The Nantucket Dance Festival is five-day celebration of dance with free classes and fundraising events that bring renowned dance and music artists from around the world to our island. Educational workshops and classes that are part of the Festival and continue through the year expand on how dance is integrated into the community and offer important lessons of self-awareness, physicality, and artistic expression to the next generation.
The Festival includes programming that emphasizes diverse styles of dance to bring together professionals and students while creating collaborations with musicians and visual artists. For 2025 the Dance Festival performers include professional dancers experienced in Ballet, Ballroom, Broadway, Jazz, Krump, Haitian, Modern, and Tap, as well as musicians who play piano, viola, violin, and cello.
Nearly 20 years ago, the Nantucket Dance Festival was started as a fundraiser for the Nantucket Atheneum. In 2023, the Nantucket Dance Theater took over the Nantucket Dance Festival, renewing the energy and purpose of this annual island event. Nantucket Dance Theater was founded by dancer, teacher, and Dance Space owner Michelle Birmingham with distinguished professional dancer Richard Schafer—both passionate about expanding dance opportunities on Nantucket Island. Their mission includes developing students into lifelong learners, providing spaces for students to develop their skills, and enriching the community through dance. Birmingham calls dance “a language without words that everyone can understand.”
The Dance Festival includes many free programs and classes open to the public and a two ticketed events. Funds from the Nantucket Dance Festival directly support the year-round programming of the non-profit Nantucket Dance Theater, helping them to continue guest artist residencies, offer scholarships, and cover costs of production and staff. In addition to the year-round classes and performances they offer, Nantucket Dance Theater also gives weekly classes at the Nantucket Boys & Girls Club to “try to reach more children and to make dance more accessible to a wider audience,” Birmingham explained. “I started Nantucket Dance Theater so that everyone who wanted to dance could dance…I really believe that dance should be accessible to everybody…”
The Dance Festival begins this Tuesday, July 8 with two sessions of Tiny Dancer Wonderland Party, designed for very young dancers. Tuesday evening, a very special intimate performance called Live through the Looking Glass will explore the collaboration between live music and the different styles of dance that will be presented in the final Festival performance. This ticketed event is a collaboration with musicians from the Rossini Club and will allow audiences to get an understanding of how ballet, tap, ballroom, krump, theater, and modern dancers respond to rhythm, stay inspired, and approach their art. Following the performance, a cocktail reception will be held in the Dreamland’s Harborview Room. Tickets are available at Nantucketdancefestival.org/events
On Wednesday and Thursday, July 9 and 10, different all-ages, all-levels dance classes led by Festival artists will be held in Nantucket High School. Classes will be offered Tap, Ballet, Modern, Krump, Injury Prevention, and Ballroom.
Thursday, July 10 from 6 to 8 pm, a free Social Dance Night will be held in collaboration with the Nantucket Island School of Design & the Arts. World-class ballroom teachers, live local musicians, and food trucks promise to make this an exciting evening of socializing and learning with food, live music, and good conversation.
The sensational Nantucket Dance Festival Benefit Performance on Saturday, July 12 provides an opportunity for hundreds on Nantucket to experience stellar artists sharing what they do best. The 2025 performance will feature many of today’s outstanding choreographers, live musicians, and professional dancers, while also showcasing island youth! As of press time, there are still some tickets available for this performance at Nantucketdancefestival.org/events.
In today’s world driven by technology and fast-paced routines, dance remains a vital thread that connects us to our humanity. It transcends language, culture, and age, offering a powerful form of expression, healing, and connection. Whether on a stage, in a studio, or spontaneously in a living room, dance invites us to inhabit our bodies fully, to feel more deeply, and to communicate in ways words cannot.
The Nantucket Dance Festival—held this year July 8-12—will remind us all how this timeless art form can be a source of resilience and joy, enrich lives, foster community, and express the beauty of being alive.
For a full list of Nantucket Dance Festival events, times, and locations, visit NantucketDanceFestival.org