenco DayThe day in 2010 when UNESCO listed flamenco, kept with song, guitar and dance across Andalusia.Dance news
- St. Louis Salsa Bachata Congress gets ready to celebrate Afro-Latin culture through danceKSDK, Social and Latin
- Review: Cuban Baroque (Touring)Always Time For Theatre, Contemporary
- Hispanic Heritage Month Guided Tour: ¡Puro Ritmo! The Musical Journey of SalsaSmithsonian, Social and Latin
- Singapore Joins Regional Bid to Get Zapin Inscribed on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ListAlvinology, Heritage
- Multicultural Folk Dance HouseTAPinto, World
- Dance Festival for middle and high school studentsThe Bristol Press, Festivals
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Polka: Chaffee A-ii, Public domain, source
- Hora: Chajeshukarie ( talk ), Public domain, source
- Lundu: Johann Moritz Rugendas, Public domain, source
- Ländler: Emil Rau, Public domain, source
- Schuhplattler: Harald Bischoff, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hakafot: Meir624, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Flamenco: John Singer Sargent, Public domain, source
- Bathukamma: Randhirreddy at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Navratri: Mukerjee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mysore Dasara: Kalyan Kumar, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Durga Puja: Subhrajyoti07, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dussehra: DiplomatTesterMan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Day Of The Dead: RubeHM, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Diwali And Tihar: Sreekumar K. S., CC BY 2.0, source