Aerowaves Spring Forward Festival provides a platform for some of Europe's most vibrant and promising choreographers to show their work to performing arts professionals and local audiences. The festival is broadcast to reach dance fans across the world.

The festival began in 2011 as an experiment. It took shape in response to the uncertain economic climate and the realities facing emerging dance artists as they begin their careers. Spring Forward Festival provides a context for young choreographers to present their work within a different cultural setting and to new audiences. The platform supports artists as they seek new collaborators for their work and fosters a friendly atmosphere within an intensive weekend festival.

As with all Aerowaves initiatives, Spring Forward has grown from a place of generosity and a desire to make connections. The first festival in 2011 was held in partnership with En Knap at Španski Borci in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In 2012, Operaestate Festival Veneto dedicated its entire B-Motion strand to showcasing Aerowaves' work for the second Spring Forward Festival.

Armed with confidence in our new venture, we took the festival to Switzerland in 2013 to join the inaugural programme of Zürich Tanzt. Umeå, the European Capital of Culture in 2014, hosted the fourth Spring Forward at Norrlandsoperan, and in 2015 we were welcomed by the Mercat de les Flors in Barcelona. This was followed by Pilsen (CZ) in 2016 hosted in conjunction with Tanec Praha; European Capital of Culture Aarhus (DK) in 2017 with our hosts Bora Bora, Sofia (BG) in 2018 in partnership with Derida Dance Center and in 2019 La Briqueterie hosted the festival in the framework of la Biennale de Danse du Val de Marne (FR). 

The programme is formed of the current year's Aerowaves Twenty artists, plus a company from Asia through our ongoing collaboration with the Taiwan Dance Platform at WeiWuYing Culture Centre in Kaohsiung, and SIDance and KNCDC in Seoul. Artists are invited to stay for the whole weekend, so that conversations with programmers can evolve naturally.

Local audiences have the chance to discover a great variety of brand new dance artists, most of whom are performing in their city for the first time. Since 2014, we have broadcast Spring Forward so that dance fans across Europe and beyond can watch and engage with the festival.

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